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Here are today’s picks from our editors.

Xi returns to Beijing after Spain, Argentina, Panama, Portugal visits, G20 summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Thursday after state visits to Spain, Argentina, Panama and Portugal, and attending the 13th Group of 20 (G20) summit in Buenos Aires.

When Xi left Lisbon for Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva saw him off at the airport.

Two Portuguese fighter jets escorted Xi's plane before it left the country's airspace. (Xinhua)

China demands that the US, Canada clarify reasons for Meng Wanzhou’s arrest, immediate release: MFA

China is demanding that the US and Canada clarify the reasons for Meng Wanzhou’s arrest and to immediately release her, said Geng Shuang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Huawei on Thursday denied any wrongdoing by its corporate CFO Meng after she was provisionally detained by Canadian authorities.

Huawei said in a statement that the company complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, United States and EU. 

Canadian authorities arrested Meng at the request of the US in Vancouver on December 1. (Xinhua-People's Daily app)

US trade deficit hits 10-year high on record imports

The US trade deficit hit a 10-year high in October as Americans used a stronger dollar to snap up record imports, the government reported Thursday.

The total trade gap rose 1.7 percent to $55.5 billion, driven by all-time high imports, according to the Commerce Department.

The deficit in goods trade with China likewise continued to expand, rising two percent to $38 billion, seasonally adjusted, as key exports like soybeans fell. (AFP)

Ecuador: Enough UK guarantees for Assange to leave embassy

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno has ramped up pressure on Julian Assange to leave his country's embassy in London, saying that Britain had provided sufficient guarantees that the WikiLeaks founder won't be extradited to face the death penalty abroad.

Moreno's comments said in a radio interview Thursday suggest that months of quiet diplomacy between the UK and Ecuador to resolve Assange's situation is bearing fruit at a time when questions are swirling about Assange's legal fate in the US.

Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012, when he was granted asylum while facing allegations of sex crimes in Sweden that he said were a guise to extradite him to the US. (AP)

China to overtake US as world's biggest fashion market in 2019

China is expected to overtake the United States as the largest fashion market in 2019, according to a report by McKinsey & Company and media outlet The Business of Fashion.

For example, Italian brand Ermenegildo Zegna now looks to China, instead of the US, as the place for testing new products, before deciding whether to promote them globally.

Meanwhile, more Chinese are now embracing homegrown brands. International brands established in the market look to be cooling off, the website said quoting Achim Berg, who leads McKinsey's global apparel, fashion, and luxury practice. (China Daily)

Russian Olympic Committee appeals doping court ruling

The Russian Olympic Committee says it's appealed a Moscow court ruling which sought to overturn a doping disqualification against a double gold medalist from the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Moscow City Court ruled last month that bobsledder Alexander Zubkov could keep his medals because a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to uphold his disqualification wasn't valid in Russia.

The ROC adds it's concerned the Moscow court ruling could "give rise to doubt that Russia truly observes the main principles of the fight against doping." (AP)

Cheney biopic 'Vice' leads Golden Globe noms with six

"Vice," a biopic about Dick Cheney starring Christian Bale as the former US vice president, on Thursday picked up the most Golden Globe nominations with six including best comedy film, as the race to the Oscars begins.

The Golden Globes, which come a week before the influential Screen Actors Guild nominations, are the first major awards going into the Academy Awards, which take place in February.

The Golden Globes will be handed out on January 6 in Beverly Hills. (AP)

Thanks for listening and be sure to catch us tomorrow.

And now for the Question of the Day:

Who wrote “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”?

(Answer: Charles Darwin.)

Today's quote is from Scottish novelist Walter Scott (1771-1832).

“To the timid and hesitating everything is impossible because it seems so.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Ryan Yaoran Yu, Lance Crayon, Brian Lowe and Elaine Yue Lin.)