Without a hot toy, retailers are stocking less, leaning on classic items and possibly discounting less in the final days before Christmas.

No Hit Toy to Brighten Retailers’ Christmas

The market euphoria over last week’s deal by European leaders to shore up the euro currency union succumbed to a darker mood Monday.

Rating Agency Warnings Bring Down the Markets

Ann Romney likes to tell audiences about “the other side of Mitt that you never hear about.”

Campaign Sends Romney to the Rescue. Ann Romney.

An officer who had been on the police force for 22 years was shot in the face in a basement apartment that had been robbed in Brooklyn. The officer, Peter J. Figoski, died five hours later.

In Dark Brooklyn Doorway, Officer Confronts Gunman, and Dies

Night raids and mass arrests come as the United States prepares to leave Iraq, leading Western officials to question the country’s course under Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

Premier’s Actions in Iraq Raise U.S. Concerns

A look at the largest online school company’s operations raises serious questions about whether its schools — and full-time online schools in general — are a good deal for children or taxpayers.

Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools

Damien Hirst is back with his spot paintings, which he intends to put in all the branches of Gagosian worldwide in January.

Art World Star Doesn’t Change His Spots

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. weighed in on the partisan debate over race and ballot access in a speech assessing new state laws that critics say restrict voting rights.

Holder Signals Tough Review of New State Laws on Voting

Facebook, which is preparing for a public offering, has more than 800 million active users around the world. But some people, even on the younger end of the age spectrum, just refuse to participate.

The Facebook Resisters

The National Transportation Safety Board said that states should ban all driver use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices, except in emergencies.

U.S. Safety Board Urges Cellphone Ban for Drivers

The Federal Reserve said that it would take no new steps to boost economic growth this year, citing mounting evidence that the American economy is chugging slowly toward good health.

Fed Takes No Action, Citing Signs of Moderate Growth

James Murdoch knew about the legal ramifications from widespread phone hacking at a British tabloid long before he has admitted he knew, according to e-mail messages.

New Challenge to a Murdoch Over Hacking

A Hanukkah party at the White House requires the kitchen to be made kosher, overnight.

Overnight Makeover for a Kosher First Kitchen

Richard Rhodes’s new book, “Hedy’s Folly,” traces how the glamorous actress Hedy Lamarr and the avant-garde composer George Antheil came to devise a remote-controlled torpedo during World War II.

Glamour and Munitions: A Screen Siren’s Wartime Ingenuity

Alvin Plantinga, who has led a movement of unapologetically Christian philosophers, argues that theism is compatible with science in his new book, “Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism.”

Philosopher Sticks Up for God

The owner of Gradisca in the West Village flies his family matriarch to New York from Bologna, Italy, several times a year so she can whip up the restaurant’s pasta.

Mama Is Chef’s Pasta Maker

Why not pick up that whisk, cook and share a treat from your kitchen?

‘Store Bought’ Spoils the Potluck Spirit

The Italian chocolate maker Perugina stopped advertising in America more than a decade ago, after Nestlé acquired it.

An Italian Chocolatier Revives Its U.S. Campaign

Though Martin Marietta Materials is smaller than its intended target, Vulcan Materials, it has some compelling ideas on cutting costs to raise profits.

When Cost Cuts Make Merger Sense

Corrections appearing in print on December 13, 2011.

Corrections: December 13

The nation’s largest cable provider plans to offer BBC to nearly 15 million homes by the end of next year.

BBC World News to Be Available Through Comcast

An all-male dance is the latest from the choreographer Tere O’Connor, at Danspace Project.

Tere O’Connor’s ‘Cover Boy’

Field Day Poundcake

Scientists in South Africa have discovered a roach that can jump up to 50 body lengths in a single leap.

A Roach With the Reach of a Grasshopper

Scientists have found an anomalocaris fossil with eyes that contained 16,000 hexagonal lenses each.

December 13, 2011

Headlines from December 13, 2011

No Hit Toy to Brighten Retailers’ Christmas

Rating Agency Warnings Bring Down the Markets

Campaign Sends Romney to the Rescue. Ann Romney.

In Dark Brooklyn Doorway, Officer Confronts Gunman, and Dies

Premier’s Actions in Iraq Raise U.S. Concerns

Billboard 200

Christmas

Here And Now

Talk That Talk

Take Care

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

Historical Context for December 13, 2011