<?php
    $xml = simplexml_load_file(dirname(__FILE__) . '/thedata.xml');
    // ok we're done.

    $messages = $xml->item;
    foreach ($messages as $msg) {
        // $msg['id'] will access the 'id' attribute
        echo "Title: <a href='{$msg->link}'>{$msg->title}</a><br />Body: {$msg->description}<hr />";
    }
?>