Mass. pupils near the top in math and science

Eighth-graders outperformed most countries on a highly regarded international math and science exam, according to results being released Tuesday.

Justice in the shadows | Secret courts

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/07/05/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/wiggs_lumpkin_3met.jpg Courts inside prisons, far from public view

Thousands of immigrants find themselves at the mercy of a legal system that, for many, amounts to an assembly line toward deportation.

Surrounded by members of Congress, President Bush George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act on November 25, 2002.

The growth of the US immigration system

A timeline of key dates for the expansion of the system, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Marybeth Mills Muldowney (right) wants the mortgage deduction unaltered.

Debee Tlumacki for the Boston Globe

Loss of mortgage deduction would be hard hit in Mass.

The mortgage-interest tax deduction that homeowners have long enjoyed could be diminished or eliminated as part of efforts to reduce the federal deficit.

The stars were out on Monday night, but none were brighter than Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who threw four touchdown passes and even ran for one demonstrative first down.

MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF

Patriots 42, Texans 14

Patriots rip upstart Texans

On the way to a 42-14 domination of the visitors, New England reasserted its status as a top team not just in the AFC but in the NFL.

Texans quarterback Matt Schaub tries to hide but he can’t escape the sack by Rob Ninkovich (50) in the first quarter.

Christopher L. Gasper

Dominant Patriots defense earned the spotlight

The Patriots’ defensive improvement is not a figment of fertile imaginations. It’s real.

Mass. will eliminate toll plazas, collectors

The state plans to switching to a $100 million all-electronic system that would remove toll plazas from the Mass. Turnpike and other roads, Governor Patrick said.

Denise Jackson, a Salvation Army bell ringer, outside the Stop & Shop at Vinnin Square in Swampscott.

Kevin Cullen

Stop and hear the bells

Keith Lane is a high-powered ad executive. Denise Jackson is a disabled Salvation Army bell ringer. One cold night, their paths crossed outside a supermarket in Swampscott.

Mattapan killings juror sent home; work starts anew

The man was dismissed from the jury after other jurors told court officials that he revealed to them that he had researched ballistics information online.

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Globe exclusives

Lori Hartnett, pictured at her Quincy home with her mother, Joan McGregor.

G Cover

Buying gifts for the hard-to-please
“L’EMINENCE GRISE”

Frame By Frame

Poking fun at the powerful — in an artful way
Dean Zulich’s “Mask 1.”

Exhibit celebrates creativity and talent in Bosnia

Meet the Fall All-Scholastics
Marilyn Riseman has rubbed elbows with the connected since her youth.

Marilyn Riseman central to Boston’s chic society

Diversity Boston Roundtable

Boston diversity status check
Director Peter Jackson.

‘The Hobbit’ emerges
Matt Schaub and the Texans enter Monday’s game with an 11-1 record.

Dan Shaughnessy

Texans have no chance
“There is a growing group of folks who are looking at this and realizing we don’t have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year’s end,” Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker said.

Hopes rise for a deal on tax rates
AnnMarie Duchon challenged pay inequity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Mass. lags on pay for women in the US

How to donate to Globe Santa
Ethan Gagnon, a student at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, used a digital Braille typewriter.

Braille gets a digital update

Sports

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Vince Wilfork knocks the ball from Texans QB Matt Schaub during a first-quarter sack.

Texans couldn’t deliver best effort against Patriots

New England snapped Houston’s six-game winning streak and put a small crack in a team that had every reason to be confident coming in.

Metro

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John Amabile, lawyer for Dwayne Moore, who is accused of killing four people, spoke with reporters outside Courtroom 906 Monday in Suffolk Superior Court. Last week, former state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill (right) left Courtroom 907, where he is being tried on white-collar crime charges.

A tale of two courtrooms at Suffolk Superior Court

In a coincidence of courthouse scheduling, the murder trial of Dwayne Moore and the corruption trial of Timothy Cahill are unfolding in adjacent courtrooms.

Columnists

Farah Stockman

Food aid fattens up lobbyists
WesWelker cradles the ball as he hits the deck inside the 5-yard line after giving Houston defensive back Kareem Jackson (25) the slip. The play set up the Patriots’ first touchdown.

Dan Shaughnessy

Patriots look like they’re heading to Super Bowl

Joanna Weiss

For parents, where to draw the line on risk?

Boston Capital

Mass. biotechs glitter in new golden age
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub tries to hide but he can’t escape the sack by Rob Ninkovich (50) in the first quarter.

Christopher L. Gasper

Dominant Patriots defense earned the spotlight

Juliette Kayyem

Qatar arms deals expose limits of US

Tech Lab Plus

Cheap Nikon Coolpix takes classy shots
Matt Schaub and the Texans enter Monday’s game with an 11-1 record.

Dan Shaughnessy

Texans have no chance

Adrian Walker

Worthy battle ends in victory

John E. Sununu

Best energy policy? None

CyPhy Works says its drones can’t be jammed by an enemy.

Innovation Economy

SolidWorks team reunites for new venture

Nation & World

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As the Syrian conflict has spilled into Lebanon, soldiers patrolled in Tripoli after clashes there killed at least 17 people.

Syrian rebels capture part of massive army base

The rebels captured part of a military base near the northern city of Aleppo, strengthening their hold near the Turkish border.

Politics

President Obama brought his pressure-Congress campaign to the heart of industrial America.

In Michigan, President Obama affirms tax stand

Obama warned Monday that he ‘‘won’t compromise’’ on his demands that the wealthiest Americans pay higher tax rates.

Business

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Bernard Madoff was arrested four years ago, and is now serving a prison term.

Four years later, still tracking Bernard Madoff’s scheme

So far, $9.3 billion of the estimated $17.5 billion investors put into Madoff’s sham investment business has been recovered.

Arts

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Book Review

Some pieces the late John Updike wrote between 1990-2008 have been turned into his third book of art reviews.

‘Always Looking: Essays on Art’ by John Updike

The posthumous volume of art criticism vividly gambols through three centuries.

Lifestyle

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“The message transmitted through these [works] is that you are now a link in a chain that protects maternal and child health in Mexico,” says Neil Leifer, (above) with a bowl made by a Mexican artisan.

Nonprofit helps artisans in Mexico get the lead out

Neil Leifer founded a nonprofit that helps ceramic artisans from rural Mexico convert from lead-based to lead-free glazes.

Diversity Boston

Diversity Boston

Left to right: Tenneh Sesay, Mussuba Samati, Shanae Saddler, Penda Seck, Shanique Lewis, Alexandra Zuluaga, Makiz Nasirahmad, Ieisha Sampson, and La’Neece Byrd.

Teen perspectives on race and ethnicity

Young writers give their thoughts on whether divisions still exist based on skin color or ethnicity and whether discrimination is a factor in their lives.

Magazine

The cover for the December 9 2012 issue

The drug lab scandal: Who’s cleaning it up?
The cover for the December 2 2012 issue

5 inspired rooms
The cover for the November 25 2012 issue

Cambridge’s Bluefin Labs decodes social media chatter
The cover for the November 18 2012 issue

7 holiday styles that shine

Opinion

“The question is where we draw the line between wise precaution and paralyzing fear.”

Joanna Weiss 

Ideas

“Gift-giving has long been a topic of fascination for experts on human behavior...Their work has produced insights that cast an analytical--and helpful--light on the trials of our yearly quest to delight family and friends.”

Leon Neyfakh on the analyzed gift 

“There are a lot of people who have no idea about the possibility of the mortgage deduction going away. This is a serious issue and it’s real money out of their pockets.”

Marybeth Mills Muldowney,  a Norwell real estate agent