Attack

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Insurgents stormed a police post in southern Afghanistan early Thursday, killing four officers and wounding two others in their sleep, officials said. Police and local government officials accused a rogue member of the Afghan National Police of aiding the attack, which took place at about 4 a.m. in the Oruzgan provincial capital, Tarin Kot. The suspect, identified as a new recruit named Hayat Khan, allegedly contacted Taliban militants when he was about to come off his shift to inform them that his colleagues were sleeping, police spokesman Farid Ayel said.

In poll after poll, Americans say they don't like negative campaigning. Yet in the final week of the Florida primary, more than 90% of the ads broadcast were attack ads. That's not likely to change in the run-up to Super Tuesday. So why do candidates rely so heavily on a kind of advertising voters say they abhor? Because it works. To understand why, you have to consider what we know about how emotions work - and the different ways our conscious and unconscious minds and brains process "negativity" during elections.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and suicide explosive vests launched a predawn raid on a Pakistani army camp in the country's volatile northwest Saturday, killing 23 people and injuring at least eight. The attack took place at a camp and checkpost in Lakki Marwat, a region just east of North Waziristan, the tribal area that the Pakistani Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militant groups continue to use as a primary base of operations, according to Pakistani security officials and local authorities.

The boy was 6 years old, just about to start the new school year; his sister had just turned 12. And early on her birthday Sunday in Camden, N.J., police say, 31-year-old Osvaldo Rivera got high on PCP and marijuana, broke into their home and cut their throats, killing the boy and leaving his sister in critical condition. It's the latest shocking murder for a town that saw the grisly beheading of a 2-year-old boy two weeks ago. On Aug. 22, police say, 33-year-old Chevonne Thomas decapitated her toddler son, Zahree, put his head in a refrigerator and then killed herself with a knife.

Alabama police say they have averted an attack on a high school by a student aligned with the white supremacist movement. Russell County High School student Derek Shrout, 17, appeared in court Monday after officials said they'd found bomb-making materials at his house Friday. Officials said a teacher had come across his journal at school and found plans for an attack. Six students and one teacher were named in the journal; five of the students were black. The senior class president, David Kelly, told WTVM-TV that Shrout was in the junior ROTC program and "was confident, well-rounded, but as time went by, he was doing the whole white power thing.

Jerry Lawler, who suffered a heart attack during "Monday Night Raw" earlier this week, is being slowly taken off sedation and had his ventilator removed, but remains in serious but stable condition at a Montreal hospital on Wednesday. He had surgery Tuesday to have three stents put in his coronary arteries. Lawler can blink, nod and squeeze with his hands, but doctors still aren't sure as to the extent of the damage, if any, done to his brain until they get all the tests back Wednesday morning.

A swarm of bees attacked three workers at a golf course in Costa Mesa, authorities said Sunday. Responding firefighters used foam to disperse the bees that attacked the workers who were suspended in a lift about 40 to 50 feet above the ground to work on a tower, according to the fire department. The incident occurred at about 2:30 p.m. The workers suffered multiple bee stings. They were treated and taken to a hospital.  A bee company crew responded to the scene and was able to spray the hive using a ladder.  ALSO: Hiker killed at Eaton Canyon was 17-year-old girl Pain doctor's office raided in prescription drug abuse probe Bauhaus rocker Peter Murphy denies he was drunk when arrested lauren.williams@latimes.com

Egypt's prime minister apologized Thursday for the attack by regime supporters on anti-government protesters in central Cairo, vowing to investigate who was behind it. The protesters accused the regime of sending a force of paid thugs and policemen in civilian clothes to attack them with rocks, sticks and firebombs to crush their movement to oust President Hosni Mubarak. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told state TV, "I offer my apology for everything that happened yesterday because it's neither logical nor rational.

If the answer is Alex Trebek, the question Monday must've been, "Who's feeling  better and itching to go home after a mild heart attack?" " Alex is up and about and in good spirits while doctors complete their testing at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute," said Paula Askanas, senior vice president of media relations for "Jeopardy!" parent Sony Pictures Television, on Monday. "He has been moved to a regular room today and looks forward to returning home as soon as his doctors give their approval.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Militants attacked Mogadishu's main courthouse Sunday in one of two attacks in Somalia that were linked to an Al Qaeda-affiliated group. About nine gunmen wearing Somali police uniforms and suicide vests stormed the court building, firing shots and taking hostages. The attack triggered gun battles with security forces that lasted several hours and claimed more than a dozen deaths. Al Shabab, the violent militia affiliated with Al Qaeda that opposes the Somali government, later claimed responsibility for the attack.