Boston Globe Today | May 21, 2024

WATCH: Tuesday's show. Stories include: Tech for tracking gunshots faces new pushback. And, a field guide to the American bore. Watch →

Pot laws are a buzzkill on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

WATCH: Island communities are at risk of running out of cannabis. Reporter Diti Kohli explains the last-ditch effort to keep the pot flowing. Watch →

How 'congestion pricing' would work in Boston

WATCH: Transportation reporter Taylor Dolven unpacks the steps the city could take to encourage drivers to stay off the road during busy hours. Watch →

Nation

Trump opens door to birth control restrictions, then tries to close it

Former president Donald Trump dodged a question about whether he backed restrictions on birth control in an interview on Tuesday, but suggested he might support letting states enact them. Continue reading →

Nation

VA has approved 1 million claims under burn pit law, Biden announces

The president signed the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT, Act, into law in the summer of 2022, with the goal of quickly getting benefits to veterans who had been suffering from a variety of maladies that did not qualify for treatment by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Continue reading →

Nation

Election deniers moving closer to GOP mainstream, report shows, as Trump allies fill Congress

A new report released Tuesday by States United Action, a group that tracks election deniers, said nearly one-third of the lawmakers in Congress supported in some way Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 results or otherwise cast doubt on the reliability of elections. Continue reading →

World

‘What’s the problem?’ Zelensky challenges West over hesitations.

KYIV, Ukraine — With his army struggling to fend off fierce Russian advances all across the front, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine urged the United States and Europe to do more to defend his nation, dismissing fears of nuclear escalation and proposing that NATO planes shoot down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace. Continue reading →

World

UN halts all food distribution in Rafah after running out of supplies in the southern Gaza city

The organization also said 1.1 million people in Gaza — nearly half the population — face catastrophic levels of hunger. Continue reading →

World

Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia amid deadly unrest and Indigenous frustration

Six people have been killed, including two gendarmes, and hundreds of others injured in New Caledonia during armed clashes, raising new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy. Continue reading →

OPINION

No, Diddy didn’t apologize for assaulting Cassie Ventura

After a video surfaced, he made excuses for his violent behavior, but he neither mentioned Cassie Ventura nor addressed how he called her a liar for telling the truth. Continue reading →

EDITORIAL

Weed shortage coming to Martha’s Vineyard

Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are part of Massachusetts. They should have the same access to legal marijuana as the rest of the state. Continue reading →

LETTERS

Not buying the industry line on fast-food wages

There are myriad ways companies can provide living wages for employees while keeping customer prices moderate, but don’t expect participation any time soon from the fast-food industry. Continue reading →

Around New England

‘We don’t want to keep doing this’: As man convicted in 1988 murder of Maine girl seeks new trial, family pleads for end

The case offers competing narratives that fascinate and repulse Mainers, pitting the memory of a defenseless child against a man with no previous record of crime or violent behavior who insists he was wrongly accused by law enforcement. Continue reading →

Crime & Courts

Two Mass. men charged in alleged murder for hire plot targeting witness in drug case, prosecutors also threatened

Two Massachusetts men are facing federal charges stemming from an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting a witness in a drug case and a pair of criminal adversaries, and one defendant indicated he also ”wanted two federal prosecutors murdered,” said Acting US Attorney Joshua Levy’s office. Continue reading →

Crime & Courts

Witness and defense attorney clash during heated testimony in Karen Read trial

Over four hours of grueling and combative questioning, Karen Read’s attorneys grilled one of their prime targets on Tuesday, the 15th day of testimony. Continue reading →

Adam Himmelsbach | Instant analysis

Jaylen Brown’s improbable shot helps Celtics to a thrilling 133-128 overtime victory, and other observations from Game 1 vs. the Pacers

The first two rounds of the playoffs just didn’t feel like the playoffs. But the start on Tuesday felt more like vintage TD Garden. Continue reading →

red sox 5, rays 2

In a span of two innings, Jarren Duran shows how much of a force he can be for the Red Sox

The center fielder became only the third Red Sox player in the last 57 years to homer and steal home in the same game. Continue reading →

red sox notebook

Once a liability, the Red Sox outfield now ranks among the best in the baseball

Jarren Duran ranks among the top outfielders in the majors, while Wilyer Abreu to his left and Tyler O'Neill to his right have also made their fair share of plays. Continue reading →

THE FINE PRINT

Lender that charged sky-high interest rates on short-term loans agrees to exit Mass.

Under a settlement with Attorney General Andrea Campbell, EasyPay will pay $650,000 in restitution and end all efforts to collect on active and defaulted loans. Continue reading →

innovation beat

Woburn startup Gradiant has new tech to zap ‘forever chemicals’

The MIT spinout, which is focused on water purification technologies, says its new process not only filters out the chemicals but destroys the dangerous substances as well. Continue reading →

Economy

Meet Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, which now owns Putnam Investments

With the economy and markets in flux, Johnson is wary of inflation but bullish on Bitcoin and Putnam's future in Boston. Continue reading →

Obituaries

Dr. Paul Parkman, who helped to eliminate rubella, dies at 91

Dr. Paul D. Parkman, whose research was instrumental in identifying the virus that causes rubella and developing a vaccine that has prevented an epidemic of the disease in the United States for more than 50 years, died on May 7 at his home in Auburn, New York, about 60 miles east of Rochester in the Finger Lakes region. He was 91. Continue reading →

Obituaries

James Greenfield, globe-trotting reporter and Times editor, dies at 99

James L. Greenfield, an urbane journalist who covered postwar world affairs for Time magazine, served as a State Department official in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and for nearly 25 years was a senior editor of The New York Times, died Sunday at home in the rural town of Washington, Connecticut. He was 99. Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Movies

‘Bourne’ director Doug Liman talks reuniting with Matt Damon for a new Boston-set heist comedy

After more than two decades, Liman and Damon are back together for "The Instigators," which also stars Casey Affleck. Continue reading →

Music

After high-stakes, multiyear search, BSO names Nathan Cole new concertmaster

Cole fills a seat that has been vacant since the 2019 retirement of Malcolm Lowe, who served as concertmaster for 35 years. Continue reading →

Arts

UNICEF’s ‘Heart Strings’ interactive exhibition unites children across the world

Visitors can also engage with the impacts of health care, education, protection, and respect on a child’s success and future. Continue reading →