CNN 2009-05-13

Good morning, from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Melissa Long. It's Tuesday May 12th. Here's a look at some of the stories that are happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Taliban fighters stormed a government building in the middle of a major city in Afghanistan. It's happening in Khost, which is a hotbed for Taliban activity near the Pakistan border. Barbara Starr tells us now what's going on.

It all began apparently 1 when some suicide bombers 2 detonated their vests, some US forces, initial US forces tried to help with this situation, but the fighting became even more tough. A quick reaction force, US ground forces and helicopters called into the city of Khost to try and get control of this situation.

We now know the name of a US soldier accused of killing 3 five other US troops in Baghdad yesterday. A US Defense 4 official says he's Army Sgt. John Russell, one veteran who was diagnosed with PTSD--post-traumatic stress disorder 5, says the incident doesn't surprise him.

It's not the first time I've heard about this. I've had friends that had, you know, committed suicide back in the states or, you know, did other horrible things to other people. It's just hard to deal with people that don't understand or have never seen the things I've seen or gone through the things I've seen.
The long-standing culture that has had no tolerance 6 for anything that looks like less than emotional perfection.

This is the sixth case during the Iraq war where service member was allegedly killed by comrade.

The US military is replacing its top commander in Afghanistan. General David McKiernan is out after less than a year on the job. He will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has more special ops experience. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the military has a new mission in Afghanistan, so it needs new leadership.

In her only interview since being diagnosed with cancer, Farrah Fawcett is lashing 7 out at UCLA Medical Center for failing to protect her privacy. She talked to the LA Times in August, but just now gave permission to release the tape. Fawcett explained how she set up a 'sting operation' to find out who was leaking her medical information to the national enquirer 8.

So when my cancer came back, that's when I set it up with the doctor. I said, Okay, you know and I know. I'm not telling Redman, I'm not telling Ryan. I'm not telling my father. I'm not telling anyone. So I knew that if it came out, it was coming from UCLA and you couldn't believe how fast it came out, you know maybe four days.

Those are the headlines making news at this hour. Do stay with CNN and CNN.com for more on these stories or other news that develops today.