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It’s been quite a week. The transition to the Donald Trump presidency began on a conciliatory note at the White House on Thursday but the mood elsewhere was far from calm.

The deep divisions in the US were on show in a second night of protests, which prompted the president-elect to return to Twitter and blame the unrest on “professional protesters” egged on by media. He has since changed his mind, taking to Twitter again to praise the demonstrators’ “passion” and vowing to bring together the country.

Despite Mr Trump’s appeal for unity, his victory appears to have emboldened racists. A rash of racist attacks has erupted around the country. In Alabama, the Ku Klux Klan has begun openly canvassing for new members.

The markets appear calmer at the week’s end, however. Investors have poured money into healthcare and financial stocks and left emerging market assets, in a striking redeployment of capital. This meant there was no let-up for the Mexican peso, which dropped passed 21 to the dollar in UK trading. (FT, Quartz)

In the news

Trump lawsuits The president-elect’s attorneys are seeking to delay the Trump University fraud case scheduled later this month until after he is sworn into office. (WaPo)

Know thine enemy? Donald Trump is filling his transition team with the lobbyists he railed against during his campaign. Their inclusion is a first sign that he may not follow through on all of his promises. (NYT)

Leonard Cohen dies The Canadian singer-songwriter has died aged 82. He is considered by some to have been one of the most influential musicians of the past half century. A respected poet and novelist, he was influenced by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. His dark lyrics earned him the nickname ‘the high priest of pathos’. The New Yorker in October published what is now a prescient feature exploring the troubadour’s “mortality-obsessed” forthcoming album. (FT, New Yorker)

Singles Day Online shoppers in China spent $1bn in less than five minutes as Singles Day kicked off after a star-studded musical extravaganza. The annual 24-hour shopathon by online retailer Alibaba began as a celebration of Chinese singles but is now the biggest event in the global retail calendar. After 16 hours sales had reached $13.7bn. Last year $13.5bn worth of goods changed hands. (FT, Bloomberg)

Taliban storm diplomatic mission The German consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif was the scene of intense fighting after a suicide bomber rammed its outer wall with a truck bomb. At least four people were killed in the explosion and subsequent fighting. Germany is to review its role in Nato’s mission in Afghanistan. (Reuters)

How many US states now allow recreational marijuana use? Test your knowledge with the week in news quiz.

It’s a big day for

Venezuela It’s the deadline given by the opposition to the embattled Socialist government to meet a list of demands, including freeing more jailed dissidents, granting the opposition more seats in the electoral council and establishing an electoral calendar. (FT)

Cyprus The leaders of Greek and Turkish Cyprus will emerge from a week of reunification negotiations in the Swiss mountains. Observers hope the two will have made progress on the thorny issue of Turkey’s future role on the divided island. (politico.eu)

Food for thought

The new age of populism Trump’s electoral triumph is ushering in a new age of populist nationalism, and Francis Fukuyama says it is as momentous as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. (FT)

Nail in the coffin for globalisation The FT’s Martin Wolf says the consequences of a Trump presidency will be many and various but the economic ones — such as reversing globalisation — will not be the least important. (FT)

Trump and the world A Trump presidency could upend western policy in the Middle East. Analysts say he is already strengthening authoritarians in the region. Syria’s opposition fears it will be abandoned to its fate as Donald Trump could endorse Russia’s policy of bombing opponents of Bashar al-Assad. Elsewhere, Richard McGregor writes that the Republican president-elect has a decades-long antagonistic stance toward economic relations with the Asia-Pacific region. (BuzzFeed, Guardian, NAR)

Europe’s alt-right They might look like “fixie-bike riding, avocado-munching” hipsters but “identitarians” are Europe’s answer to America’s networked, nativist “alt-right”. Also, they are spreading fast. (Economist)

Venezuela’s bondage The oil-rich country is in chaos but its high-yielding debt is tempting investors. (FT)

Wages for chores How much is doing the dishes really worth? The UK’s Office for National Statistics has published an online calculator that puts a value on unpaid tasks. The ONS estimates unpaid work in the home is the equivalent of 56 per cent of the country’s GDP. (FT)

Video of the day

Trump’s impact on the economy The FT’s Martin Wolf outlines how Donald Trump’s election as the next US president is likely to affect the US and global economy in terms of trade, interest rates and monetary policy. (FT)


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