Phone tax surprises many buyers
As more people buy pricey smartphones, an obscure state tax directive created at the beginning of the wireless market is getting a lot more attention.
Romney foes lean hard on Bain cuts
Mitt Romney’s rivals redoubled their efforts yesterday to cast him as a heartless executive, setting off alarms in conservative circles.
Innovation Economy
PayPal in talks to expand Boston office
PayPal representatives will make another trip to Beacon Hill next week to discuss adding “several hundred people” to their North End office, an executive said.
MGM Resorts announces Brimfield casino plan
The company has signed a contract to purchase 150 acres of land in the western Mass. town for a “world-class resort” that would generate 3,000 jobs, an executive said.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Tech Lab
Coming soon: TVs that take voice commands
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, software makers and electronics firms showed off products that will bring speech and motion control to millions of TV viewers.
Former president Wilson not overpaid, UMass board says
A committee concluded yesterday that the $425,000 salary for Jack Wilson while he is on sabbatical is appropriate.
Gardner shows off its graceful update
When leaders of the 109-year-old Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum unveiled its $114 million addition yesterday, they did so with an eye toward the past.
“I am proud of all of our Republican candidates. But we have a real problem when we have Republicans talking like Democrats against the free market.”
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Inside The Boston Globe
Columnists
Metro
Ornate Back Bay pews are reborn in Haiti
Contractors building a new hospital in Haiti installed an uncommon gift that promises a touch of grace to a people still coping with overwhelming tragedy.
Business
Germany, too, may be nearing recession
Germany’s economy slipped into reverse in the last quarter of 2011 despite strong growth of 3 percent for the full year, the country’s Federal Statistics Office said yesterday.
Politics
Political Notebook
Santorum moves up to fourth, Gingrich drops to fifth in N.H.
The final tally in the New Hampshire primary showed Rick Santorum clinched fourth place and Newt Gingrich took fifth, according to the New Hampshire secretary of state.
Nation & World
Panetta: Marines urinating on dead Taliban ‘deplorable’
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today condemned as ‘‘utterly deplorable’’ a video that purports to depict four US Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.
Sports
Tim Tebow’s uniqueness will challenge Patriots
Built like a fullback, shifty, a load to bring down, Tebow has a skill set that doesn’t resemble any other NFL QB. Luckily, the Patriots are dealing from a position of strength.
Style
Style
Boston fashion icon Maggie Trichon steps down
After 30 years at the heart of the city’s modeling scene, the agency maven is bowing out.
Arts
Perry, ‘Potter’ win big at People’s Choice
Katy Perry is in the popular clique now. The singer-actress won the most People’s Choice Awards at Wednesday’s 38th annual fan-favorite extravaganza.
Opinion
“Supporting Obama’s recess appointment of Ohio attorney general Robert Cordray makes Brown the master of political theater. What does he really believe? Who knows?”
Joan Vennochi
Ideas
To critics, the very notion of a ‘culture-bound illness’ is an outdated relic from the days of European empires.
Latif Nasser on psychiatry’s struggle with “culture-bound syndromes”