Hello everyone,

We will start the show with a live report from the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet in London where the U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will once again defend an increasingly unpopular Afghanistan policy.

The Prime Minister is expected to reiterate the notion that Al Qaeda and Islamic extremism remain the biggest threat to national security and that Britain's engagement in Afghanistan is essential.

We have a live report.

We will also report on Barack Obama's first trip to China as President. The American leader took questions from students at a town hall meeting in Shanghai over the week-end. A balancing act for President Obama, whose challenge it to achieve rapprochement with China while raising human rights and political freedom issues.

Today, the American president is in Beijing ahead of a summit and state dinner tomorrow. We will have full coverage.

Then, Marc McKay will join me to talk about a carmaker bucking the trend in Formula One: rather than running in the opposite direction, Mercedes Benz is getting back into the sport. We'll tell you all about the move and whether it will pay off.

And- the ex-Republican vice-presidential Sarah Palin is on a media blitz to sell her new book in which she reveals details of her unsuccessful 2008 ticket with John McCain.

Questions surrounding her political ambitions are surfacing again. Will she run for the Republican nomination in 2012?

On that topic, a new CNN/Opinion Research poll reveals that only 28% of Americans think Palin is qualified to be president, while 70% say she is not.

Also today, we will preview NASA's latest launch and Maradona's two-month ban from the football pitch.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello IDeskers,

Today, we will start the show with the formal announcement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators will be tried in civilian courts in New York.

This means that they will be moved from their cells in Guantanamo Bay and prosecuted for their role in the September 11th attacks by federal prosecutors, not in military tribunals.

We will talk to former federal prosecutor and high-profile attorney Kendall Coffey on what happens next. How do admissions made using "harsh interrogation techniques" like waterboarding affect the trial? What kind of precedent will this set? Why are accused USS Cole attackers being tried in military courts?

Don't forget to take part in our daily poll below, on whether you think Khalid Sheikh Mohammed can get a fair trial. We will also be reading some of your tweets @halagorani on air, so leave your comments as well.

Also today, we will discuss the meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It's interesting to see France roll out the red carpet for Mister Assad.

When I was in Paris a few weeks ago, there was considerable talk that President Sarkozy was feeling snubbed by U.S President Barack Obama. Some were speculating that because of that, Mister Sarkozy is trying to forge new alliances with countries on his side of the Atlantic.

The meeting, designed to make a fresh push for Mideast peace by involving the Syrians (not quite on President Obama's new diplomatic engagement policy yet), positions France in an interesting way.

Plus, we are live in Islamabad for more on the latest bombing attributed to Taliban insurgents. The battle between the Taliban and Pakistani government for control of several key regions in the country continues, with ordinary civilians paying the highest price.

We are also live on Wall Street (the rally continues) and London (where Prime Minister Brown is making troop increase recommendations for Afghanistan.)

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello everyone,

Today, we will start the show with the Afghanistan question, and more questions surrounding America's decision on whether to send reinforcements to the war-torn country.

Complicating the equation are reports that Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, a retired General, expressed concern over a troop build-up (the same troop increase the commander of NATO forces General Stanley McChrystal asked for).

According to the Washington Post: Eikenberry "sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing deep concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise."

We will talk to Jill Dougherty in Washington and Chris Lawrence in Baghdad about the new developments and how they might impact President Obama's decision on Afghanistan.

Also today, we will go live to Spain, where the trial of eleven men suspected of plotting to attack the underground system in Barcelona.

And we will take you live to East Africa, where David McKenzie is following the story of a Somali judge, who'd jailed accused pirates in the past, found shot to death in an autonomous region of Somalia.

Our resident internet and gaming expert Errol Barnett will join me in the studio to talk about Microsoft reportedly coming down hard on a million players who downloaded pirated version of its new game "Call of Duty."

Microsoft has banned as many as a million players from Xbox Live for altering their consoles in order to play pirated versions of games, according to reports in InformationWeek.

All that and the latest weather, sport and business headlines.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello everyone,

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month ninety one years ago, World War I came to an end after the signing of an Armistice in Compiegne, France.

Some nine decades later, only three surviving World War I veterans remain. None from France or Germany, whose leaders met at the Tomb of the Unknown under the Arc of Triomphe for the first time ever to remember the war dead.

And some nine decades later, both countries and many other NATO allies are engaged in Afghanistan, where the mission and the strategy are still being debated. Today, U.S. President Barack Obama laid a wreath in Arlington Cemetery on a day he will again hold meetings on whether to increase American troop levels in Afghanistan.

We will cover Armistice Day remembrances in Paris, London and Washington, as well as the ongoing debate over what to do in today's active warzones.

On that note, there is a new CNN/Opinion research poll on whether Americans think President Barack Obama is taking too long to clarify the United States' mission in Afghanistan and make a firm decision on troop levels. It's been three months since USAF commander General Stanley McChrystal submitted his report on the situation, asking for up to 40,000 more troops.

We will cover all angles.

Also today, we will go live to Berlin for more on the life sentence a German court imposed on the man accused of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman to death in a Dresden courtroom earlier this year. We will have the latest from Germany and reaction from Egypt.

Another sad story from Germany, the suicide of German goalkeeper Robert Enke, who apparently killed himself at the age of 32. Reports indicate he left a suicide note. Diana Magnay will cover that for us.

Plus, we will go live to Jerusalem for the latest on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' statements and the increasing pessimism surrounding the propsect of peace talks with Israel.

Finally, have you noticed Sammy Sosa's looking a lot paler these days? We have the reason behind his startling change of appearance and how fans are reacting to it all.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Today, we will start the show with a live report from Ed Lavandera in Fort Hood, Texas.

Some 3,000 people, including President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are expected to attend a memorial service to honor the 13 soldiers killed during a shooting rampage last week.

Meantime, the investigation into what happened and why the suspected killer, Major Nidal Hasan, allegedly committed mass murder, is ongoing. We know that he is injured but is now conscious and talking.

We have more on his possible ties to extremist elements, namely a cleric currently in Yemen.

Also today, we take you live to Islamabad for the latest on yet another suspected Taliban suicide bombing in Pakistan. A car bomb explosion killed at least ten people in Peshawar. Insurgents are putting considerable pressure on the Pakistani government as it continues an offensive in South Waziristan.

Then, it's over to London where the U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing increasing criticism over Britain's Afghanistan policy. On a day when several British soldiers killed in Afghanistan were repatriated home, Brown answered a variety of question during a news conference in London.

This is a politically – and strategically – difficult time for the U.K. Prime Minister. We have the latest.

Later at the IDesk, we will take you to the Washington, D.C. area, where the man convicted of the 2002 Washington sniper attacks will be put to death. A last minute appeal to spare John Allen Mohammed was rejected by the governor of Virginia.

Finally, I'll chat with Terry Baddoo about former number one tennis player Marat Safin, whot told a French newspaper he thinks Andre Agassi should return his titles and championship money after admitting to using chrystal meth in the 1990's.

What do you think? Tweet me @halagorani.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello everyone,

Jim Clancy, who was there the day the Berlin wall came down 20 years ago, will join us live from the German capital for coverage of the celebration surrounding the 20th anniversary of the historic event.

He will take us through the nuts and bolts of the day and look ahead to the world leaders scheduled to give speeches. Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown and Dimitry Medvedev will help mark the anniversary. President Barack Obama did not make the trip, however, sending his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, instead.

Also today, we will take you live to Baghdad where the Iraqi parliament has finally passed an election law, making January elections possible.

The deadlock and delays leading up to the vote had Americans very worried: not holding elections as scheduled could have made Iraq more unstable than it is now, strengthening the hand of insurgent groups determined to perpetuate chaos there.

The question now is: will the deal hold? Will officials have the time it takes to organize elections throughout the country?

Plus, the rally on Wall Street is sending the Dow to new highs for the year. Unemployment? What unemployment? The dollar is down and stocks are up on hopes interest rates will stay low and government will continue to commit to giantn stimulus plans.

We are live at the New York Stock Exchange.

The second half of the show will probably be composed entirely of heads of state speeches, which we will bring you live on CNN.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello everyone,

Today, we start with a live report from Jerusalem on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to not seek reelection next January.

The increasingly unpopular and isolated Palestinian leader will not run again because, according to aides, his frustration with American efforts to referee a peace deal with Israel has reached boiling point.

Aides say the final straw came when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to support a slowdown, rather than a total freeze in Israeli settlement construction.

We are expecting Mister Abbas to deliver a speech detailing his reasons for not seeking another term at 130pm EST. We will broadcast some of it live.

Also today, we will go live to Baghdad to talk about reports that Saudi Arabia has bombed rebel position in Northwestern Yemen.

The Shia rebels in that part of Yemen have been in conflict with the Yemeni government for years. Saudi Arabia has supported Yemen's Sunni leaders. If this is confirmed, it would mean that Saudi Arabia is taking drastic military action to defeat the Shia rebels outside of its own borders.

Information is always difficult to gather from that remote part of the Middle East. Mohammed Jamjoom has been doing the legwork and will tell us what he knows.

Plus, Octavia Nasr will join me to talk about an interview she conducted with the mother of Neda, the young woman whose death became the symbol of the anti-government movement in Iran. It is Neda's mother's first ever interview on a U.S. network.

Nic Robertson will join us from London for the latest on Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's trial at the Hague, and reports proceedings will be delayed until March of next year.

Plus all the latest news from the world of weather, business and sport.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Hello everyone,

We are planning on talking live to our Tehran correspondent for the latest on anti-government protests. Today is the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the American embassy there.

Opposition demonstrators vowed to come out in force. We are hearing reports of violence on the streets of the capital as several thousand defy government orders not to protest.

We will then take you to Jerusalem, for more on the Israeli Navy's seizure of a cargo ship carrying weapons authorities say were bound for Syria, and ultimately, Hezbollah militants in Southern Lebanon.

Paula Newton will then join us to talk about an Italian court's ruling, convicting 23 American CIA agents of the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003. The agents were not at the trial – and therefore not in custody – but because the Italian judge ordered them jailed, they have effectively become international fugitives.

Also today, the big news out of Germany: not the lead-up to the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, but General Motors' decision to back out of a deal to sell its European unit to a Canadian group. The German government and labor unions are furious and say Opel's future is once again in doubt. We'll discuss this story with Jim Boulden in London.

We will go to Washington, D.C., to talk about what yesterday's off-year election defeat for the Democrats mean to the Obama White House. President Obama was elected exactly one year ago todayr. Should the bruising loss for Democrats in key local elections be a source of worry for the Democratic party? We'll analyze the results.

On that note, don't forget to vote in our poll today on how you rate Barack Obama's performance so far. I'll read out results at the IDesk.

We are also live in Berlin with Jim Clancy, on Wall Street and in Kabul.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Pres. Barack Obama's opposition party, the Republicans, won 2 out of the 3 biggest races in Tuesday's election. Some claim it's a sign of waning support for the U.S. president. So, we wanted to know: