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In a high school in Germany, students were preparing to take an exam when something miraculous happened. Teachers were unable to open a safe containing the tests. Firefighters were called to help.

A new exhibit reveals some of more unusual pieces of American history contained in the vaults of the National Archives. Items include Albert Einstein's immigration papers.

The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a deficit of $368 billion for the current fiscal year, a $20 billion jump from its prediction last fall. The numbers do not include the additional $80 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Bush administration has said it will seek from Congress.

The Israeli cabinet approves the dismantling of 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said the Gaza pullout will begin in July and take 12 weeks.

Actor Ossie Davis has died at 87. He was found this morning in a hotel room in Miami, where he was making a film called Retirement. The cause of death was not immediately known. Davis was a distinguished presence on stage, on screen, and as an activist taking on racial injustice.

In this first installment of a three-part series on Social Security, NPR's John Ydstie examines the system's shortfalls and possible ways to extend its long-term solvency. Among the remedies: raising the retirement age; raising the tax that workers and employers pay into the system; and mandating that all federal and state workers take part in the national retirement program.

Twenty-five years ago, the U-S hockey team defeated a superstar Soviet team at the Lake Placid Olympics. The victory was a stunning upset on the ice -- and on the world stage, amid chilly relations between two Cold War superpowers. Three New York friends remember being part of history that day.

A top Palestinian official says he's hopeful that a "small window" of opportunity exists for peace with Israel in the wake of this month's cease-fire agreement. But Nabil Shaath, foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority, says Israel is moving too slowly on several issues.

Want a bigger house, a svelte figure or a gender change? It's possible in the online game "Second Life," where residents trade real money for virtual land, designer clothes and other trappings of a fantasy life.

Thoughts on the life of boxer Max Schmeling, whose fights with Joe Louis became a symbol of a looming confrontation between the United States and Nazi Germany. Schmeling fought in Hitler's army, but quietly helped save two Jewish teens and later befriended a needy Louis. Schmeling has died at age 99.