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From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Nicole Lapin. Thanks so much for checking in with us today. Here's a look at what's happening right Now In The News.

We now know that at least six people were injured when a school bus crashed in Palmdale. Police at the scene now say that one of the people hurt was the bus driver, and all of the injuries are however said to be minor¹.

The Federal Reserve made an unexpected move in an effort to pump up the economy. It cut the federal funds rate by 3/4 of a percentage point. Now that rate basically affects how much we pay for credit. It also cut the discount rate by the same amount. That is the rate of what banks used to borrow money from the Central Bank. Now the cuts were all in response to the threat of a recession and also sinking world markets.

The government wanted to put him away for life, instead, a federal judge sentenced José Padilla to 17 years and 4 months in prison. Padilla was convicted in August of supporting Al-Qaeda. He's been in custody² ever since 2002. Now back then he was accused of plotting to explode a radioactive dirty bomb. Those charges were however dropped and were part of the case. He was sentenced on today.

Presidential race is definitely heating up. And it is so with the CNN Democratic debate in South Caroline last night. Mostly the bickering³ was between Senator Barack Obama as you see right there and Hillary Clinton, there she is. They went back and forth⁴ over several issues including healthcare and the economy.

Tim Masters is a free man today for the very first time in a decade. In 1999, the Colorado man was convicted in a 1987 murder largely on the basis of his own violent drawings of the scene when he was 15-year-old. Now Master sees conviction was vacated thanks to DNA⁵ evidence and indications he didn't get a fair trial. His ordeal⁶ isn't over just yet though he'll be back in court next month and that's when prosecutors⁷ will announce whether or not they are gonna trial him again. That's considered to be unlikely in the light of DNA evidence.

It looks like there could be Oscars for 'There Will Be Blood''. It leads today's Academy Award nominations⁸ with the film 'No Country For Old Men'. Both films received 8 nominations apiece. Oscar organizers say the show will be on February 24th despite the writers' strike.

And be sure to stick with CNN.com, 24/7 for all the news all around the world and of course, we're gonna get you updates right here throughout the day. Take care.