UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday warned that the AIDS epidemic is accelerating on every continent and called for more money and leadership to halt its spread by the U.N. target date of 2015. In an opening address to representatives of 127 countries at a high-level conference, Annan said the scale of…

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) — As Staff Sgt. Terrance Staves dodged bullets recovering a burned-out Humvee in Baghdad’s Sadr City, he heard a rocket-powered grenade zooming toward him. All he could do was hold his breath, he recalled, when it crashed into the armored Bradley vehicle sitting just feet in front of him. Back at camp,…

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Not many people can retire on a nickel — unless it’s a rare 1913 Liberty Head like the one that sold Thursday for $4.15 million. It is the second-highest price ever reported paid for a rare coin. Legend Numismatics, a coin dealership in Lincroft, N.J., bought it from collector Ed Lee…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internet’s primary oversight body approved a plan Wednesday to create a virtual red-light district, setting the stage for pornographic Web sites to use new addresses ending in “xxx.” The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said it would begin negotiations with ICM Registry Inc., run by British businessman Stuart Lawley,…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Child safety seats are easier to use and have made strides with clearer labels and instructions, the government said Wednesday in releasing an annual survey of the seats. About 80 percent of the 2005 child safety and booster seats tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received its top overall grade.…

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE / AP Medical Writer As criticism mounts that a recent study may have minimized the dangers of obesity, federal health officials urged people to focus on the big picture — that extra pounds are harmful, not how much harm they may cause. “What we don’t want is for this debate to continue…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly every day he was in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Steven Cummings would get so shaken by mortar round explosions that, even now, a year after his return home, he drops to the ground at the crackle of lightning. Iraq had a big impact on Cummings in another way — his finances.…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gently bounce a baby while you sing, and you’ll usually get squeals of glee. But it’s not just fun: Feeling the beat helps wire babies’ brains to hear rhythm. So says new research that tested moms and babies doing what comes naturally — dancing around together. Everybody knows babies love music. Around…

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — After she had an abortion at 23, Aspen Baker longed to talk with other women about the welter of emotions she was going through — the relief, the regret, the feeling of foolishness for getting pregnant in the first place. “To want that and not find it made me feel I…

ATLANTA (AP) — CNN should cover international news and the environment, not the “pervert of the day,” network founder Ted Turner said Wednesday as the first 24-hour news network turned 25. Turner, an outspoken media mogul who started CNN in 1980 but no longer controls the network, said he envisioned CNN as a place where…