World / Nation Briefs July 21, 2011

Leopard mauls 11 in fierce fight

KOLKATA, India - A snarling leopard mauled 11 people in an Indian village and terrorized wildlife officials trying to drive it away before it was tranquilized and died of injuries from the fierce showdown.

Forestry officials were forced to flee, dive for cover and even climb up on a Jeep to escape the adult, male leopard's attacks in West Bengal state.

At one point, the big cat leapt through the air, fangs bared, and tackled a man, clutching him in its giant paws as it knocked him off the wall he was standing on.

The wildlife officials - wearing protective helmets and carrying batons and tranquilizer guns - had hoped to drive the cat into a nearby wildlife sanctuary after it wandered into the village near Siliguri, about 373 miles from Kolkata.

But the leopard stood its ground, crouching on a wall, hissing and attacking those who came near.

It injured six villagers, a policeman and four forest guards before being hit with a tranquilizer gun Tuesday. The people are recovering from their injuries, mostly swipes from the cat's claws.

Forest official Dharma Dev Rai says villagers used knives, stones and batons to beat back the cat.

The cat died within hours after the showdown, and a post mortem is being conducted.

Leopards are protected in India, though more are straying into villages for food.

3 people swept over waterfall

FRESNO, Calif. - Three people presumed dead after being swept over a raging waterfall in Yosemite National Park ignored warning signs and crossed a barricade to pose for photographs, a witness said Wednesday.

In addition, other hikers on the trail above the 317-foot Vernal Falls warned the group that conditions in the Merced River were treacherous.

"People come up here and they think it's Disneyland," said Jake Bibee, who says he is haunted by the look of terror in one man's eyes as he was swept over the falls clinging to his female companion.

"Everyone was screaming," Bibee, 28, said. "People were praying. What I will take away with me forever is the look on that grown man's face as he was floating down that river knowing he was going to die and nobody could help them."

The Yosemite Search and Rescue unit identified the people presumed dead as Homiz David, 22, of Modesto; Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock; and Ramina Badal, 21, of Modesto.

Huge heat 'dome' traps much of US

CHICAGO - If the extreme heat and humidity lingering over much of the nation feels like a steam bath, it's because the same principles are at work in the atmosphere.

Vast amounts of warmth and moisture have become trapped under a huge "heat dome," bringing record-breaking temperatures and thick, tropical air to scores of cities from North Dakota to the Ohio Valley. Now the system is moving east to spread the misery to some of the country's most densely populated areas through the weekend.

As temperatures hovered around 100 near downtown Kansas City, Jeff Grembocki and other construction workers prepared Wednesday to pour concrete. Empty Gatorade bottles lay strewn around their job site.

Grembocki said the heat saps his energy so much that he falls asleep soon after getting home. He only rouses for a couple of hours to watch TV before going back to bed.

"The air conditioning, when it hits you, it's all you can do to stay awake," he said.

Serbia arrests Goran Hadzic

BELGRADE, Serbia - He was on the run for seven years, the last Serbian fugitive sought by the U.N.'s Balkan war crimes tribunal.

Goran Hadzic, the former leader of Croatia's ethnic Serbs, was arrested Wednesday by black-masked Serbian secret police in a hilly forest as an accomplice delivered cash to him - the end of a money trail that began with a photo of a Modigliani painting.

The arrest was hailed as the symbolic closure of a horrific chapter in Balkan history and an important step toward the former pariah state of Serbia joining the European Union.

Republicans use Twitter for debate

WASHINGTON - You think presidential debates are challenging? Try limiting your answers to 140 characters.

Six Republican presidential hopefuls traded tweets in the first presidential debate conducted through Twitter on Wednesday, outlining their agendas across the popular social media service.

In brief responses that buzzed across cyberspace, the GOP field challenged President Barack Obama's approaches to the ongoing debate over the debt ceiling, job creation and the U.S. involvement in Libya. Republican candidates criticized Obama's handling of the economy and efforts to reform health care, while using the medium to share links to introductory videos and websites.

"Obama failed. With ur help we can return the people's voice to the WH, restore fiscal sanity & make Obama a 1 term president," said Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, reflecting the clipped jargon commonly found on Twitter.

Obama held a town hall forum through Twitter earlier this month, answering questions from followers and promoting his agenda. Politicians and campaigns have taken to the social media service because it has become increasingly popular with voters and gives lawmakers the chance to connect directly with their constituents.

- The Associated Press