HIV prevention pill shows early promise

Tests of a daily pill taken to prevent HIV infection look good, but more study is needed. An experiment done in Africa found that the drug Viread is safe when used for prevention. In the findings, released on Saturday, fewer people given the drug got the AIDS virus than those given dummy pills. But scientists said so few in either group became infected that valid comparisons cannot be made.

3 more missing Egyptian students now in custody

WASHINGTON -- Nine of 11 Egyptian exchange students who recently entered the United States and failed to appear at their college program were in custody Saturday after three were arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, officials said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tracked the three students from New York to San Francisco to Des Moines. They were arrested late Friday without incident on administrative immigration violations. They were Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, age 19; Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, age 20; and Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, age 18. None of the students is considered a terrorism risk.

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan hospitalized

WACO, Texas -- After spending 37 days on a liquid diet and protesting in 100-degree weather, anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan was hospitalized Friday night for dehydration and exhaustion. But she says she won't stop her protests against the Iraq war on land she bought near President Bush's ranch in Crawford. "Everything will still go on," Sheehan, 49, said. "I hope I can get there soon." Sheehan, 49, was listed in stable condition at Providence Health Center in Waco, about 20 miles east of Crawford. She said she would likely be released later Saturday.

3 U.S. soldiers killed by militants in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Militants attacked a U.S. patrol with rocket-propelled grenades, killing three Americans in Afghanistan's wild northeast, an official said Saturday. U.S. troops used artillery to repel the attack in Nuristan province Friday, said Col. Tom Collins. The clash in Nuristan province's Waygal district on Friday also wounded three U.S. soldiers and one civilian as American forces kept up their hunt for Taliban fighters and extremists close to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network that are holed up in remote mountains hugging the Pakistani border.

Communist paper says Castro walking, talking

HAVANA -- Fidel Castro is sitting up, walking and even working a bit on the eve of his 80th birthday, Cuba's official Communist Party newspaper said Saturday. It was the most optimistic report yet since intestinal surgery forced the Cuban leader to step aside as president. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, meanwhile, announced plans to visit his close friend and political ally in Havana. "Tomorrow I will be with Fidel celebrating his 80th birthday," Chavez said at a news conference in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after declaring his candidacy for re-election in December.

-- From wire reports