* Soaring Consumer Confidence: Are Americans Happy It's Trump, or Just Happy It's Over? On the surface, the message from the University of Michigan's final reading of consumer sentiment for November is that President-elect Donald Trump will fix what ails the nation - fast.
* Shia pilgrims among 77 people killed in IS attack in Iraq Some 77 people, most of them Shia pilgrims from Iran and Afghanistan, have been killed in a truck bomb attack in Iraq, officials say.
* Watch: Palestinian cleric calls for use of nukes against Jews A Palestinian Arab cleric from Al-Aqsa recently urged Muslims to use nuclear weapons to "eliminate the state of the Jews."
* Iran's Forces Outnumber Assad's in Syria Iran's military forces and operations in Syria are significantly more than what has been generally reported so far.
* 'Israel is burning': Palestinians, Arab world rejoice over fires Dubai security chief tweets 'Israel banned the muezzin and caught on fire,' while Kuwaiti imam wishes 'Best of luck to the fires :)' and memes gloat over fires raging in Israel for the past three days.
* Israel fires: Tens of thousands flee as fires hit Haifa About 80,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes as wildfires swept into Israel's third largest city of Haifa.
* Russia and Hezbollah 'officially' working together in Syria Military cooperation had been under the radar; Shiite militia pushes credentials as conventional army.
* Nigeria: Muslims carry out coordinated attacks on Christians in 5 villages, murdering 45 'They laid siege to the village before they started shooting sporadically and throwing explosives at our homes. They were armed with guns, knives, machetes and explosives. They slaughtered [and] butchered women, children and old people who could not escape.'
* Report: Islamic State Has Launched at Least 52 Chemical Weapons Attacks A new study finds that the Islamic State has used chemical weapons 52 times in its 'caliphate' in Iraq and Syria, following reports that fighters seeking to liberate the city of Mosul fear increased use of such weapons the closer the jihadists get to defeat.
* EU lawmakers call for halt to Turkey membership talks over post-coup crackdown Members of the European Union Parliament have voted in favor of calling for a temporary halt to EU membership talks with Turkey, due to Ankara's "disproportionate" reaction to July's failed coup.