John Kerry sails in Senate voting

By Christopher Rowland

The Senate confirmed Obama’s nomination of Senator Kerry to be secretary of state, handing the Mass. Democrat a redemptive career victory.

3 departures curtail New England’s political muscle

By David Uberti

A powerful trio of senators — John Kerry, Olympia Snowe, and Joe Lieberman — is gone, sapping the ­region’s political clout.

Obama urges Congress to act quickly on immigration

By Mark Landler

President Obama praised a plan by a group of senators to put millions of illegal immigrants on a path for citizenship.

Egypt near collapse, top general warns leaders

By David D. Kirkpatrick

A top Egyptian general warned that the government is in danger of collapse if civilian leaders cannot find a way to restore order.

Lawyers acting for nearly 200 Iraqis went to court to demand an independent and public investigation into abuses allegedly carried out by UK forces in Iraq.

Protesters call for death penalty in India bus rape

Scores of protesters demanded the death penalty for six men accused in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi last month.

JEFF JACOBY

Conservatism in Japan

By Jeff Jacoby

In a conformist culture with a growing conservative movement, small-government activists in Japan take a roundabout path.

SCOT LEHIGH

How Romney can stay relevant

By Scot Lehigh

Mitt Romney could carve out an important role in the Republican party. After all, in his other incarnations, he actually was a creative thinker and problem solver.

Andrew Zimbalist

Francona’s petty payback to Sox owners

By Andrew Zimbalist

The narrative in Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy’s “Francona, the Red Sox Years’’ is as unconvincing as it is, at points, nasty, petty, inaccurate, and unfair.

Optimistic Menino makes return to public stage

By Andrew Ryan

Back from his long illness, Mayor Menino delivered words of gratitude and a buoyant vision of Boston in his State of the City address.

Rep. Stephen Lynch to declare run for Senate

By Frank Phillips and Michael Levenson

Lynch reserved a union hall in South Boston for a Thursday announcement that he is running in the special election to fill John Kerry’s seat.

Secret patron helps library unveil history

By Brian MacQuarrie

An anonymous donor pledged another $500,000 to help preserve rare books and manuscripts at the Boston Public Library.

Uncertainty boosts donations at the end of 2012

By Beth Healy

Donors raced to make gifts before Congress has a chance to limit tax deductions on such contributions this year.

Guns fly off the shelves in New England

By Callum Borchers and Todd Wallack

The sharp increase in sales throughout the region is fueled by the looming prospect of greater controls on firearms.

Filene’s leasing deal, restart of project nearing

By Casey Ross

An emerging deal with a promising tenant will enable construction to resume on the $620 million project in downtown Boston as early as April.

Robert Publicover, 63; owned newspaper, pushed for AIDS help

By Kathleen McKenna

For decades Mr. Publicover provided advice and comfort to those living with AIDS even while enduring the ravages of the illness.

Bruins 2, Devils 1

Bruins top Devils in shootout

By Kevin Paul Dupont

The Bruins’ victory over New Jersey improved Boston’s record to a near-flawless 5-0-1 to start the new season.

Dan Shaughnessy

Ray Lewis will tackle (almost) any subject

By Dan Shaughnessy

The Ravens icon, heading into his final game, was willing to talk about everything but two controversies brewing around him at the Super Bowl.

Ravens’ Dean Pees won’t gloat about Patriots’ loss

By Greg A. Bedard

The Ravens defensive coordinator, who insists his departure from New England wasn’t negative, said beating the Patriots was not revenge.

On the family menu: What’s familiar

By Jim Chiavelli

While we are making family dinner more often than we dine out these days, we’re relying, to some extent, on prepared, frozen, and canned items.

How families plan and make supper every night

By Leigh Belanger

To streamline the dinner hour for stressed-out families, many home cooks swear by weekly meal planning to keep everyone organized and costs in line.

Streamline supper

Services and sites to streamline menu planning and grocery shopping.