Thursday, December 1, 2011 - Last Update: 9:32 AM ET (14:32 GMT)

Early Results in Egypt Show a Mandate for Islamists

CAIRO — Winning a dominant majority in Egypt’s first Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak would be the religious movement’s most significant step since the start of the Arab Spring.

Banks Act, Stocks Surge and Skeptics See a Pattern

Market indexes gained more than 4 percent Wednesday after central banks acted to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone. But similar rallies quickly withered.

As Britain Closes Embassies, Iran’s Isolation Grows

LONDON — A day after the British measures, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday he would seek to intensify European economic sanctions on Iran.

Obama Refrains From a Formal ‘I’m Sorry’ to Pakistan

WASHINGTON — The White House has for now overruled State Department officials who favored a show of remorse after a NATO airstrike killed Pakistani soldiers.

A Note to Our Readers About Comments

Jill Abramson, The Times’s executive editor, introduces the improvements to our comment system that can be seen around NYTimes.com starting today.

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, in Yangon on Thursday.
Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
U.S. Will Relax Curbs on Aid to Myanmar

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday made new promises to Myanmar, where she met with the dissident leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Alla Dzhioeva, who claimed victory in South Ossetia's presidential election, spoke outside the main government building in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia.
Musa Sadulayev/Associated Press
Political Standoff Escalates in South Ossetia

MOSCOW — Thousands protested in the Georgian enclave after the invalidation of a presidential election that seemed to favor their candidate over a Kremlin-backed one.

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Nima Habashna is fighting for the rights of Jordanian women to pass on their citizenship to their spouses and children.
Rana F. Sweis
In Jordan, a Struggle for Gender Equality

AMMAN — Women such as Nima Habashna, above, are fighting for the right to pass on their citizenship to their non-Jordanian spouses and children.

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Laurent Gbagbo
Sia Kambou/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Ex-President of Ivory Coast Faces Charges

PARIS — The International Criminal Court on Wednesday said Laurent Gbagbo was accused of four crimes against humanity.

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Robert Champion, 26, a Florida A&M drum major, died after a football game.
Joseph Brown III/The Tampa Tribune, via Associated Press
Student’s Death Turns Spotlight on Hazing

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The death of a drum major in the Florida A&M; marching band has turned a spotlight on a culture of hazing in the band.

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India's Way
Outsourcing Giant Finds It Must Be Client, Too

NEW DELHI — India’s stringent labor laws have led to an elaborate workaround: outsourcing within the country.

In Iraq, Biden Says Tide of Conflict Is Receding

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — Leaders of the United States and Iraq paid tribute to each other’s troops on Thursday.

Irish Audits Fault Catholic Church in Abuse Cases

DUBLIN — Church leaders were slow or did nothing to notify authorities of sexual abuse claims, audits found.

Camps Cleared, but ‘99 Percent’ Lives On in Lexicon

Whatever the long-term effects of the Occupy movement, protesters have succeeded in implanting “We are the 99 percent” into the nation’s vocabulary.

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Personal Tech »

A Thermostat That’s Clever, Not Clunky

The Nest Learning Thermostat can save on heating and cooling costs for your home. It even looks pretty on your wall.

12 Things You Didn’t Know Facebook Could Do

The social network has been adding functions to make it more useful, although many on the site are unaware of them.

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