Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. ‘NO MISSILE HIT THE PLANE’ Iran denies Western allegations a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed outside Tehran was brought down by an Iranian missile and calls on the U.S. and Canada to share any information they have on the crash.
2. WHEN PELOSI WILL MOVE ON IMPEACHMENT The House speaker says she will “soon” transmit the articles of impeachment against Trump, signaling a potential thaw in the standoff with Senate Republicans as she warned against rushing to an acquittal without a fair trial.
3. WHO COULD PLAY KEY ROLE IN CALIFORNIA PRIMARY Five million independent voters in the state’s March 3 Democratic presidential primary, but complicated election rules make it hard to tap them.
4. WHY IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL MAY BE HARD TO SALVAGE The European Union says it will “spare no effort” to keep the landmark 2015 accord alive, but with tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalating into open hostilities it seems increasingly unlikely that will be possible.
5. BOEING EMPLOYEES SOUNDED ALARM ON 737 MAX Newly released Boeing documents show company employees knew about problems with flight simulators for the now-grounded jetliner and talked about misleading regulators.
6. ‘FRAUGHT WITH DANGERS’ Prince Harry and his wife Meghan say they plan to become “financially independent” working members of the royal family, but experts say the part-time arrangement could be impractical.
7. EPSTEIN JAILHOUSE VIDEO DISAPPEARS Video footage of the area around the disgraced financier’s jail cell on a day he survived an apparent suicide attempt “no longer exists,” federal prosecutors tell a judge.
8. ROSY EMPLOYMENT REPORT EXPECTED The U.S. job market appears to be entering 2020 on a solid footing as economists expect gains of 160,000 workers in December.
9. GROWTH IN NUMBER OF TV SERIES ‘BANANAS’ The head of FX Networks says an estimated tally of all scripted programs available to viewers exceeded 500 for the first time.
10. WHERE BETTORS WILL PUT THEIR MONEY Sports fans are expected to wager on the XFL, the upstart football league that begins play the week after the Super Bowl.