Manufacturers of robots and similar machines gathered in Chicago, casting automation as an indispensable engine of economic growth.

Robot Makers Spread Global Gospel of Automation

Several Democratic senators up for re-election next year are confronting galvanized constituencies that view any effort to tighten gun laws as an infringement.

Democrats in Senate Confront Doubts at Home on Gun Laws

Mrs. Pugach’s blinding by her lover, Burton N. Pugach, in 1959 became a news media sensation, and her later marriage to Mr. Pugach in 1974 became an equally sensational sequel.

Linda Riss Pugach, Whose Life Was Ripped From Headlines, Dies at 75

Benjamin Millepied, a choreographer and former dancer, will be the company’s director starting in 2014.

Paris Opera Ballet Picks Outsider for New Director

A structure billed as the first stand-alone building designed for jazz in this country drew a host of noted performers on opening night.

SFJazz Center Opens in California

Recent history indicates that if you win the guild’s feature award, you’ll win a directing Oscar, and your movie will be named best picture. But this year, maybe not.

Directors Favored, Directors Snubbed: What’s Going On?

The White House took the unusual step of choosing two former prosecutors as top financial regulators. But translating that resolve into action will not be easy, given the complexities of the market and Wall Street’s aggressive nature.

A Signal to Wall Street In Obama’s Pick For Regulators

In yet another struggle over speech on the Internet, a French court told Twitter to identify people who had posted anti-Semitic and racist entries on the social network.

In a French Case, a Battle to Unmask Twitter Users

The United States housing market is not yet in good shape, but it is getting better, and in that there may be hope for a surprisingly strong economy this year.

Housing Offers Hope of Strength in the Economy

The National Transportation Safety Board indicated that an investigation into the failure of lithium-ion batteries aboard two Boeing 787 planes is still far from determining a cause.

Protracted Fire Inquiry Keeping 787 on Ground

Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago urged the executives of two major banks to cease the financing of firearms companies. Other cities are making similar efforts.

Cities Urge Public Pension Funds to Divest From Gun Makers

“The Insurgents,” by Fred Kaplan, tells the story of David H. Petraeus and the small fraternity of strategists that changed the way America conceived of, and actually fought, war.

How We Fight

The Sundance Film Festival was distinguished by aesthetic ambition, a number of female directors and abundant sexuality on screen.

Independent Voices Drown Out the Buzz

At the movie festival this year, brokers sought to connect with another growing cohort of the Sundance experience: the executive crowd.

Selling a Dream at Sundance

The Bureau for Solving Problems That May or May Not Be Problems offers a primer for helping your child distinguish Sportacus, on “LuckyTown,” from “Spartacus.”

Break Bones or Build Them?

Quotation of the day for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013.

Quotation of the Day for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Corrections appearing in print on January 24, 2013.

Corrections: January 24, 2013

The Rockwell Group has unveiled its designs for the interior of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, a museum and research center scheduled to open in Atlanta in 2014.

Design Unveiled for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights

The Lumineers are also added to the show on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles.

Jack White and Carrie Underwood Join Lineup of Grammy Performers

The producers of “Manilow on Broadway” have canceled the opening three performances of Barry Manilow’s Broadway show, rescheduling them for Feb.28-March 2.

‘Manilow on Broadway’ Opening Postponed Because of Illness

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will perform on Broadway together in a two-play repertory of Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”

McKellen and Stewart Will Bring Pinter and Beckett to Broadway in the Fall

Mr. Abrams, popular with the science fiction audience, has a new “Star Trek” movie scheduled for release in May.

J.J. Abrams to Direct Next ‘Star Wars’ Movie

A six-bedroom brownstone, built in 1888, that has made repeated appearances on “Law & Order,” is about to go on the market for $8.75 million.

A Scene-Stealer and a Landmark

As home sales pick up at the million-dollar-plus end of the market, deals are being complicated by unexpectedly low appraisal values.

Appraising High-End Homes

Japan reported a record annual trade deficit in 2012, the second straight year in the red for an exporting nation that has long built its wealth on its vast trading surpluses.

January 24, 2013

Headlines from January 24, 2013

Robot Makers Spread Global Gospel of Automation

Democrats in Senate Confront Doubts at Home on Gun Laws

Linda Riss Pugach, Whose Life Was Ripped From Headlines, Dies at 75

Paris Opera Ballet Picks Outsider for New Director

SFJazz Center Opens in California

Billboard 200

Burning Lights

Notes From The Underground

Les Miserables

Red

Pitch Perfect

Historical Context for January 24, 2013