Shop Till You Drop: A crowd of 15,000 waited outside Macy’s on Herald Square until the doors opened at 8 pm. Big chain retailers across the country opened for a 24-hour shopathon. Wal-Mart opened at 6 pm, two hours earlier than last year. The company says it sold 2.8 million towels, two million TVs, 1.4 million tablets, 300,000 bicycles and 1.9 million dolls.

  The early openings caused a reaction among some workers who would have preferred to stay  home on Thanksgiving, and caused a national debate about whether retailers are killing the holiday. As an alternative to Black Friday, the Patagonia outdoor clothing company declared today a day to celebrate what you already own. The Pizza Hut chain has suggested to an Indiana franchise that they rehire a manager who was fired because he refused to open on Thanksgiving.

World: US forces bombed an Afghan home killing a small child and injuring two women. The attack is likely to hinder the signing of a defense agreement with Afghanistan. The air strike targeted a man who ran into the house. A government spokesman said, “If such operations continue, there will be no agreement.” President Hamid Karzai has long complained about civilian deaths and US raids on Afghan houses.

• China scrambled air patrols to its newly declared airspace over islands in dispute with Japan. In recent days the US, Japan, and South Korea have sent unannounced military aircraft through the area despite China’s warning that all aircraft must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face “defensive emergency measures.”
• Thai protesters stormed military headquarters demanding support in their effort to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The increasingly aggressive protesters, who briefly occupied the grounds of army headquarters, claim Yingluck is really a tool for her billionaire brother, who is the former prime minister. The army’s chief told the protesters not to ask the military to take a side in the political dispute.
• More than 40 people died in an explosion at a Libyan ammunition depot. Authorities said the explosion happened when some people were trying to steal ammunition.

National: The Connecticut doctor whose wife and two daughters were murdered in a 2007 home invasion has become the father of a son with his new wife. Dr. William Petit met his wife Christine through the charitable foundation he set up in memory of his family.

Sky News: The Comet ISON, called by some the “Comet of the Century,” was destroyed passing in close proximity to the sun. The giant ball of ice and dust disappeared behind the sun and reappeared on the other side as a blur of debris. It would have been subjected to temperatures of 2,000 degrees. Astronomers,  who were hoping for a weeklong view of a comet with a spectacular tail, are disappointed.

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