Permits for guns climb in Mass.

The number of firearms ­licenses issued in Massachusetts has climbed by more than one-third in the past five years.

Yvonne Abraham

What do I tell you, my son?

Her 5-year-old has no inkling of what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary or that luck alone separates us from them.

Adrian Anantawan led a Dudamel Orchestra rehearsal in Brighton.

Violinist with one hand inspires young musicians

Adrian Anantawan has played at Carnegie Hall, earned a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music, and graduated from Harvard. Today, he will lead a concert featuring 41 children.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., speaks to reporters following a closed-door briefing on the investigation of the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Libya hearing to put Kerry in spotlight

Insight into future US diplomacy could come Thursday when Senator John F. Kerry chairs a hearing on the fatal security failings at the US consulate in Libya.

68 Blocks: Life, Death, Hope | Part 5

Facing the future, or the dream of one

There were 19 shootings in Bowdoin-Geneva this year, but no one was killed. Here, that seems a step ahead. But progress, if real, feels like a fragile reed in a garden furrowed deep with promise and pain.

Video

The Back Story: Bowdoin-Geneva

Dina Rudick talks to the reporters who documented the neighborhood where violence has flourished for decades despite fitful efforts to stop it.

Interactive map

Quality of life indicators

Citizen complaints to the city of Boston from the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood and its surroundings, from Feb. 28, 2010 to June 28, 2012.

Special Section

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/05/29/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/kreiter_genevabowdoin_garden1_met.jpg 68 Blocks: Life, Death, Hope

A five-part Globe series on Boston’s Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood.

Tech Lab

Google Maps puts iPhone back on track

The new app has sophisticated features and a driver-friendly interface that’s even better than the one Google offers on Android phones.

Sports

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Celtics 103, Cavaliers 91

Paul Pierce buries one of his six 3-pointers (in seven attempts) as Alonzo Gee (33) watches.

Paul Pierce leads Celtics with season-high 40

Pierce carried his teammates with an array of leaning jumpers and off-balance 3-pointers as the Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak.

Metro

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Nathan Norman (left), 5, prayed with his family at dinner as he prepared to meet with some special holiday guest Thursday.

N.E. police work very special detail

With lights of more than 100 cruisers flashing on a journey from Burlington to Virginia, police escorted Christmas cards for a terminally ill 5-year-old.

Nation & World

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Arts

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Music Review

Brandon Flowers (pictured performing in California) has battled laryngitis recently.

The Killers raw but roaring at Agganis Ar

After missing three nights because frontman Brandon Flowers had laryngitis, the Killers picked up speed and strength as the night wore on.