Congress averts a government shutdown.  Bill Cosby sort of breaks his silence.  And more than a dozen people are held hostage at a Sydney cafe.

It's Monday, and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day.

SYDNEY SIEGE

More than a dozen hostages at cafe: An armed  person/people took more than a dozen hostage in the heart of Sydney's business district, displaying a black flag with Arabic script in the window. Police surrounded the cafe for hours, and said it was unclear who the hostage taker was.

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Storm-related outages leave the East Coast in the dark. There's a day of kindness and sadness in Ferguson. And oil prices plummet.

It's Friday, and here are the "5 things to know for your New Day."

1. THANKSGIVING OUTAGES
No power, no problem: Storm-related power outages hit across the Northeast, leaving some chopping breadcrumbs by flashlight, cooking turkeys on the grill and watching Netflix on phones. Many New Englanders were without power. In New Hampshire, more than 133,000 customers were still in the dark this morning.

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Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson speaks out. Protests related to the Michael Brown case grow from coast to coast. And storm delays await Thanksgiving travelers.

It's Wednesday, and here are the "5 things to know for your New Day."

1. DARREN WILSON
Officer speaks out: Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, in his first interview since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, maintains that he did his job right. Wilson told ABC News yesterday that he's not tormented by that fateful encounter in suburban St. Louis last summer. "I don't think it's haunting," Wilson says. "It's always going to be something that happened. The reason I have a clean conscience is that I know I did my job right."

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