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Nuclear negotiators from six world powers and Iran head to Geneva for talks surrounded by more optimism than has been seen in years. Positive rhetoric from the new administration of President Hasan Rouhani has raised hopes that diplomacy may once again be ascendant instead of sanctions and threats of military action. Analysts say the trick will be getting the slow-moving negotiating process to respond before these expectations fade. Much will depend on the West's, and especially Washington's, willingness to consider leaving low-level uranium enrichment in Iran's hands, and on whether Congress can be persuaded to hold off on more punitive sanctions that could derail the diplomatic effort.

Three American professors won this year's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their studies on asset prices.

The vast majority of researchers in the science field are honest and conscientious. But that's not the case for all of them, and a federal agency that tracks misconduct and cheating in the field is seeing increases.

A small herd of genetically pure bison, free of cattle genes, have recently arrived at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in northern Montana. Some tribal members hail the bisons' arrival as a return of an important cultural heritage, but others, including native ranchers, say the new herd is unwelcome.

Banks use credit scores and similar metrics to assess creditworthiness. A company called Kabbage that lends working capital to small businesses does some of that but also relies on unconventional measures, using real-time data from things like UPS shipments, eBay, Facebook and Twitter.

JPMorgan Chase says it will cover Social Security and Welfare payments for its customers if the government goes into default or the shutdown continues. The bank would almost certainly get its money back once Congress comes to an agreement.

The question this time is not whether race can be a factor in college admissions, but rather whether state voters can ban affirmative action altogether by referendum. In 2006, Michigan voters did just that with a ballot initiative amending the state's constitution.

Police in Moscow have been rounding up hundreds of migrant workers after an ethnic riot in the southern part of the city. Thousands of ethnic Slavic men rioted after an ethnic Slav was murdered — allegedly by a migrant from the North Caucasus region. Migrants from southern Russia and the Central Asian republics are routinely blamed for crimes in the Russian capital.

Crabbing season in Alaska is supposed to start on Tuesday. But crabbers and their boats are stuck in port because they can't get the permits they need to begin work. Federal workers who issue those permits are off the job because of the partial government shutdown. David Greene talks to Tom Suryan, a crabbing boat captain, about how the federal shutdown is stalling the issuance of quota permits.

Hidden deep in the hills of Appalachia, there's a tradition of worship music that has not changed since the 18th century. The hymnody is still practiced by congregations of the Old Regular Baptist Church, where a leader calls out a line and the people respond in a mournful, soaring chorus.