Growing what may be the holiest plant of the Christmas season: a raggedy shrub better known as the frankincense tree.

Frankincense Fit for a King (One, Anyway)

Developers, drawn by lower property values, have been purchasing closed auto plants, which have helped communities regain considerable tax revenue.

Developers Revive Closed Auto Plants

The White House and its allies hope to help stretch the Republican presidential nominating contest into a longer and bloodier battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.

Democrats See a Two-Horse G.O.P. Race, Adding a Whip

Animal rights advocates in New York are strengthening their push to ban the attraction, while carriage owners say they are being harassed.

Push to Ban New York Carriage Horses Gains Steam

The Silicon Valley start-up OnLive is introducing software to bring the power of its game service to mobile devices via so-called cloud computing.

Phones Get Game Power in the Cloud

In Jordan Harrison’s play “Maple and Vine,” stressed-out New Yorkers move into a community that tries to recreate the 1950s.

Exchanging Lattes for an ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ World

The progress of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s tax revisions, approved by both chambers of the Legislature by early Thursday morning, provided the most striking illustration to date of his policymaking strategy.

Behind Rapid Deal on Taxes, Stealth Maneuvering by Cuomo

If the euro falls, Britain will sink, but if Europe forges a closer unity among the euro zone countries, then Britain faces being ever more marginalized.

Britain Suffers as a Bystander to the Euro’s Crisis

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had sent “a signal” that spurred protesters to action.

Putin Contends Clinton Incited Unrest Over Vote

European Union members that use the euro agreed to sign a treaty that would require stricter financial and fiscal discipline, but two countries with their own currencies, Britain and Hungary, refused.

Most European Leaders Agree to Work on Fiscal Treaty

The fantasy of Hugh Jackman: your dream lover, your gay best friend, and no embarrassing meltdowns.

Hugh Jackman Keeps His Pants On

Republicans who opposed the creation of the agency prevented Democrats from advancing the nomination of Richard Cordray, in a challenge to one of the administration’s main responses to the financial crisis.

Senate Stops Consumer Nominee

After 15 months in the position, Daniel Akerson, the chief executive of General Motors, has aggressively confronted a federal inquiry on the hybrid Volt and other issues.

Bluntly and Impatiently, Chief Upends G.M.’s Staid Tradition

The used batteries Americans turn in for recycling are increasingly processed in Mexico, their lead often extracted by crude methods that are illegal in the United States.

Lead From Old U.S. Batteries Sent to Mexico Raises Risks

The second volume of Stephen Sondheim’s collected lyrics, “Look, I Made a Hat,” describes his collaborations with James Lapine as a vital artistic renewal.

Eavesdropping on Sondheim

By delaying large-scale screenings of the movie “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” the producer Scott Rudin has clouded the early Osacar race for best picture.

An Oscar Wild Card, and He’s Holding It Tight

Manhattan started out with a mere handful of public charging stations for electric vehicles. It now has more than 50.

Charging Stations Await Cars

“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” with Gary Oldman as George Smiley, skillfully mined from John le Carré’s book, is a mystery about spies spying on spies.

The Spy Who Emerged From the Fog

The champion Green Bay Packers are selling stock in the team for $250 a share to raise millions to refurbish the team stadium, but the shares give buyers few rights.

Free Money for the Packers

Corrections appearing in print on December 8, 2011.

Corrections: December 8

Just fill the Slobproof pen with paint and, after covering the offending mark on the wall, rinse the tip and recap.

A Paint Pen to Touch Up the Dings

The fashion designer has introduced his new furniture collection at Maxfield Gallery in Los Angeles.

From Rick Owens, Fashion to Sit On

Discounts on ceramics, books, Christmas accessories and more.

Sales at Klein Reid and Others

An exhibition of the stone carver’s alabaster lamps, most of which he creates with a hammer and chisel, is at the Maison Gerard gallery through Jan. 6.

Stephen Downes Squeezes Light From a Stone

A new modular design store in Brooklyn Heights is filled with objects for people who can’t leave well enough alone.

December 8, 2011

Headlines from December 8, 2011

Frankincense Fit for a King (One, Anyway)

Developers Revive Closed Auto Plants

Democrats See a Two-Horse G.O.P. Race, Adding a Whip

Push to Ban New York Carriage Horses Gains Steam

Phones Get Game Power in the Cloud

Billboard 200

Christmas

Here And Now

Talk That Talk

Take Care

My Life II...The Journey Continues (Act 1)

Historical Context for December 8, 2011