LOS ANGELES Magic Johnson's normally publicity-shy wife Cookie is emerging as a spokeswoman in a campaign urging black women to get tested for HIV.

WASHINGTON Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, accused Republicans of putting seniors and military families at risk by siding with President Bush against a measure to prevent Medicare cuts.

BANGKOK, Thailand Orangutan numbers have declined sharply on the only two islands where they still live in the wild and they could become the first great ape species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says.

AUTLAN, Mexico Inspectors are collecting soil, water and produce samples, reviewing export logs and combing packing plants in three major tomato-growing states in Mexico.

WASHINGTON The government on Saturday increased the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak in which tomatoes are the leading suspect although investigators are testing other types of fresh produce.

BAGHDAD Syria has returned a marble artifact to Iraq that was stolen from one of the country's archaeological sites.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands The global food crisis will only worsen because of climate change, the U.N. climate chief said Friday, urging leaders of the world's richest countries meeting in Japan next week to set goals to reduce carbon emissions within the next dozen years.

FRESNO, Calif. Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.

LUBBOCK, Texas A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra - but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks going all night long.

WASHINGTON From climate change to volcanoes and earthquakes, the world's growing challenges have leaders in earth science proposing a merger of agencies that study the planet.

NEW YORK A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers - the first shoes she's ever worn.

BETHESDA, Md. President Bush helped break ground Thursday for a new military medical center to replace Walter Reed hospital, whose reputation was soiled by allegations of shoddy care for war veterans.

WASHINGTON Scientists have new evidence that the brain chemical best known for regulating mood also plays a role in the mystifying killer of seemingly healthy babies - sudden infant death syndrome.

LOS ANGELES The Phoenix lander's first chemical sniff of Martian soil did not turn up any trace of the building blocks of life. Its next whiff could be its last.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico The lady carved on the ancient rock is squatting, with froglike legs sticking out to each side. Her decapitated head is dangling to the right.

NEW YORK When staffers at a Brooklyn hospital spotted a middle-aged woman lying face-down on a waiting room floor last month, it hardly seemed like cause for alarm.

CHICAGO First came the floods - now the mosquitoes. An explosion of pesky insects are pestering clean-up crews and just about anyone venturing outside in the waterlogged Midwest.

WASHINGTON Diabetes drugs should face tougher safety standards that could cost manufacturers millions but protect patients from unforeseen heart risks, a government panel has recommended.

TRENTON, N.J. New Jersey officials have issued a health alert saying six people have been sickened by mistaking lamp oil for apple juice, including one person who died.