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1. The President is testing his ability to manage antagonistic leaders and forcing countries to pick sides

   President Joe Biden this week has confronted escalating tensions with China and Russia, testing his ability to manage antagonistic leaders and forcing other countries to pick sides.

   

2. Analysis: Biden confronts 2 rivals in 24 hours

   Since 1999, as either the full or putative leader of his country, Russian President Vladimir Putin has watched US presidents come and go.

   

3. Biden told Putin that 'things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now'

   • Analysis: Biden confronts 2 rivals in 24 hours

   

4. Opinion: Why Vladimir Putin could start a war

   Is Russian President Vladimir Putin going to launch an invasion into neighboring Ukraine? Enormous movements of Russian troops and military equipment toward the shared border have raised the alarm among Ukrainians and their Western friends.

   

5. Hear Zelensky claim that Russia is plotting coup against him

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a group of Ukrainians and Russians are planning a coup against him at the beginning of December. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

   

6. China threatens the US with retaliation over diplomatic boycott of Winter Olympics

   China has threatened the Biden administration with retaliation over its decision to impose a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, warning the move could harm bilateral relations.

   

7. Omicron coronavirus variant partly evades Pfizer vaccine's protection, study shows

   • Opinion: 'Twindemic' fears are back • Anime convention may offer 'earliest looks' at Omicron spread in US

   

8. Panel investigating Jan. 6 isn't done with Mark Meadows

   • Analysis: McConnell's near-comic attempt to not talk about Trump • Exclusive: Jan. 6 panel casts wide net with over 100 subpoenas for phone records

   

9. Olaf Scholz voted in as Germany's new chancellor

   Olaf Scholz was voted in as Germany's new Chancellor on Wednesday, bringing to end Angela Merkel's four terms at the helm of Europe's largest economy.

   

10. House passes new debt ceiling plan after McConnell cuts deal with Democrats

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have reached an agreement to create a one-time process that would let Democrats raise the debt ceiling on their votes alone, a deal that underscores the lengths the GOP leader will go to avoid a damaging default without Republican support to increase the national borrowing limit.

    

11. Teenager arrested for beheading sister as mother allegedly held victim's legs

    A teenager has been arrested in western India for beheading his 19-year-old sister while his mother allegedly held the young woman's legs, according to police.

    

12. Elon Musk doesn't want US government spending any more money on EV efforts

    At the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested that Biden's spending bill be "deleted." The bill includes up to a $12,500 tax credit for electric vehicles and subsidies for EV charging stations.

    

13. Accuser testifies Ghislaine Maxwell told her she 'had a great body for Epstein and his friends.' She was 14.

    Carolyn said she was just 14 years old when she began to go to Jeffrey Epstein's home in Palm Beach, Florida, two or three times per week in the early 2000s.

    

14. Indian Air Force helicopter crashes with defense chief on board

    An Indian Air Force helicopter crashed Wednesday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu with Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat on board, according to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

    

15. 'Handmaid's Tale' writer on what totalitarianism could look like in US

    CNN's Christiane Amanpour speaks with Margaret Atwood, the writer behind the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale," about the parallels between what she wrote in the 1980s and the echoes of totalitarianism in the US today.

    

16. Golf courses on borrowed time as Earth's weather patterns become wilder

    The 30 or so golf courses in the Salt Lake County of Utah drink up around nine million gallons of water a day to stay pristine green -- that's more than 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

    

17. Opening statements to begin in trial of Minneapolis ex-cop who killed Daunte Wright

    Opening statements in the trial of a suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a routine traffic stop are expected Wednesday in the same courtroom where another ex-cop was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd.

    

18. Supreme Court hears appeal of Maine parents seeking to have state pay for religious schools

    The Supreme Court will return to the issue of religious liberty Wednesday and consider a Maine school tuition assistance program that parents say violates their religious rights under the First Amendment.

    

19. GOP rep. calls out 'performance artist' members of his own party

    At a campaign event, Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw went after members of the GOP who he says are lying for their own benefit.

    

20. Climber can keep $84,000-worth of jewels he found on Mont Blanc

    A climber who found a trove of precious stones on Mont Blanc has been given half of the 150,000-euro ($168,700) haul to keep after authorities couldn't find the original owner.

    

21. Protests after professor says men should be prioritized for fields such as law and medicine

    Hundreds of protestors demonstrated at Boise State University in Idaho over the weekend following comments made at a conference by a professor who said men should be prioritized for fields of study such as engineering, medicine and law.

    

22. Japanese billionaire soars into space

    Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, soared into outer space aboard a Russian-built Soyuz capsule and rocket Wednesday morning, kicking off the first self-funded tourism mission to the International Space Station in a decade.

    

23. 'House from hell' undergoes incredible transformation. See what it looks like now

    A Colorado Springs, Colorado, house was so badly trashed by a former tenant that its real estate agent described it as "the house from hell." The home sold for $580,000 and is back on the market with a new transformation. CNN affiliate KKTV takes us inside.

    

24. State police investigate death of former NFL player after he was taken into custody

    Alabama state authorities are investigating the death of former New Orleans Saints player Glenn Foster Jr. two days after he was taken into police custody.

    

25. Nick Cannon mourns loss of his youngest child to a brain tumor

    Television host and actor Nick Cannon shared with his talk show audience on Tuesday that his youngest child, Zen, has died.

    

26. Watch Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Hart revive 'The Facts of Life' and 'Diff'rent Strokes'

    ABC's "Live in Front of a Studio Audience" aired reenactments of sitcoms from the '70s and '80s with a star-studded cast. Watch to see how they compare to the originals.

    

27. 'A surreal moment': Fired employees share what it was like on that mass-firing Zoom

    Christian Chapman, a former underwriter at Better.com, thought he was logging onto another of CEO Vishal Garg's town halls.

    

28. The new 'Harry Potter' reunion trailer is here

    A new trailer for the "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" special, which will debut on HBO Max on Jan. 1, has been released (CNN, HLN and HBO are all part of WarnerMedia).

    

29. Chinese couple reunited with abducted son after 14-year search that inspired a hit movie

    A couple in southern China were reunited with their missing teenage son in an emotional ceremony on Monday, ending their 14-year-search which inspired a hit movie.

    

30. Australia joins US in diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

    Australia will join the United States in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Wednesday.

    

31. Analysis: China claims its authoritarian one-party system is a democracy -- and one that works better than the US

    As some 100 countries prepare to convene virtually for US President Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy, China is busy trying to convince the world that it's also a democracy -- and its version is superior to the United States.

    

32. Bob Costas shares personal story on Beijing's playbook of repressing criticism

    Veteran American sports commentator Bob Costas joins CNN's Erin Burnett to discuss the Biden administration's decision to partially boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

    

33. IOC defends 'silent diplomacy' in Peng Shuai case

    The International Olympic Committee has defended its handling of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai's disappearance from public life as "quiet diplomacy," amid criticism of its approach.

    

34. Podcast: Former chief of staff to Pence on how the virus became politicized

    

35. 14 items you should honestly gift yourself to help ease holiday stress

    

36. 30 stocking stuffers for everyone on your list

    

37. 28 gifts under $100 that look way more expensive than they are

    

38. The world's newest nation is both drying up and drowning

    Many of the main roads running through Unity State are now completely submerged, yet the traffic remains. There are no cars, just people, some of whom swim, others wade, pushing their way through the heavy silt-laden water. The more fortunate glide by on canoes with their livestock and whatever possessions they could salvage from the floods.

    

39. Here's what people Googled in 2021

    If 2020 was defined by a spike in people frantically Googling for everything related to the coronavirus, this year saw the old standards of sports and entertainment make a resurgence in online searches around the world.

    

40. Giggling foxes charm the internet

    Listen to foxes giggle as they're tickled. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the answer to "what did the fox say?"