Warren, Biden and other Democrats threaten to boycott debate amid labor feud

  • Union plans to picket Loyola Marymount University venue
  • Warren calls for DNC to find solution in line with principles

All the Democratic presidential candidates slated to participate in next week’s debate have threatened to skip the event if an ongoing labor dispute forces them to cross picket lines on the university campus where the debate will be hosted.

A labor union says it will picket as Loyola Marymount University hosts Thursday’s sixth Democratic debate, and Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders responded by tweeting they would not participate if that meant crossing it. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang followed suit.

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Donald Trump: supreme court to rule on release of bank, tax and finance records

  • Congress and prosecutors have sought Trump’s tax returns
  • Court likely to issue a ruling in June during election campaign

The supreme court said on Friday it will hear Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major tussle between the president and Congress that could also affect the 2020 presidential campaign.

Related: Trump: New York prosecutors subpoena eight years of tax returns

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House committee votes to advance Trump articles of impeachment – live

Judiciary committee approved two articles on party lines, setting up vote for full House next week

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There’s a workers’ strike at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the location of next week’s Democratic debate - which has prompted, at this point, six of the seven candidates who’ve qualified to participate, to threaten to boycott the event.

They say they’ll refuse to cross the picket line. Out of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and Amy Klobuchar, who are the seven who’ve qualified for the debate, all but Klobuchar are saying this afternoon that they stand in solidarity with the workers and won’t cross their picket line. Warren was first to announce her decision.

.@UniteHere11 is fighting for better wages and benefits—and I stand with them. The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party's commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union's picket line even if it means missing the debate.

I take the debate stage to stand up for workers’ rights, not to undermine them.

I stand in solidarity with the workers of @UNITEHERE11 at Loyola Marymount University and I will not cross their picket line.

Representative Ilhan Omar is out campaigning with Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire today, per her Twitter account. They’re doing a town hall together.

In New Hampshire today with the one and only @BernieSanders!

Follow along on my Instagram story (@ilhanmn). pic.twitter.com/JsglilSDWn

A Green New Deal is the only plan bold enough to confront the climate crisis.

The political establishment may not understand that, but the young people of the @sunrisemvmt do.

Their leadership is going to save the planet. pic.twitter.com/88RJxxBDiB

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House announces advancement of Trump impeachment – video

The US House judiciary committee chairman, Jerry Nadler, said the vote to approve two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump marked ‘a solemn and sad day’.

The vote was swift with 23 for, 17 against. The ranking Republican Doug Collins displayed anger on 12 December when Nadler suddenly gaveled the marathon hearing closed after 11pm without the crucial vote

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China confirms ‘phase one’ trade deal with US

  • Beijing says deal includes rollback of tariffs in phases
  • Trump hails ‘amazing deal for all’

China and the US have reached an initial deal to resolve a bruising trade war between the two countries, according to statements from both sides.

China’s vice-commerce minister Wang Shouwen said in a late night briefing on Friday that the US had agreed to cancel some of its existing tariffs on Chinese goods, while Donald Trump tweeted that the two countries had agreed to a “very large Phase One Deal”.

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Danny Aiello, Do the Right Thing star, dies aged 86

Oscar-nominated character actor made his breakthrough in Moonstruck and appeared in The Godfather Part II

Danny Aiello, the veteran character actor best known for roles in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Do the Right Thing and Moonstruck, has died aged 86. According to TMZ, his family confirmed Aiello had died in hospital on 12 December after an infection.

Born in 1933, Aiello grew up in the south Bronx, living with his five siblings and mother after his father had left the family. After serving in the army, working as a bus driver and a nightclub bouncer, Aiello turned to acting in his mid-30s, with his first significant role, as a New Jersey barman in Louis LaRusso’s 1975 play Lamppost Reunion.

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House committee votes to advance articles of impeachment against Trump

Judiciary committee voted on Friday morning to approve two articles on a straight party-line vote

On a straight party-line vote, the House judiciary committee voted on Friday morning to move two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the House floor, in a crucial final stage before impeachment itself.

A full House vote on whether to impeach the president was expected to be taken as early as Wednesday. Trump would be the third president in American history to be impeached.

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Michelle Obama sends Greta Thunberg message of support after Trump tweet

Former first lady told climate activist ‘don’t let anyone dim your light’ after Trump said teen had an ‘anger management problem’

Michelle Obama has sent a public message of support to the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after the teenager was mocked by Donald Trump.

“@GretaThunberg, Don’t let anyone dim your light,” the former first lady wrote following a visit to Vietnam. “Like the girls I’ve met in Vietnam and all over the world, you have so much to offer us all. Ignore the doubters and know that millions of people are cheering you on.”

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Democrats prepare to advance articles of impeachment amid marathon debate

Lawmakers spend hours sparring over proposed amendments to the two counts against Donald Trump

The House judiciary committee prepared to advance articles of impeachment against Donald Trump on Thursday, following a marathon and at times meandering debate that stretched late into the night.

Democratic and Republican members had spent the day sparring over several proposed amendments to the two articles, which charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Following their expected approval, the articles will be delivered to the House floor, where the full chamber could vote on whether to impeach Trump next week.

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Trump impeachment: House prepares for crucial vote amid whistleblower row – as it happened

Fury erupts over Republican naming the alleged whistleblower who triggered the congressional investigation into Trump and Ukraine

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Today’s markup has gone on for 12 hours at this point.

Related: Trump impeachment vote nears as Democrats prepare to deliver articles to House floor

Speaking on Fox News, Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he’s “going to coordinate with the president’s lawyers”.

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Man saves dog after leash gets caught in elevator door – video

A Houston man, Johnny Mathis, saves the day – and the dog – by leaping into action when the leash of a neighbour's pet gets caught in an elevator door.  A security camera at their apartment complex captures the entire dramatic rescue. Mathis is thankful he was on hand to help: 'It could happen to anyone. A second is all it takes' 

• Florida dog drives doughnuts in unmanned car before police rescue

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US reaches ‘deal in principle’ with China to end trade war

  • White House expected to announce accord later on Thursday
  • US offered to halt new tariffs and up to 50% cuts on existing ones

The White House has reached a “deal in principle” with Beijing to resolve the 17-month US-China trade war, according to a source briefed on the trade talks.

The White House was expected to make an announcement later on Thursday, the source said.

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Lachlan Murdoch’s $150m Beverly Hillbillies mansion buy breaks record

Son of Rupert Murdoch purchases house seen in credits of the TV show, setting new highest home price ever in California

A Los Angeles mansion built in the 1930s and seen in the credits for the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies has been sold for about $150m, the highest home price ever in California.

The buyer of the Chartwell estate is Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and co-chairman of publishing company News Corp, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

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Gun violence is a health crisis. More policing isn’t the solution

The unsung heroes of Oakland’s drastic reduction in gun violence are the communities themselves

There is a saying, made famous by the criminal justice reformers Glenn Martin and Piper Kerman, that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, but are also furthest from the resources and power to address it.

No one is closer to the decades-long epidemic of violence in Oakland than those who have grown up around it, those who live daily with the specter of violence, whose sleep has been punctured by the sound of gunfire, whose lives are forever marked by the pain of loved ones lost. Now that Oakland homicides are finally on the decline, it is these people, and the organizations within which they work, who are the unsung heroes.

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Trump-Russia: DoJ watchdog insists ‘We stand by our report’ despite Barr criticism – live

Inspector general Michael Horowitz defends report that found FBI investigation into 2016 Trump campaign was justified – follow live

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Two sources told CNN that the whistleblower whose account led to the impeachment inquiry is prepping for a potential subpoena from the Senate to testify. Donald Trump and his allies have made thinly veiled threats to the whistleblower, who is still anonymous, making some question the safety of revealing the whistleblower’s identity. Here’s more from CNN:

A subpoena would put the whistleblower in uncharted territory, and raise the risk that his or her identity could come out in the course of the trial in the Senate -- where, unlike in the Democrat-led House, some Republicans have expressed a desire to hear from the whistleblower. ...

Depending on how senators structure their likely trial, a subpoena could compel the whistleblower to cooperate with anything from written questions to a closed-door interview in a secure location to a public hearing that would expose the whistleblower’s identity.

Friendly reminder that the House judiciary committee’s debate on the two articles of impeachment will begin tonight at 7pm. Reports say that House Democrats plan to vote on each article separately.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said there will be separate House votes on each article of impeachment when they go to the floor next week, even though the articles are written into a single resolution, per @jeremyherb

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Weinstein reaches $25m settlement with more than 30 women – report

If approved, settlement would bring most of the civil lawsuits pending against him to an end

More than 30 women who were allegedly subjected to sexual misconduct by the disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein have reportedly reached a $25m settlement which, if approved, would bring to an end most of the civil lawsuits pending against him.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that a tentative deal had been agreed involving Weinstein’s numerous alleged victims in the US, Canada, Britain and Ireland. The proposal is awaiting final approval from the courts and from individuals involved, the newspaper says, but once those last hurdles are cleared payouts would be made by insurance companies handling the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company.

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Jersey City shooting at Jewish store was ‘targeted attack’ – video

A four-hour long gun battle which left six people dead started as a targeted attack by two suspects on a Jewish kosher market in New Jersey, say officials.

Police in the New York metropolitan area were put on high alert to protect Jewish neighbourhoods after the attack

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