The US delists China as a currency manipulator. China commits to spend $200 billion on US agricultural products.

Democrats hold their final debate before Iowa—a state that remains up for grabs.  

Across 32 countries, 64% of people say they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs.

The president's most devout defenders want the Senate to adopt the Federal Rules of Evidence. Doing so may actually condemn him.

The White House and Los Angeles feud in public, but appear to be working together privately on homelessness.

"Because you are foreigners, they hate you." Farnoush Amiri on the day her home was raided by federal agents.

A giant kettle of vultures is disrupting Customs and Border Protection communications on the US-Mexico border.

“The United States is not necessarily damaged by China retaking its historical place within eastern Asia... It all depends on timing. That’s what the Chinese have to realize—and haven’t, I think.” Evan Osnos interviews a range of key figures to predict the future of the United States’ contest with China.

Demand in China for ginseng is so great, illicit trading blooms in Appalachia.

MUJI introduces a prefab home for sale (only in Japan), complete with firepit.

A poem to start your week: “Duplex (I Begin With Love)” by Jericho Brown, from The American Poetry Review.

Twenty headlines that demonstrate the double standard between press coverage of Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton.

"Any woman, including Greta Gerwig." Snubs in this year's Academy Award nominations.

Lana Del Rey’s debut was the only record from the 2010s to chart in the US’s biggest-selling vinyl LPs of the decade.

The evacuation and return of Japanese citizens who lived near Fukushima, as captured by British photographer Giles Price.

The oldest drawing of Venice yet discovered is from a 14th-century travelogue.

Travel destinations for those who find the New York Times’s “52 places” list too dull (or driven by PR firms).

Nell Zink reflects on Dostoyevsky and trash-talks Ben Lerner while hunting for Robert Walser, or something like that.

Always a treat: Playwright Alan Bennett’s diary of what he did last year.

The oldest solid material on Earth has been found in a meteorite: stardust that formed between five to seven billion years ago.