breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. WHO TRUMP SELECTS FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY
The president-elect nominates retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, former chief of U.S. Central Command.
2. GATLINBURG, TENN. WORKS TO RECOVER AFTER WILDFIRES
The resort city and other communities across the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains are welcoming back residents and visitors.
3. GOP-LED HOUSE PUSHES $611B DEFENSE BILL FORWARD
A vote is scheduled today on the legislation, which would prohibit closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, and give U.S. troops their largest pay raise in six years.
4. WHAT NEW THREAT CONFRONTS OIL PIPELINE PROTESTERS
Encamped demonstrators fighting the Dakota Access pipeline will soon face the full weight of a Great Plains winter, with its frigid wind chills and deep snow drifts.
5. BODIES OF PLANE CRASH VICTIMS TO ARRIVE BACK HOME IN BRAZIL, BOLIVIA
Families prepare to receive the bodies of 71 victims of this week's air tragedy in Colombia involving a charter plane that apparently ran out of fuel before it crashed.
6. ADULATION OF FIDEL CASTRO RUNS DEEPEST IN RURAL EASTERN CUBA
Castro was born in eastern Cuba, his revolution started there, and it's there where his campaigns for literacy, social welfare and land redistribution had their deepest impact.
7. SOME 200,000 TAKE PART IN INDONESIA BLASPHEMY PROTEST
The conservative Muslims rally in the Indonesian capital against its minority Christian governor who is being prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.
8. PALESTINIANS COMPLAIN OF LOST JOBS AMID W BANK PLANT CLOSINGS
Israel's military shuts down more than a dozen factories and confiscates equipment and 160 tons of wood used or charcoal production.
9. WHERE A FULL-SIZE TITANIC REPLICA IS BEING BUILT
A shipbuilding company in China is constructing the 300-meter (984 foot) vessel as a tourist attraction complete with dining hall, theater, luxury first-class cabins and swimming pool.
10. COWBOYS HOLD OFF VIKES FOR 11TH-STRAIGHT WIN
Dez Bryant scores the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as Dallas drops Minnesota 17-15.