Vox Sentences: The US and China make the most passive-aggressive trade deal ever

1. Rival pacts

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama's make some solid facial expressions. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

• The US and China have agreed to cut tariffs targeting each other.

  [NYT / Mark Landler]

• But they're still advocating rival free trade zones for East Asia.

  [Guardian / AFP]

• The US model, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), includes Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, but conspicuously excludes China.

  [Washington Post / Lydia DePillis]

• The biggest effect of trade deals isn't reducing trade barriers, but imposing new standards on things like intellectual property, and TPP is expected to be par for the course there.

  [Mother Jones / Erika Eichelberger]

• The details of the deal are murky, but one big concern is that it could ease the way for US tobacco exports and make it harder for member countries to fight smoking.

  [Washington Post / Lydia DePillis]

• The Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit culminated in APEC, of which the US and most Pacific Rim nations are members, agreeing to study the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), China's proposed alternative.

  [BBC]

• Some analysts argued that the APEC statement was an attempt to throw China a bone without actually agreeing to the arrangement, which would be much more inclusive than TPP.

  [NYT / Mark Landler]

• Before the summit, the US blocked Chinese efforts to start FTAAP negotiations, fearing that it would distract from TPP.

  [WSJ / Bob Davis]

• That said, FTAAP has support from some free trade advocates in the US, so don't be surprised if it pops back up once the TTP deal is made.

  [Peterson Institute / Fred Bergsten]

2. Back to Ferguson

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon speaks alongside representatives from the St. Louis, St. Louis County, and Missouri State police departments during a press conference called to discuss security concerns when the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown case is announced. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

• With a grand jury set to decide soon on whether to indict Michael Brown's shooter, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon threatened to use the National Guard in response to any ensuing unrest in Ferguson.

  [USA Today / Yamiche Alcindor]

• St. Louis alderman Antonio French, who's been active in the Ferguson protests, responds: "Ironically, this is the message of protestors as well."

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• If you need to get caught up on Brown's shooting by police officer Darren Wilson, and the ensuing protests, see here.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, has dragged out the process by showing every shred of evidence to the grand jury, presumably to spread around responsibility for the jury's ultimate decision.

  [Vox / Jenée Desmond-Harris]

• The incident is also being investigated by the FBI, and reports last month suggested a federal indictment is unlikely.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The investigation to date has been rife with leaks, much to the Justice Department's consternation.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

3. Philae

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, about to (hopefully) become the first to make contact with a human-made spacecraft. (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA via Getty Images)

• Early tomorrow morning, the European Space Agency will attempt to land the spacecraft Philae on a comet.

  [Vox / Joey Stromberg]

• Landing on comets is very difficult, not least because of the low gravity.

  [NYT / Kenneth Chang]

• In case you forget from middle school science class, the big difference between comets and asteroids is their composition: comets are made out of ice, dust, and rocky material, while asteroids are mostly just metals and rocky stuff. Comets also formed farther away from the sun.

  [Cool Cosmos]

• The comet that Philae is attempting to land on is roughly duck-shaped which is an … interesting challenge.

  [The Guardian / Robin McKie]

• The comet in question is about 4.6 billion years ago, when the Earth and other planets were forming — studying it could give us a better sense as to how that happened.

  [Space.com / Miriam Kramer]

• Comets also may well have brought water and organic material to Earth after it formed.

  [New Yorker / Michael Lemonick]

• My favorite detail about Philae: "To make sure it doesn't get thrown off immediately, it'll use a pair of harpoons to latch on."

  [Vox / Joey Stromberg]

4. Misc.

• A conservative billionaire is arguing his financial success was pure luck — so he gets a better divorce settlement.

  [NYT / David Segal]

• A really, really, really detailed looks at how Detroit reached a deal to save itself.

  [Detroit Free-Press / Nathan Bomey, John Gallagher and Mark Stryker]

• Spain is sending a Basque nationalist to prison for writing an article.

  [New Republic / Zack Campbell]

• Iranian human rights advocates worry that a breakdown in nuclear negotiations could lead to a crackdown on dissidents.

  [Slate / Azadeh Moaveni]

• The most expensive 5% of Medicare patients account for 43.1% of Medicare costs.

  [Washington Post / Jeff Guo]

• Getting lost in a corn maze sounds legitimately terrifying.

  [Modern Farmer / Meaghan Agnew]

5. Verbatim

• "I still regret that I couldn’t find a way to include epic poetry and PowerPoint in a single book."

  [NYT / Jennifer Egan]

• "He resembles a cheerfully overbearing Borscht Belt comedian who knows too many bad jokes to tell in a single set but is determined to try."

  [New Yorker / David Remnick]

• "In 2009, 41.7 percent of African-born adults age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 28.1 percent of native-born adults and 26.8 percent of all foreign-born adults."

  [Migration Policy Institute / Kristen McCabe via Tyler Cowen]

• "Unbelievably it is legal to ship baby chicks in the regular mail."

  [DCist / Sarah Anne Hughes]

• "Miley Cyrus often sings about ecstasy, a drug that became popular as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder."

  [Washington Post / Max Ehrenfreund]

• "Progressive wonks always bring a spreadsheet to a knife fight."

  [Jared Bernstein]

• "Understanding Millennials—How do Potatoes Fit into Their Lives?"

  [United States Potato Board via Dangerous Minds / Amber Frost]