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Walmart Inc said on Tuesday it sees no signs of weakness in U.S. consumer spending and posted its strongest holiday-quarter sales growth in a decade, citing robust grocery and e-commerce sales and assuaging concerns about a looming U.S. recession.

Source: Walmart holiday-quarter sales jump, 'feel pretty good about consumer'

Gold prices surged to a 10-month high on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar weakened, on optimism for a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks, with bullion also receiving support as a safe-haven asset due to concerns over global growth.

Source: Gold hits 10-month peak on hopes for U.S.-China trade talks

The United States is seeking to secure a pledge from China it will not devalue its yuan as part of an agreement intended to end the countries' trade war, Bloomberg TV reported on Monday.

Source: U.S. seeking stable yuan pledge in China trade deal: Bloomberg TV

Top White House aides ignored repeated warnings they could be breaking the law as they worked with former U.S. officials and a close friend of President Donald Trump to advance a multi-billion-dollar plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East, Democratic lawmakers alleged in a report released Tuesday.

Source: Trump aides ignored legal warnings in pushing reactor plan: Democratic report

EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler rejected a proposal from his staff that would have reduced the ambition of the nation’s biofuel policy over the next three years, arguing the targeted range it included for annual ethanol consumption was too low, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Source: Republican backlash against Trump EPA pick fueled by 'biofuel reset'

German haute-couture designer Karl Lagerfeld, artistic director at Chanel and an icon of the fashion industry with his extravagant outfits and striking catwalks, has died aged 85.

Source: Fashion's 'creative genius' Karl Lagerfeld dies at 85

Venezuelan troops will remain stationed along the country's borders to prevent territorial violations, the defense minister said on Tuesday, ahead of the opposition's plan to bring in humanitarian aid to alleviate an economic crisis.

Source: Venezuelan troops to remain on border ahead of aid entry, minister says

U.S.-backed fighters appeared closer to capturing Islamic State's last pocket in eastern Syria on Tuesday, a victory that would bring the jihadists' self-proclaimed caliphate to a bloody end.

Source: U.S.-backed fighters move closer to taking last Islamic State Syria pocket

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has chosen a familiar White House figure for his new chief of staff: Marc Short, who was President Donald Trump's top legislative aide until he left in July.

Source: Vice President Pence picks familiar face for chief of staff

A quarterly leading indicator of world merchandise trade slumped to its lowest reading in nine years on Tuesday, which should put policymakers on guard for a sharper slowdown if trade tensions continue, the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday.

Source: WTO warns of global trade slowdown as indicator hits nine-year low

A rubbery sea creature with an irritating habit of clinging to ships and invading beaches could help measure plastic pollution as it can filter tiny particles from the ocean and store them in its soft tissue.

Source: Meet the sea squirt, sucking up plastic particles from the sea

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Source: Neutron Stars and Other "Outrageous" Objects and Adventures in Science