3 US troops killed in insider attack

3 US troops killed in insider attack

KABUL, Afghanistan

An Afghan wearing a security forces uniform turned his weapon against U.S. troops Saturday, killing three in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, in another apparent attack by a member of the Afghan forces against their international allies.

The shooting took place in Gardez, capital of eastern Paktia province, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said. The area, near the border with Pakistan, has been a front line in fighting with the Taliban and other militants.

Slide victim’s body recovered in Mexico

LA PINTADA, Mexico

Rescuers fighting tons of slippery, wet mud at the site of this week’s worst storm disaster unearthed a woman’s body Saturday, possibly one of 68 missing in a massive landslide that buried half of the remote coffee-growing town of La Pintada.

Houses were filled to their roofs with dirt, and vehicles were tossed on their sides when the hillside collapsed Monday afternoon after several days of rain brought by Tropical Storm Manuel, which along with Hurricane Ingrid gave Mexico a one-two punch last weekend.

Authorities on Saturday also found the wreckage of a Federal Police helicopter that was working on the La Pintada rescue when it went missing nearby on Thursday. All aboard died, though officials still could not confirm late in the day how many were aboard.

Earthquake jolts western Wyoming

FORT WASHAKIE, Wyo.

A 4.9 magnitude earthquake jolted much of western Wyoming on Saturday, but no damage was reported.

John Bellini, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., says the temblor occurred at 7:16 a.m. about 45 miles underground. The nearest city is Fort Washakie, about 9 miles east of the epicenter.

Bellini said, “It was felt widely in western Wyoming, but this is too deep of an earthquake to cause any damage. ... A lot of people might have felt something, but they wouldn’t know what they felt because it woke them up.”

hTransgender student selected homecoming queen

SANTA ANA, Calif.

Cassidy Lynn Campbell broke down in tears Friday night when she learned that she had been crowned homecoming queen.

The senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach was born male but told the Los Angeles Times she always felt like a girl. In high school, she began taking hormone blockers and estrogen injections prescribed by an endocrinologist and made the transition to living as a girl.

She decided to run for homecoming queen, in part, to make a statement.

“If I win, it would mean that the school recognizes me as the gender I always felt I was,” Cassidy, 16, told The Times before the election.

“But with all the attention, I realized it’s bigger than me,” she said. “I’m doing this for the kids who can’t be themselves.”

Associated Press