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The secretary of state said Tuesday the U.S. would be willing to open negotiations without requiring North Korea to agree beforehand to give up its nuclear weapons program.

For the first time in four years, the rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note crossed 3 percent. While it signals a stronger economy, it makes bonds more attractive investments, undermining stocks.

More than a year into telework, the tech giant has said about 60% of its employees will work remotely two days a week. Twenty percent will work from home permanently.

Excessive heat warnings are in effect across the West, where temperatures will hit the triple digits — a signal that climate change and lengthening summers pose serious problems for the region.

NPR's David Kestenbaum reports on a possible wrinkle in the space-time continuum. Really. Physicists measuring the fundamental characteristics of a subatomic particle, the muon, have come up with some very puzzling results that could punch a hole in the long-standing "standard model" of how matter is put together. And that could help usher in a completely new theory of matter, time and space. Unless, of course, some scientist has made a mistake. (4:30) (It was later revealed this was a mistake: "Well, I would say I'm responsible for the mistake. My collaborator did most of the work, but I am equally guilty of making mistakes." Toichiro Kinoshita, a physicist at Princeton University. Kinoshita's sin was to have a minus sign where he should have had a plus or maybe the other way around. He can't quite remember, though it ended up having gigantic consequences. Kinoshita and his colleague were calculating how a particular subatomic particle behaves when it's stuck in a magnetic field. The particle, it turns out, wobbles like a toy top at a particular frequency. Kinoshita enlisted hundreds of computers and, after a decade of heroic work, had precisely predicted how fast it should wobble according to the laws of physics. Last winter, other physicists who were out measuring the wobble found it differed significantly from Kinoshita's prediction. In the clockwork world of physics, this was potentially a huge finding, signaling something new and mysterious, except that it wasn't. Kinoshita traced his error to a tiny quirk in a computer program he was using. He hadn't checked that bit, in part because other physicists using a different approach had gotten the same answer."

Getting broadband access can be a major challenge in rural areas. In one community in West Virginia, volunteers have set up a wireless network that serves local residents and businesses who otherwise would struggle with much slower dialup service.

Troops aren't the only ones being deployed to the Persian Gulf. In southern Iraq and Bahrain, marine mammals are also on active duty. Dolphins are using their natural sonar to detect underwater mines, and sea lions are guarding boats and piers from potentially threatening swimmers. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Tom LaPuzza of the U.S. Navy's marine mammal program.

Supporters say the measure empowers parents to have a say in what their children learn. Critics argue it will harm LGBTQ kids. President Biden slammed the bill, which has Gov. Ron DeSantis' support.

Customers of IndyMac faced closed doors Friday after federal regulators took over the California bank. Risky lending practices and a $1.3 billion bank run were part of IndyMac's demise. Banking consultant Burt Ely talks about how the failure happened and what it signals for the broader economy.

Robert Lighthizer, 69, has long advocated a tougher stand on trade with China, which is in line with President-elect Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric.