CAVE JUNCTION, Ore. – John Roth shined his flashlight on a black streak flowing through the cream-colored marble forming the walls of the Oregon Caves. The graphite line is graphic evidence of dramatic global warming that consumed so much oxygen that it nearly wiped out all life on the planet …

WASHINGTON – The NAACP is close to making a deal to move its headquarters from Baltimore to the nation’s capital, District of Columbia officials and the civil rights group’s president said Monday. Terms of the agreement, which are still being negotiated, call for the city to contribute $3.5 million to …

LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A man and his teenage son jumped from an Interstate 65 overpass Friday to avoid being struck by an oncoming semitrailer, police said. Both fell 60 to 70 feet to the pavement below, said Sgt. Rich Kelly of the Indiana State Police. Matthew M. Johnston, 14, fractured …

WASHINGTON – The idea that our nine-planet solar system may soon join the obsolete world of eight-track tapes and slide rules should send science teachers, textbook writers and toymakers back to the cosmic drawing board. “Does it make our products obsolete?” asked Kim McLynn, spokeswoman for Illinois-based Learning Resources, which …

BUCHAREST, Romania – In Internet chats, TV talks shows and cafe conversation, the topic is on everybody’s lips: The opening of files by Romania’s dreaded secret police that have been buried since the fall of communism 17 years ago. The documents contain a portrait of a paranoid state that forced …

DALLAS – Julia Roberts is making another debut: this time as a spokeswoman for alternative fuel. Dallas-based Earth Biofuels announced that Roberts will become a spokeswoman for the company and chair its new advisory board. “It’s very important that we expand our use of clean energy and make a long-term …

WASHINGTON – President Bush, joined by “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh, signed a new law Thursday that requires convicted child molesters to be listed on a national Internet database and face a felony charge for failing to update their whereabouts. “Our nation grieves with every family that’s suffered the …

LONDON – Oil prices fell to their lowest level in five months on Thursday after energy giant BP said it could bring its huge oil field in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, back to full production by the end of October. The field, the largest in North America, was partially shut last …

NEW YORK – “Son of Sam” serial killer David Berkowitz has settled a lawsuit in which he accused his former lawyer of stealing and profiting from his personal property, including his bar mitzvah photos and his typewriter. Berkowitz’s current lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, said Thursday that the former attorney, Hugo …

BEIJING – In the midst of tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, a Western company is there searching for oil. Another just bought a bank. “North Korea is hungry for business,” said Roger Barrett, the British founder of Beijing-based Korea Business Consultants, who recently took 11 Asian and European clients …