Millions of students are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time after their parents lost homes or jobs in the economic crisis.

Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Economy

Pfizer’s aggressive strategy may offer lessons for drug makers facing similar losses of patent protection for other blockbuster drugs over the next few years.

Facing Generic Lipitor Rivals, Pfizer Battles to Protect Its Cash Cow

Newt Gingrich is adamant that he is not a lobbyist, but in the eight years since he started his health care consultancy, he has made millions of dollars while helping companies promote their services.

Gingrich Gave Push to Clients, Not Just Ideas

The spirit of defiance that characterized the Herman Cain campaign after accusations of sexual harassment arose seemed to be slipping away amid a report of an affair.

Cain, Support Eroding, Weighs Dropping Bid

Critics say Moody’s Investors Service and other ratings agencies missed signs of trouble in Greece, now the center of the crisis in the euro zone.

Ratings Firms Misread Signs of Greek Woes

The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Gounod’s “Faust” on Tuesday night updated the story to take place in an atomic bomb laboratory between the world wars.

This Faust Builds Atom Bombs (He Still Sings)

Six central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, said they had agreed to lower the cost of borrowing dollars for foreign banks.

6 Central Banks Act to Buy Time in Europe Crisis

Market indexes gained more than 4 percent Wednesday after central banks acted to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone. But similar rallies in the last 18 months have quickly withered.

Banks Act, Stocks Surge and Skeptics See a Pattern

A four-year accord calls for union jobs on the 737 Max in Washington State, and if it is approved by members, the union said it would no longer contest a nonunion plant in South Carolina.

Machinists and Boeing Reach Deal

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

A Thermostat That’s Clever, Not Clunky

Jeremy Scott has succeeded as a fashion designer by staying true to himself and to his vision.

Jeremy Scott, Fashion’s Last Rebel

In many recent films — including “The Tree of Life,” “Beginners” and “Midnight in Paris” — men are seen facing some type of existential crisis.

American Masculinity, Shown in All Its Angst

A group of young, ambitious writers and editors have created a scrappy online journal and roving clubhouse that functions as a kind of Intellectuals Anonymous for the city’s literary underclass, one that has been largely ignored by the publishing establishment.

The Literary Cubs

The Philadelphia Orchestra, pursuing bankruptcy to shed pension obligations, is only one of the United States orchestras strained financially by promised benefits.

Other Orchestras Fear Paying Price for Philadelphia Pension Crisis

In an ambitious expansion, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art chose a design meant to convey an open, friendly and embracing presence to the public.

An Imposing Museum Turns Warm and Fuzzy

The Dining staff highlights some favorites from 2011.

The Year’s Notable Cookbooks

The company’s $2.4 billion plan to buy Pringles from Procter & Gamble has run into accounting and other issues.

Diamond Foods Makes Odd Moves

New advertisements for Pepto-Bismol, the upset stomach remedy, feature feasts, as well as facts about food and an antihunger campaign.

Too Much Holiday Food? This Campaign’s for You

Corrections appearing in print on November 30, 2011.

Corrections: November 30

A city’s decision to ban fur sales has support, but fashionable retailers say they will explore a change of address.

A Cool Reception to a Ban on Fur

To ease the way for harried travelers, hotels are adding services, from wardrobe storage to airport concierges.

Airlines Cut Back, Hotels Step In

Judge Jed S. Rakoff’s rejection of a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Citigroup has undermined a longstanding policy at the agency.

For S.E.C., Court Ruling on Penalties Ties a Hand

The two-part survey from the permanent collection of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, which opens this week, approaches its subject alphabetically.

A Museum’s Encyclopedic Closet

As home values have plunged, entrepreneurs have found it very difficult to get loans using their residences as collateral. Sometimes, they even lose their business.

Why It’s Getting Harder, and Riskier, to Bet the House

“The Grove,” on PBS Thursday in honor of World AIDS Day, examines a battle in San Francisco over the National AIDS Memorial Grove, dedicated to people who have died from the disease.

November 30, 2011

Headlines from November 30, 2011

Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Economy

Facing Generic Lipitor Rivals, Pfizer Battles to Protect Its Cash Cow

Gingrich Gave Push to Clients, Not Just Ideas

Cain, Support Eroding, Weighs Dropping Bid

Ratings Firms Misread Signs of Greek Woes

Billboard 200

Take Care

Christmas

21

Concerto: One Night In Central Park

Under The Mistletoe

Historical Context for November 30, 2011