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Phase one of a US-China trade deal is "totally done." So says US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who promised that the agreement would double American exports to China in two years. He acknowledged that the text of the deal, actually, still needs to be translated and revised.Reuters

The COP25 climate summit broke up without taking action. Larger countries, including the US, China, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, blocked efforts to create carbon markets that would reward projects that reduce emissions. Tuvalu's representative called their inaction a "crime against humanity."Reuters

China threatened "consequences" if Germany bans Huawei 5G. Chinese ambassador Wu Ken insisted that "the Chinese government will not stand idly by" if German lawmakers approve a bill designed to squeeze out Huawei, hinting that tariffs on German cars might follow.Bloomberg

"Lab-grown meat," by any other name... would be more appealing to consumers, according to some in the "cultured" or "cell-based" meat industry. As startups rush to bring a product to market in 2020, they're struggling to form a consensus on what to label this new meat.Quartz

Boris Johnson has a chance to embrace his liberal tendencies. His clear parliamentary majority means he's no longer beholden to the hardline Brexiteer faction, and can follow the business community's shift toward caring about people and the planet.Quartz

Britain must now decide what Brexit will look like. Unshackled from the Northern Irish DUP and the far right of the Conservative party, Johnson could seek to strike a quick trade deal with the EU before the end of 2020 that keeps the UK mostly in line with the bloc.Quartz

Electric vehicle batteries last longer than many expected. Data from EV fleet operator Geotab suggests that most batteries will outlast the usable lives of their vehicles—but some factors, like a hot climate and frequent fast charging, were correlated with faster degradation.Quartz

Hong Kong lost a million visitors last month. The 16% year-on-year decrease is the worst drop in more than a decade, and a big hit to one of the city's largest industries. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific airline has tried to lure tourists by slashing fares, with little success.Quartz

We’ve been living in a post-truth world since propaganda was invented. John Huston's widely praised World War II "documentary," The Battle of San Pietro, harkens back to an era of truly fake news, when scenes were staged in service of a grander truth.JSTOR Daily

Our rules for gender, race, and sexuality are arbitrary. South Africa offers a convincing case study: British colonial authorities redefined African and Indian social practices as aberrant to uphold white settlers' power—and the legacies of these cultural battles extend into the present day.Quartz

Don't rewrite the history of walking just yet. A recently discovered ancient extinct ape may fill in a crucial evolutionary gap between upright Homo sapiens and our tree-swinging ancestors—but there are reasons to scrutinize this sweeping proposal.Quartz

If you thought Powerpoint was antiquated... scientists have dated the world's oldest visual story to 44,000 years ago. The cave painting in Sulawesi, Indonesia, may have been one prehistoric presenter's plan for an elaborate hunt.Quartz

A Venmo glitch revealed the spat between banks and fintech companies. PNC Bank cut customers' access to Venmo, then suggested that they switch over to its rival payments platform Zelle.The Wall Street Journal

Taylor Swift called out “the unregulated world of private equity” while accepting the award for Billboard's "Woman of the Decade." She singled out financial backers in the music industry for buying and selling artists' catalogues "as if it's an app or a shoe line."Quartz

Leave your knives at home. A security team at Vilnius Airport in Lithuania created a contraband Christmas tree made from all the scissors, boxcutters, lighters, nail clippers, and bullets they confiscated from holiday travelers.Quartz

The US supreme court agreed to hear the president's argument that his taxes should be secret. Lower courts have rejected that line of legal reasoning, and past presidents haven't had much success making similar cases before the highest court.Quartz

Trump's impeachment trial is about protecting the country, not punishing him. Impeachment wasn't designed to remove unpopular presidents—but then again, elections weren't created to investigate executives.Quartz

Well-crafted machines feature buttons, knobs, dials, and surfaces built for our bodies. A Sydney exhibition collected more than a century of gadgets that show how interfaces have evolved aesthetically—but the best ones always put users first.Quartz

Disruptions to maize production have far-reaching consequences. Poor harvests threaten to disintegrate indigenous communities and wipe out hardy varieties we may need to breed climate change resistant crops.Quartz

This was the year everyone wanted to dress like eboys and VSCO girls. More people than ever were interested in niche outfit inspiration this year, according to Google Trends. These very online aesthetics are a testament to the power social media and the internet now wield in defining fashion.Quartz

Well, that didn't take long. Less than a year after closing down its massive flagship location, Lord & Taylor is returning to New York just in time for the holidays with a pop-up store to showcase its new clothing rental service.CNN