For U.S. Workers, It Was A Week Stuffed With Good News

An auto worker tightens bolts on the wheel of a Focus at a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich. Reports this week showed increases in auto sales and manufacturing jobs.

Here's something you haven't heard in years: The U.S. economy had a great week, with reports showing jobs being created in several sectors, new-home sales surging and factories humming. Oh, and unemployment is the lowest it's been since 2008.

Eyes turn to the Fed as the U.S. unemployment rate drops

What New Mayors, Like Boston’s Walsh, Learn At Harvard Boot Camp

We visit a boot camp of sorts for new mayors at Harvard's Kennedy School.

Hoped-For AIDS Cures Fail In Boston Patients

The two Boston patients looked HIV-free after bone marrow transplants. But now the virus has returned.

Partners HealthCare To Consolidate Some Of Its Staff In Somerville

Partners HealthCare plans to move 4,500 employees to a new office it plans to build in Somerville.

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Mass. Casino Foes Clear Hurdle In Effort To Repeal Law

Casino foes collected enough certified signatures to continue pursuing a proposed ballot question.

Coakley: "Not sure how I'd vote on casino repeal"

In Special Election, A Big Edge For The Democrat

State Sen. Katherine Clark and Frank Addivinola are running for the 5th Congressional District seat.

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What Separates A Healthy And Unhealthy Diet? $1.50 Per Day

A Safeway customer browses in the fruit and vegetable section at Safeway in Livermore, Calif.

Plan Calls For Syria's Chemical Arsenal To Be Destroyed At Sea

If a plan taking shape is finalized, the MV Cape Ray, managed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be turned into a floating chemical weapons disposal plant.

The Giant Book That Creates And Destroys Entire Industries

PLANET MONEY MAKES A T-SHIRT: How to send a shirt around the world for pennies

Shanghai's Choking Smog Registers 'Beyond Index'

A building under construction is covered with haze in Shanghai, China, on Friday. The city's pollution index is at its highest-ever, officials say.

To Fix Social Security, Some Dems Want To Lift Wage Cap

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., listens to testimony during a Banking Committee hearing on Nov. 12. In a Senate floor speech on Social Security last month, Warren said, "With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and we could even increase benefits."

How Two Similar States Ended Up Worlds Apart In Politics

In this June 2008 photo, the bridge spanning the Mississippi River between Winona, Minn., and the Wisconsin side of the river is closed to traffic.

Boston Native Bratton Picked As NYPD Commissioner Again

William Bratton, then head of the Los Angeles police department, in a 2009 file photo (Philip Scott Andrews/AP, File)

White House: President Briefly Lived With Kenyan-Born Uncle

Onyango Obama, President Barack Obama's Kenyan-born uncle, arrives at U.S. Immigration Court for a deportation hearing on Tuesday in Boston.

Thai King Calls For Stability Amid Political Unrest

Anti-Government protesters shout during a celebration in Bangkok for the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej on his 86th birthday, on Thursday.

Why Nelson Mandela Came To Boston In 1990

Nelson Mandela, center, waves after his after his arrival at Logan Airport on June 23, 1990. Mandela is flanked by Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis, left, and Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, far right. (David Longstreath/AP)

It was just one day. But the images were enduring.

23andMe Bows To FDA's Demands, Drops Health Claims

23andMe will still perform genetic tests, but it won't be making health-related interpretations of the results.

The ARTery | Reviews

Sorry, ‘Lucy,’ I Don’t Love You, Anymore

By Ed Siegel

Sirena Irwin, Joanna Daniels and Bill Mendieta in " 'I Love Lucy" Live on Stage." (Jeremy Daniel)

Ed Siegel says the Colonial Theatre is hosting a pointless re-creation of two "I Love Lucy" episodes.

Cambridge Church Moved 80 Feet For Lesley Arts Center

The former North Prospect Congregational Church (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Needs More Alps: How Was 'The Sound Of Music Live'?

Carrie Underwood as Maria, with (back, from left) Ella Watts-Gorman as Louisa, Michael Nigro as Friedrich, Ariane Rinehart as Liesl, Joe West as Kurt and (front, from left) Grace Rundhaug as Marta, Sophia Ann Caruso as Brigitta and Peyton Ella as Gretl, in NBC's live production of The Sound Of Music.

Meat And Booze With A Side Of Still Life: U.S. Painters On Food

In Peter Blume's Vegetable Dinner, 1927, two women, one peeling potatoes, one smoking a cigarette, whisper at the crossroads between domestic and bohemian life, says Sarah Kelly Oehler of the Art Institute of Chicago. (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art © The Educational Alliance, Inc./Estate of Peter Blume/Licensed by VAGA New York, NY)

storycorps

Adrift In Frigid Water, Not Caring 'If You Live Or Die'

Paneer Pizza: Domino's Sees India Becoming Second-Largest Market

An employee rides a motorcycle to deliver Domino's pizzas in New Delhi this past May. Domino's Pizza CEO J. Patrick Doyle says India is poised to become the chain's largest market outside the U.S., on the strength of a menu tailored to Indians' tastes.

The 'Anchorman' Legend Continues, And It's Everywhere

The massive marketing campaign for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues has gone way beyond trailers and commercials. Some critics say the journalists are embarrassing themselves — and some say the character has become tiresomely ubiquitous.

Emerson's Burgundy day brings laughs, critics

Here & Now

A Cappella Fans Cheer Return Of NBC's ‘The Sing-Off’

The panel of judges on NBC's "The Sing-Off," an a cappella competition. (NBC)

Cognoscenti

What We're Like When We ‘Like’ Something We Really Don't Like

Most of us use social media to seek and give validation in a well-intentioned but automatic way, Julie Wittes Schlack says.

World Cup 2014 Draw Is Set: U.S. Will Face Germany, Portugal, Ghana

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, right, shows a paper with the name of the Korea Republic as Brazilian presenter Fernanda Lima looks on during the final draw of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup Friday.

One could argue the U.S. is in the "group of death" this time.

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