How to convert unicode

[A]

Hi,
I have a script that downloads a webpage with  characters that are not plain ascii.From the 
web page header I can find out that there is UTF-8 coding( Unicode). I can display the page 
properly in a web browser if I send from my script
"Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 "
But I need to save the page( the text of the page) to a file and some time later import the text 
to a database (MS Access or similar).
How can I download the file or write to a  file so that the characters will be properly display in 
the file and in the database as well?
Thanks for help
Ladislav