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Supreme Court will hear gay marriage cases

The court will take up California’s ban on same-sex marriage, and will also decide whether Congress can deprive legally married gay couples of federal benefits.

Veterans who were at Pearl Harbor laid a wreath in front of the USS Cassin Young on Friday. L-R Donald Tabbut, Emery Arsenault, Gerald Halterman, and Francis M Connolly.

Pearl Harbor remembered in Charlestown

The 71st anniversary of the surprise Pearl Harbor attack that killed 2,400 people and crippled the Pacific fleet was commemorated by survivors Friday.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/07/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/Child%20Care%20Sex%20Abuse.JPEG-086ee--90x90.jpg Past cases against alleged molester were weak, prosecutors say

Prosecutors did not charge John Burbine in 2005 and 2009 in part because the victims and their families were “unwilling or unable” to cooperate.

Egyptian protesters gathered outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday.

Egypt delays early voting in disputed draft constitution

The move signals an attempt by President Mohammed Morsi’s government to give room for negotiations with the opposition as it faces mass protests.

NASA satellite provides new views of Earth at night

The photos show the planet as not just a beautiful swirl of clouds, but delicate pinpricks of light that outline human civilization.

NASA has released new photos of the Earth at night, taken by the Suomi NPP satellite earlier this year.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

NASA has released new photos of the Earth at night, taken by the Suomi NPP satellite earlier this year.

Light from North and South America is shown from a composite image assembled from data acquired by the satellite.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

Light from North and South America is shown from a composite image assembled from data acquired by the satellite.

This image of the US at night was assembled from data acquired in April and October 2012.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

This image of the US at night was assembled from data acquired in April and October 2012.

Light from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East can be seen in this composite image.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

Light from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East can be seen in this composite image.

The aurora australis, or

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

The aurora australis, or "southern lights," can be seen over Antarctica’s Queen Maud Land and the Princess Ragnhild Coast.

Using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the satellite was able to monitor the Arctic sea ice.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

Using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the satellite was able to monitor the Arctic sea ice.

The satellite captured nighttime images of of wildfires burning in Idaho and Montana on the night of August 29.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

The satellite captured nighttime images of of wildfires burning in Idaho and Montana on the night of August 29.

City lights along South America's Atlantic coast were captured in this image from the night of July 20.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

City lights along South America's Atlantic coast were captured in this image from the night of July 20.

The satellite captured a nighttime view of low-lying marine layer clouds along the California coast on September 27.

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

The satellite captured a nighttime view of low-lying marine layer clouds along the California coast on September 27.

NASA image acquired September 24, 2012 City lights at night are a fairly reliable indicator of where people live. But this isn’t always the case, and the Korean Peninsula shows why. As of July 2012, South Korea’s population was estimated at roughly 49 million people, and North Korea’s population was estimated at about half that number. But where South Korea is gleaming with city lights, North Korea has hardly any lights at all—just a faint glimmer around Pyongyang. On September 24, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of the Korean Peninsula. This imagery is from the VIIRS “day-night band,” which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as gas flares, auroras, wildfires, city lights, and reflected moonlight. The wide-area image shows the Korean Peninsula, parts of China and Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the Sea of Japan. The white inset box encloses an area showing ship lights in the Yellow Sea. Many of the ships form a line, as if assembling along a watery border. Following the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War, per-capita income in South Korea rose to about 17 times the per-capital income level of North Korea, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Worldwide, South Korea ranks 12th in electricity production, and 10th in electricity consumption, per 2011 estimates. North Korea ranks 71st in electricity production, and 73rd in electricity consumption, per 2009 estimates. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using VIIRS Day-Night Band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Suomi NPP - VIIRS Credit: <b><a href=

NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY

An image taken on September 24 shows the vast difference in light emitted from North and South Korea.

Exclusive Sunday Preview | Diversity Boston

Why is TV still so white?

The lack of good roles for people of color proves television has yet to catch up with American demographics, writes the Globe’s Wesley Morris.

Exclusive Sunday Preview | Magazine

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/07/BostonGlobe.com/Magazine/Images/mag1209%20meier%20A7.jpg The drug lab scandal: Who’s cleaning it up?

Veteran Boston lawyer David Meier was handed the unenviable task of fixing the drug lab debacle, one of the state’s biggest law enforcement scandals ever. Is he up to the job?

Boston Capital

Still battling over a sale gone bad

James and Janet Baker spent nearly two decades building the voice recognition software company Dragon Systems, only to see their fortune disappear in a puff of fraudulent smoke.

Boston Globe ePaper

ePaper

Read the ePaper edition

The complete print edition, in its exact layout. Browse the print edition page by page, including stories and ads.

Globe Insiders

From the Archives | Photo Gallery

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/05/BostonGlobe.com/Enterprise/Advance/Images/pearl005--90x90.jpg The attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor left over 2,400 dead, 68 of them civilians, after waves of Japanese carrier-based fighters and bombers turned the naval base in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor into an inferno.

Globe exclusives

Brian McGrory

A bright life, a needless end
The fiscal cliff factored in Mike Napoli’s contract talks with the Red Sox.

Eye on ’13 tax bite, high earners seek to move up pay dates
General manager Ben Cherington signed autographs last Saturday before going to Nashville to sign new free agents like Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino.

Dan Shaughnessy

Red Sox moving in right direction

‘Worn out’ Frank ready to hit the lecture circuit
Jack Taylor isn’t shy about shooting — he took 108 field goal attempts in his 138-point game last month.

Jack Taylor’s 138-point game part of ‘the system’
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz is conducting a Beacon Hill inquiry.

Carmen Ortiz may be in Mass. governor’s mix
“Our Town” director David Cromer says the meaning of the Thornton Wilder play has often been misunderstood.

G Cover Story

Blowing the dust off ‘Our Town’
Tom Brady carried his son Benjamin as he walked off the practice field with wife, Gisele Bundchen at the end of a practice in August.

Names

Bundchen, Brady have baby girl
WBZ TV Sports Director Steve Burton.

Sports Media

Burton’s NHL report in limbo

Scot Lehigh

Reforms to help solve our fiscal problems

How to donate to Globe Santa
Olive Another as Herbie (left) and Jesse James Wood as the title character in “Rudolph the Red Necked Reindeer.”

Stage Review

‘Rudolph’ a classic with a twist

Sports

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In 36 innings last season, Koji Uehara struck out 43 batters and walked only three.

Despite critics, Red Sox happy with moves

If the criterion for “winning” the Winter Meetings is being active and aggressive, the Red Sox can make a case for victory.

Metro

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Former State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahil waited as jurors deliberated on Thursday.

Jurors in Cahill corruption trial go home for the weekend

The jurors, who have been meeting since Tuesday afternoon, will return to Suffolk Superior Court for further deliberations on Monday.

Columnists

General manager Ben Cherington signed autographs last Saturday before going to Nashville to sign new free agents like Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino.

Dan Shaughnessy

Red Sox moving in right direction
Buddy Guy performing at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Carlo Rotella

Bluesy time for the blues

Boston Capital

Still battling over a sale gone bad

Joshua Green

Republican turmoil may take US over cliff

Scot Lehigh

Reforms to help solve our fiscal problems

Brian McGrory

A bright life, a needless end
Stanley Forman of the Boston Herald American took this terrifying image of a 2-year-old girl and her godmother falling from a broken fire escape, a photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1976. The girl survived the fall; her godmother did not.

Joan Vennochi

Are photojournalists obligated to help in rescues?

Yvonne Abraham

Child-safe lockups

Tech Lab

Low-priced Google laptop is a great idea

Brian McGrory

Bridge is lighting the way forward

jeff jacoby

Grant’s greatest regret
Rex Ryan chose to stick with Mark Sanchez as his starting quarterback.

Christopher L. Gasper

Jets’ mistake wouldn’t happen to Patriots

Nation & World

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A tsunami warning was displayed on a TV at a shelter at Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.

Strong earthquake strikes off northeastern Japan

One city reported a small tsunami and at least two people were injured.

Politics

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was in Washington seeking more federal aid after Hurricane Sandy.

Romney got last-minute boost from billionaire casino mogul

The final campaign finance tallies trickled out Thursday for a race expected to be most expensive in US history.

Business

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The Fenway Center project, which would include 550 residences, retail stores, offices, and parking using some air space over the Massachusetts Turnpike, is in jeopardy because the developer cannot finalize a lease with the state transportation department.

Fenway Center in jeopardy due to impasse with MassDOT

A stalemate between the developer and state officials is stalling what could be the first successful project involving turnpike air rights projects since the 1980s.

Arts

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Classical Notes

Canadian pianist Glenn Gould (in an undated photo) first recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 1955.

How Glenn Gould reinvented Bach

When the recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was released in 1956, it changed all expectations with which listeners approached Bach’s keyboard music.

Movies

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MOVIE REVIEW

From left: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, and James Murphy in director Rick Alverson’s “The Comedy.”

‘The Comedy’ is another spin on funny fat guy

The movie, set mostly in Brooklyn, is a critique of hipsterism and how men conduct themselves in comedies.

Magazine

The cover for the December 2 2012 issue

5 inspired rooms
The cover for the November 25 2012 issue

Cambridge’s Bluefin Labs decodes social media chatter
The cover for the November 18 2012 issue

7 holiday styles that shine
The cover for the November 11 2012 issue

Vacation options for single seniors and gays and lesbians

Opinion

“With fiscal difficulties stretching into the middle distance, voters may increasingly come to appreciate political leaders determined to give them maximum bang for their buck.”

Scot Lehigh  

Ideas

A loud TV in the background made people frustrated trying to read. A more subtle TV sound made them feel bored.

Maria Konnikova on whether boredom is curable. 

“People will pay me significant amounts of money to do what I used to do for free. And that will be fine. . . . I’m ready to get out of here.”

Representative Barney Frank,  speaking about prospects for his upcoming retirement.