function getAjax() {
  if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
    return new XMLHttpRequest();
  } else { // code for IE6, IE5
    return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
  }
}

function loadTheNews() {
  var xmlhttp = getAjax();
  var params = "";
  xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
    if(xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200) {
      var el = document.getElementById("news_section");
      if(el != null) {
        el.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText;
      }
    }
  }
  xmlhttp.open("POST", "getnews.php", true);
  xmlhttp.send(params);

}