AP - More bystanders are willing to attempt CPR if an emergency dispatcher gives them firm and direct instructions — especially if they can just press on the chest and skip the mouth-to-mouth, according to new research.

AP - One of every 15 New Yorkers battled bedbugs last year, officials said Wednesday as they announced a plan to fight the spreading infestation, including a public-awareness campaign and a top entomologist to head the effort.

AP - Master Sgt. Todd Nelson lost his right eye and ear in a flash when a car bomb in Afghanistan exploded, sending fire up his arm and over his head.

AP - Facing surgery? You could receive blood that's been stored for a week, or three weeks, or nearly six — and there's growing concern that people who get the older blood might not fare as well.

AP - Japanese women are expected to live almost 86 1/2 years, topping the world longevity ratings for the 25th straight year, the government reported Monday.

AFP - Indian farmers are injecting a hormone sometimes given to women during childbirth into vegetables and fruits to make the produce ripen sooner and gain weight, an Indian minister has warned.

AFP - The 18th council of war on AIDS has opened up new fronts in a nearly three-decade-old campaign but in the grim awareness that a battle-hardened enemy -- the money crunch -- is back.