ADVISORY CNN Wire Outlook

Supervising News Editor Lateef Mungin -- 404-827-1401

UPCOMING

Gaza-Israel-Strike

The U.N. Security Council was to meet behind closed doors Wednesday night on the situation in Gaza where the Israeli military continued to conduct air strikes and militants continued to fire rockets at targets in Israel.

US-Petraeus-Allen-Investigation

President Barack Obama declined Wednesday to join congressional voices calling for an investigation into why the FBI did not notify the White House and other political leaders sooner about the investigation into the affair that led to the resignation of the director of the CIA.

US-Petraeus-What-We-Know

The Petraeus scandal: What we know

Texas-Spanking-Judge

A Texas judge suspended after an online video showed him beating his teenage daughter went viral was reinstated by the Texas Supreme Court.

INTERNATIONAL

Gaza-Israel-Strike

Israel launched a series of blistering air strikes Wednesday on what it says are terrorist targets in Gaza, killing the chief of Hamas' military wing and at least eight others, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

Israel-Gaza-QA

Q&A: Gaza strikes could be beginning of ground attack

US-China-Nuclear-Weapons

China is modernizing its military at a "remarkable rate," including its own nuclear weapons capability, says a congressionally mandated panel exploring the relationship between the United States and China.

MONEY-China-Middle-East-trade

China's Xi Jinping, who is expected to be named president in March and likely next premier Li Keqiang will inherit a foreign policy that puts a premium on partnerships that can help China fuel its resource-hungry economy.

MONEY-China-Europe-economies

Like it or not, China and Europe's economies are intertwined.

Myanmar-Prisoner-Release

Hundreds of prisoners in Myanmar have been granted their freedom, according to the state-run newspaper, just days before President Barack Obama is scheduled to become the first sitting U.S. head of state to visit the fledgling democracy.

Syria-Civil-War

The newly elected leader of the Syrian opposition, cleric Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, said President Barack Obama's comments Wednesday about the war-torn country represent a much-appreciated "good step initially."

Ancient-Panda-Spain

Spanish researchers have discovered fossils they say could be from the oldest identified relative of the giant panda. The specimens are from a species the scientists are calling Kretzoiarctos beatrix, and they are in the range of 11.5 million to 12.5 million years old, according to lead study author Juan Abella, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Spain.

U.S.

US-Petraeus-Allen-Investigation

President Barack Obama declined Wednesday to join congressional voices calling for an investigation into why the FBI did not notify the White House and other political leaders sooner about the investigation into the affair that led to the resignation of the director of the CIA.

US-Petraeus-What-We-Know

The Petraeus scandal: What we know

POL-Petraeus-timeline

Timeline of the Petraeus affair

US-petraeus-broadwell-clearance

As a commissioned officer in the military reserves, Paula Broadwell's security clearance would be "secret" or "top secret," which would allow her access to classified documents, according to military officials.

US-Kelley-Honorary-Consul

In a weekend 911 call to Tampa, Florida, police, Jill Kelley demanded that police help to remove people from her property, describing herself in what sounded like diplomatic terminology.

US-Air-Force-Training-Changes

An investigation into sexual assaults and harassment at the basic-training facility for the U.S. Air Force has led to sweeping changes of how instructors are chosen, as well as to an increase in the number of female instructors for new recruits.

US-Cy-Young-Awards

Tampa Bay Rays starter David Price wins the American League Cy Young Award. New York Mets starter R.A. Dickey wins the National League Cy Young Award.

US-Sandy-Aftermath

In the aftermath of one of the worst weather systems to hit the Northeast, finding adequate shelter is the big concern. What to do with displaced residents, whose homes were rendered dark, cold and powerless by Superstorm Sandy, is now the question plaguing emergency management officials across the Tri-State area. FEMA's answer for New York: Fix up the homes as best they can and put people back in them.

US-Folding-Bicycles-Recall

Consumers are being warned to stop riding all models of the tikit brand of folding bicycles after reports of handlebar stems breaking and injuring riders.

MED-Meningitis-Outbreak

The owner of a company linked to a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak cited his constitutional right to remain silent Wednesday before a congressional subcommittee investigating the firm and 32 deaths nationwide.

MED-cdc-breast-cancer

While breast cancer is still the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer among American women, the number of patients dying from the disease continues to decline. That's the good news; the bad news is that those statistics do not look so good for African-American women. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that large gaps between black and white women in terms of mortality and stage of diagnosis continue to persist.

New-York-Utilities-Sandy

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating whether New York utilities Long Island Power Authority and Consolidated Edison adequately prepared for and responded to Superstorm Sandy, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Colorado-Shooting-Hearing

A judge has postponed a Thursday hearing for Colorado movie-theater shooting suspect James Holmes after Holmes' attorneys claimed he was unable to attend, citing an unspecified condition they said he developed. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 during a midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" July 20 at an Aurora cinema.

POLITICS

POL-Obama-News-Conference

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was unaware of any disclosure of classified information from the scandal engulfing former CIA Director David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, that could damage national security.

POL-obama-rice-GOP

President Barack Obama called out Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain for their "outrageous" comments saying they would block U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice if she is nominated for secretary of state.

POL-Rand-Paul-Rice

Someone should lose their job in the wake of the September attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya, Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." But that someone isn't Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. delegate to the United Nations who two top Republicans said Wednesday should be denied a promotion, if offered, as much of the GOP furor about the U.S. government's response focuses on her. "The person who decided to have no Marines guarding the ambassador should be fired, just plain and simple," he said.

POL-House-Leaders-Fiscal-Cliff

House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday stuck to his post-election tone of saying he wants to come to agreement with President Obama to avert the fiscal cliff, and he moved to set up a team of House Republicans to help negotiate the details.

POL-Poll-Fiscal-Cliff

As the deadline nears for Congress to reach an end-of-the-year agreement to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a new poll released Wednesday indicates Americans feel a sense of urgency about the situation.

MONEY-CEOs-Obama

Honeywell International CEO David Cote struck a hopeful note after his meeting with President Obama on Wednesday. Cote was among 12 CEOs of the nation's largest companies who met with President Obama on Wednesday to talk about the fiscal cliff.

MONEY-Buffett-fiscal-cliff

Warren Buffett is not worried about the fiscal cliff. While it's not ideal, the founder of Berkshire Hathaway thinks that President Obama must be willing to keep pushing for higher taxes on the wealthy, even if it triggers the fiscal cliff that would lead to the automatic onset of tax increases and spending cuts on Jan. 1. The U.S. economy, he said, can weather it.

POL-Senate-Leadership

If voters want major change in Washington, they won't find it in the next Senate's leadership. There will be little turnover in the chamber's top ranks in January, according to Democratic and GOP caucus election results announced Wednesday.

POL-Boehner-House-Speaker

House Speaker John Boehner received a standing ovation after being renominated to his position Wednesday by the House Republican Conference. Nominated by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Boehner gained support from members of his party to continue his speakership. He will be formally elected by a vote in the House of Representatives when the 113th Congress convenes in January. Cantor was also re-nominated as House majority leader.

POL-Pelosi-Democratic-Leader

After keeping colleagues and most of her aides in the dark about her post-election plans for more than a week, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi finally told House Democrats she intended to run again for her post. The official vote isn't until after Thanksgiving, but Pelosi will likely get overwhelming support from her colleagues. After Pelosi revealed her plans at a closed-door caucus meeting on Wednesday, House Democrats cheered loudly and chants of "two more years" erupted in the room, according to several sources in attendance.

POL-2013-governors-races

Take a larger than life governor who may have designs on the White House and a battleground state crucial in presidential politics, and guess what: 2013 might not be as quiet a political year as you thought. New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests in the year after a presidential election, and in both states, the campaign clocks are already ticking.

POL-Romney-Obama-Gifts

Mitt Romney told donors on a call Wednesday that President Barack Obama outmatched him by offering "gifts" to African Americans, Hispanics and young voters, according to various news outlets. "In each case they were very generous in what they gave to those groups," Romney said, according to The New York Times.

POL-Warren-Buffett-Hillary-Clinton-2016

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he hopes Hillary Clinton will become the first female president of the United States in 2016. "I don't see how you could have anybody better qualified," Buffett told CNN's Poppy Harlow in an exclusive interview Wednesday about the current Secretary of State and 2008 White House hopeful.

POL-Barbour-GOP-Exam

While Republicans continue to soul search after their party's loss in the presidential election, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour injected a new term Wednesday to describe the GOP's introspection.

POL-Romney-Obama-Gifts

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana fiercely shot back at Mitt Romney's claim Wednesday that President Barack Obama outmatched the 2012 Republican presidential nominee by offering "gifts" to African-Americans, Hispanics and young voters.

MONEY

MONEY-corzine-mf-global

A Congressional subcommittee investigating the collapse of brokerage MF Global said Wednesday that former CEO Jon Corzine's reckless tactics doomed the firm and ultimately led to a shortfall of $1.6 billion in customer funds.

MONEY-stocks-markets

U.S. stocks fell more than 1% Wednesday as fears of turmoil in the Middle East added to ongoing concerns about a fiscal showdown in the United States.

MONEY-starbucks-teavana

Teavana stock burned up Wednesday afternoon, rising more than 50%, after Starbucks announced it would buy the Atlanta, GA.-based tea company.

MONEY-texas-instruments-layoffs

Chipmaker Texas Instruments said Wednesday that it will lay off 1,700 workers in an effort to shift focus away from its struggling mobile business. The job cuts represent about 5% of TI's staff, and they are part of a previously announced restructuring initiative aimed at cutting costs and increasing its presence in the burgeoning embedded device market. Shares of Texas Instruments rose about 1% in afterhours trading.

MONEY-hostess-liquidation-Thursday

Hostess Brands said Wednesday that it will go into liquidation unless bakers striking in protest against a new contract imposed in bankruptcy court return to work by the end of the day Thursday.

MONEY-poverty-americans

There were nearly 50 million Americans living in poverty in 2011, under an alternative measure released by the Census Bureau Wednesday. That's 16.1% of the nation, higher than the official poverty rate of 15%. The official rate, released in September, showed 46.6 million people living in poverty.

MONEY-health-insurance-premiums

The cost of providing health care benefits to employees rose by just 4.1% this year, the smallest increase in 15 years, according to a survey by human resources consultant Mercer. And employers are expecting to see another modest increase of 5% next year, the survey of 2,800 companies found. That's a far cry from the beginning of the decade, when employers reported increases of 10% to nearly 15% a year. Last year, benefit costs rose by 6.1%.

FEATURES, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY

ENT-Elizabeth-Banks-Welcomes-Second-Child

It's another boy for actress Elizabeth Banks and husband Max Handelman, who recently welcomed their second child via gestational surrogate.

ENT-One-Direction-Rolling-Stones-Mick-Jagger

The music is different, but the intense fandom for One Direction isn't far off from the screaming fans who would mob the Rolling Stones, says the band's legendary frontman, Mick Jagger. The rocker has picked up on the recent fervor for 1D, as the five-member group is called, and Jagger told CNN at Tuesday's premiere of the film "Crossfire Hurricane" that the group reminds him of his band's younger years.

TECH-netiquette-holiday-manners

5 digital tips for saner holiday travel

TECH-petraeus-email-privacy

Here's a thought that might make even the most conscientious e-mail user nervous: "When the CIA director cannot hide his activities online, what hope is there for the rest of us?" The American Civil Liberties Union posed this question in a recent blog post. The group, of course, was referring to the scandal involving David Petraeus, who resigned as head of the spy agency after the FBI uncovered e-mails indicating he was having an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

TECH-Sierra-Leone-16-Year-Old-Tech-Guru

When Kelvin Doe, a then-13-year-old from Sierra Leone, saw that off-the-shelf batteries were too expensive for the inventions he was working on, he made his own at home. Kelvin did not have the privilege to do his project in a school environment. Rather, he was compelled to act by necessity and for the joy of solving practical problems. Kelvin combined acid, soda, and metal, dumped those ingredients in a tin cup, waited for the mixture to dry and wrapped tape around the cup to make his first battery. He failed several times before completing a final, working prototype. He hasn't purchased a battery since. Next up: A generator.

Human-Diet-Evolution

Humans are picky eaters, and not just because we're the only species that reviews restaurants. A new study suggests that our ancestors' diets may have been different from our close primate relatives much earlier than we thought.

COMMENTARY-ghitis-petraeus-5-things

5 things we've learned from Petraeus scandal

COMMENTARY-bergen-petraeus-replacement

Tough choice for Obama on Petraeus' successor

COMMENTARY-honore-sandy-recovery

The Sandy recovery is stumbling, writes Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who led the Task Force Katrina in the aftermath of the hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast in 2005.