This should solve your problems...I think...
<?php
// includes
include("/conf.php");
// open database connection
$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");
// select database
@mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");
// generate and execute query
$query = "SELECT id headline, story, timestamp FROM news ORDER BY id DESC LIMIT 0, 10";
$result = @mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query:" . $query . mysql_error());
// get resultset as object
$row = mysql_fetch_object($result);
// print details
if ($row)
{
?>
<font class="headText"><?php echo $row->headline; ?></font>
<br>
<font class="storyText"><?php echo nl2br($row->story); ?></font><br><br>
<?php
}
else
{
?>
<p>
<font size="-1">This story could not be located in our database.</font>
<?php
}
// close database connection
mysql_close($connection);
?>
Tell me if this doesn't work.