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Jury deadlocked, mistrial declared in Cahill case

Attorney General Martha Coakley said she has not decided yet whether to retry the former state treasurer for allegedly using public funds to boost his run for governor.

Patrick to shake up Cabinet; Cabral to head public safety

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral will join the Patrick administration as the state’s public safety secretary.

Mattapan trial

No verdict yet in Mattapan killings

The jury, which restarted deliberations after a juror was replaced, received legal instructions Wednesday but did not reach a verdict.

John Burbine was brought in for arraignment at the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on Wednesday.

Accused child sex abuser ordered held without bail

Prosecutors released chilling details into the allegations that John Burbine sexually assaulted 13 young children.

Rajon Rondo had a hand in his usual amount of double-digit assists, and took to the air to score 2 over the Mavericks’ Derek Fisher.

Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff

On Basketball

Paul Pierce’s work lifts Celtics over Mavericks, 117-115

It was a battle of attrition; two aging teams with hopes of one more title run slugging it out. Neither impressive. Neither polished.

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/12/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Advance/Images/kreiter_bc3_met--90x90.jpg BC set to open new $78m academic building

BC officials say that Stokes Hall, the school’s most expensive educational building ever, represents an investment in the humanities.

Works in “The Art of the Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien” show the author’s view of Middle-earth.

Exclusive Thursday Preview | Book Reviews

5 books about ‘The Hobbit’

J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy-adventure tale of a hesitant hobbit, 13 dwarves, and a gray-robed wizard, was published 75 years ago this September.

Exclusive Thursday Preview | Tech Lab

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/12/BostonGlobe.com/Business/Images/camera-1656--90x90.jpg In time for the holidays, the year’s best gadgets

Of the dozens of consumer tech products Hiawatha Bray has tested in the past 12 months, here are the ones he’d consider buying as gifts.

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

Insider Offer

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/10/BostonGlobe.com/Arts/Images/p.jpg See a pre-screening of Promised Land

Win tickets for you and a guest to see the new Matt Damon movie before it opens to the public.

Globe exclusives

Ambreen Butt’s “I Am My Lost Diamond” installation at Carroll and Sons.

Galleries

Cultural divides, blurred and explosive
Fougasse (olive bread).

Food

Christmas desserts in the Provencal tradition
Children danced at the 2011 Christmas in the City event in Boston.

Brian McGrory

Christmas in the City is the best gift of the year
Real-bearded Dan Greenleaf (left) must be nice all year. Jim Manning says real whiskers aren’t needed.

Real or fake beards? Santas split on the issue
Bill Belichick thanks fans for their support after the Patriots routed Houston Monday night.

Patriots set sights on AFC’s top playoff seed
Audience members inspected a model of MGM’s proposed casino resort.

Casino developers make pitch in Springfield
Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of director Peter Jackson’s new Tolkien trilogy.

Movie Review

‘The Hobbit’ marked by striking visuals, slow pace
Former Governor William Weld endorsed Scott Brown in his Senate battle with Elizabeth Warren.

Scot lehigh

How about Bill Weld for US Senate?
Holly Jennings' recipe for corn muffin.

Whatever happened to the great American muffin?

How to donate to Globe Santa
“This will increase the possibility I buy a new book in a bookstore rather than on Amazon,” said Candy Zito-Wolf, an IT manager from Watertown.

Amazon will begin charging sales tax in Mass.

Meet the Fall All-Scholastics

Sports

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Tom Brady met with reporters on Wednesday.

Tom Brady got started early on 49ers

Facing a unit that he said has “no real weakness,” Brady began studying more than two weeks ago, knowing he’d need extra preparation in a short week.

Metro

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Mattapan trial

Jurors remain without verdict in Mattapan killings

The jury, which restarted deliberations after a juror was replaced, received legal instructions Wednesday but did not reach a verdict.

Columnists

joshua green

The GOP’s weak hand on entitlements
Protesters gathered for a rally at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday.

jeff jacoby

Freedom from unions
Former Governor William Weld endorsed Scott Brown in his Senate battle with Elizabeth Warren.

Scot lehigh

How about Bill Weld for US Senate?

Farah Stockman

Food aid fattens up lobbyists
Children danced at the 2011 Christmas in the City event in Boston.

Brian McGrory

Christmas in the City is the best gift of the year

Boston Capital

Mass. biotechs glitter in new golden age

Joanna Weiss

For parents, where to draw the line on risk?
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub tries to hide but he can’t escape the sack by Rob Ninkovich (50) in the first quarter.

Christopher L. Gasper

Dominant Patriots defense earned the spotlight
WesWelker cradles the ball as he hits the deck inside the 5-yard line after giving Houston defensive back Kareem Jackson (25) the slip. The play set up the Patriots’ first touchdown.

Dan Shaughnessy | Patriots 42, Texans 14

Patriots look like they’re heading to Super Bowl
Denise Jackson, a Salvation Army bell ringer, outside the Stop & Shop at Vinnin Square in Swampscott.

Opinion | Kevin Cullen

Stop and hear the bells

Juliette Kayyem

Qatar arms deals expose limits of US

Tech Lab Plus

Cheap Nikon Coolpix takes classy shots

Nation & World

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Syria

Assad forces fire missiles at rebels

The move signals an escalation in Syrian fighting and increasing desperation from President Bashar Assad’s government.

Politics

House Speaker John Boehner talked about the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations at the US Capitol on Wednesday.

‘Serious differences’ remain in fiscal cliff talks, Boehner says

House Speaker John Boehner today offered a sour assessment of the negotiations aimed at avoiding $500 billion in cuts and tax hikes.

Business

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Fed ties actions to jobless rate of 6.5%

The Federal Reserve will spend $45 billion a month to sustain an aggressive drive of keeping interest rates low until unemployment drops below 6.5 percent.

Arts

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Book Review

“Familiar,” J. Robert Lennon’s latest novel, reflects modern humans’ fragmentary condition.

‘Familiar’ by J. Robert Lennon

Lennon’s newest book stands as a crowning achievement.

Food & dining

Cheap Eats

The Earl of Sandwich stand on the Boston Common.

When hunger strikes on the Common, two spots to choose from

Two chains, Earl of Sandwich and Potbelly Sandwich Shop are both open on the Common.

Magazine

The cover for the December 9 2012 issue

The drug lab scandal: Who’s cleaning it up?
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

Opinion

“It isn’t hard to understand the appeal of right-to-work laws: Employees would rather choose for themselves whether to join a union.”

Jeff Jacoby 

Ideas

“Gift-giving has long been a topic of fascination for experts on human behavior...Their work has produced insights that cast an analytical--and helpful--light on the trials of our yearly quest to delight family and friends.”

Leon Neyfakh on the analyzed gift 

“I don’t want to pay any extra­ taxes. It’s probably necessary for the state, but I think they tax too much.”

David Connery,  a 60-year-old retiree, on the news Amazon will start collecting the Mass. sales tax