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Good morning.

From the Newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Friday, January 18th, and this is your FT news briefing.

Today, the standoff over the US government shutdown escalates.

Paul Manifort's law firm Skadden pays US authorities

4.6 million dollars for failing to declare its work on Ukraine and the latest Netflix

results underwhel investors.

Then the FT's Robert Wright tells us about the thousands of immigrants in the UK

accused of cheating on an English test,

and the impact that's having on their lives. I'm Eric Krupky and

here's the news you need to start your day.

US President Donald Trump has canceled his entire delegations trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Mr. Trump announced previously that he personally wouldn't be attending,

but yesterday decided the rest of his administration should stay home as well.

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said he was canceling the trip out of consideration for the 800,000

American workers who are not receiving pay during the government shutdown.

The shutdown is now in its fourth week.

Earlier on Thursday, the President also unexpectedly postponed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned trip overseas because of the shutdown.

Mrs Pelosi planned to travel to Brussels and to make a previously undisclosed trip to Afghanistan. But Mr. Trump denied her use of a military

plane which is required for a high security trip to Afghanistan. The

...