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WASHINGTON -- A grand Washington ritual became a potential casualty of the partial government shutdown as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech. She cited concerns about whether the hobbled government can provide adequate security, but Republicans cast her move as a ploy to deny Trump the stage. Source

BEIJING -- A senior North Korean official arrived in Beijing on Thursday, reportedly en route to the United States for talks ahead of a possible second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Source

Consumer advocates and the data-hungry technology industry are drawing early battle lines in advance of an expected fight this year over what kind of federal privacy law the U.S. should have. On Thursday, more than a dozen privacy organizations unveiled a plan that would create a new federal data-protection agency focused on regulating the way businesses and other organizations collect and make use of personal data, even if aggregated or anonymized. Source

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Another Saudi woman has turned to social media for protection from her father, just days after Canada granted refuge to Rahaf al-Qunun, the 18-year-old Saudi who fled her family. Identified only as Nojoud al-Mandeel on Twitter, her case differs from that of al-Qunun. Source

Taiwan held live-fire exercises along its east coast Thursday amid renewed threats from China to bring the island under its control by force if deemed necessary. Artillery and assault helicopters fired at targets off the west coast city of Taichung, while French-made Mirage fighter jets took off amid rainy conditions from the air base at Hsinchu to the north. Source

SMITHERS, B.C. -- No elected band council or Crown authority has jurisdiction over the land, a Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief told a crowd of supporters and First Nations leaders gathered in the territory that has become a battleground for Indigenous sovereignty. Source

CHICAGO -- A judge is set to announce a verdict Thursday for three Chicago police officers accused of lying in their reports to protect the white officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald. Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson has scheduled an afternoon hearing for David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney. Source

WASHINGTON -- A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State militants killed at least 16 people, including two U.S. service members and two American civilians, in northern Syria on Wednesday, just a month after President Donald Trump declared that IS had been defeated and he was pulling out U.S. Source

HALIFAX -- A decision is expected Friday in the high-profile case of a British sailor accused in a gang rape at a Halifax-area military base, even as the Crown mulls whether to reinstitute a sexual assault charge against a second member of the Royal Navy. Source

Two Canadian men detained in China face up to four hours of questioning each day and have no access to a lawyer, according to Canada's top diplomat in Beijing. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were both detained in China late last year. Source