From the cnn Center in Atlanta, I'm Nicole Lapin. Here's a look at what's happening right NOW IN THE NEWS.
The National Retail Federation is now estimating that more than 132 million people will shop this weekend. And analysts say that sales could be the weakest in 5 years and that's why retailers and malls open up their doors at midnight, really trying to usher in the crowds.
More than 150 people were rescued from a Canadian cruise ship after it hit a huge chunk of ice right near Antarctic. The ship had started taking on water, forcing passengers to move to lifeboats. They waited in some freezing temperatures until a passing Norwegian liner picked all of them up. According to the cruise ship company, most of those onboard were from Britain, then other ones the United States and Canada.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud handed over the country's security to the army just hours before he was to step down. His office is now saying that conditions and risks on the ground could lead to a state of emergency while the lawmakers are deadlocked over the choice for a new president.
And there is new evidence in the murder of a British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Italian prosecutors now say that DNA tests show that the latest suspect Rudy Hermann Guede had sex with Kercher the night she died. It's really unclear whether or not that sex was consensual. Guede is now being held in Germany and waiting extradition to Italy. He says he's innocent.
One Florida Thanksgiving was filled with 6 little people, demanding diaper changes. The very first sextuplets recorded in Florida are all home together for the very first time yesterday .Infant Charlie Byler left the hospital on Wednesday. The five boys and one alone girl were born on September 1st, about 2 months earlier.
And those are the headlines at this hour. For more on those stories and other news of the day, cnn is always your place to turn whether you are watching online, watching on television or watching on your cellphone when you are on the go. Thanks so much for watching. Take care.
