Hello Ideskers!

Today we will start the show with a report from CNN's Nic Robertson on fears that Irish dissidents are re-organizing and planning attcks in Norther Ireland.

Over the week-end, shots were fired at a police garrison in a small town and a 400 pounds bomb was discovered in Belfast near a strategic target.

Should this be a cause for alarm for authorities after more than a decade of peace in Northern Ireland?

I had an interesting viewer comment on this story, asking if the suspects were Pakistani, if the media would call them dissidents. What do you think about the terminology used in mainstream media? Let me know in our comments sections below.

Also today, we will take you to Wall Street. The figure out today from the National Association of Realtors is truly stunning: existing homes sales jumped 10% in October, to their highest level since February 2007.

This – aprt from unemployment, of course – is one of the most crucial indicators in the United States. If the "perceived wealth" of American households goes up, that is, if people feel richer on paper, they are much more likely to spend money and get the economy going again.

There is liquidity in the market, it is just not being lent and not being spent. The challenge is for the economic cycle to starts working again and increase the overall level of spending.

We will ask: is the housing number a blip or is it indicative of an upward trend?

Plus, an amazing story out of Belgium on a man thought to be brain dead and in a vegetative coma, who was awake all along. A doctor tested Rom Houben a few years ago and found that his brain activity was near normal. Houben had been essentially trapped in his own body for 23 years.

This is a case that is sure to rattle the medical community and families whose loved ones are presumed brain dead. We will talk to a top Atlanta neurosurgeon for more on this story.

We will also look at horrific pre-election violence in the Philipppines and whether or not a deal to realease Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – held in Gaza – may be getting closer.

See you at the IDesk!

Hala

Posted by: CNN Anchor, Hala Gorani
Filed under: Today At The I-Desk