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Escaped Tiger Shot Dead by German Police

Local media say the tiger belongs to controversial trainer Carmen Zander, also known as Germany's "Tiger Queen" - AFP
Local media say the tiger belongs to controversial trainer Carmen Zander, also known as Germany's "Tiger Queen" - AFP
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Escaped Tiger Shot Dead by German Police

Local media say the tiger belongs to controversial trainer Carmen Zander, also known as Germany's "Tiger Queen" - AFP
Local media say the tiger belongs to controversial trainer Carmen Zander, also known as Germany's "Tiger Queen" - AFP

German police said Monday they had shot dead a tiger that escaped from an enclosure run by a woman nicknamed the "Tiger Queen" after it attacked one of the keepers.

Police told AFP that the animal had seriously injured a 72-year-old man, who was being treated in hospital after the attack in the eastern city of Leipzig.

The incident happened Sunday on the city's outskirts and involved an "escaped tiger which was killed by police using firearms," the police spokesman said.

Police said they were "able to locate the animal in an allotment complex" nearby and that it had to be killed "to prevent danger to those present".

One allotment gardener told the Bild newspaper: "First we heard sirens and then right afterwards a helicopter came and lots of police", who warned the allotment owners to stay inside.

"Then there were suddenly several shots."

The animal belonged to tiger trainer Carmen Zander, who told Bild that the tiger shot dead was called Sandokan.

According to Zander's website, Sandokan was a nine-year-old, 280-kilogram (615 pound) Bengal-Siberian mix.

The website describes the animal as "a scaredy-cat" that could "quickly become overwhelmed and insecure" and could therefore attack "more quickly and unexpectedly" than the other animals.

Zander, known as the "Tiger Queen", has faced criticism in the past for the conditions in which the animals are kept at her enclosure.

Animal rights group PETA charged that veterinary authorities "share responsibility for this tragic incident" by having failed to act against the facility sooner and demanded that the remaining animals there be confiscated.

The district authority said in a statement to AFP that it had "for some time been working to improve the housing conditions of the tigers" at the site.

Zander had been instructed to comply with regulations "so that all animals have access to the necessary indoor and outdoor space, or to adjust the number of animals to the space currently available".

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Varieties

Prince William to Sell Parts of Royal Estate to Reinvest in Local Communities

Football - FA Cup - Final - Chelsea v Manchester City - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 16, 2026 William, Prince of Wales, before the start of the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Final - Chelsea v Manchester City - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 16, 2026 William, Prince of Wales, before the start of the match. (Reuters)
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Prince William to Sell Parts of Royal Estate to Reinvest in Local Communities

Football - FA Cup - Final - Chelsea v Manchester City - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 16, 2026 William, Prince of Wales, before the start of the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Final - Chelsea v Manchester City - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - May 16, 2026 William, Prince of Wales, before the start of the match. (Reuters)

Britain's Prince ‌William will sell off parts of his vast Duchy of Cornwall estate over the next decade to help fund plans to invest more than 500 million pounds ($670 million) in local communities, including affordable housing and environmental projects.

The sales were reported by the Times newspaper to equate to 20% of the estate which is one of Britain's biggest landowners with a portfolio that includes ‌large swathes ‌of land as well as commercial ‌and ⁠residential properties.

"The Duchy ⁠should exist to make a positive impact, particularly in the communities where we can make the biggest difference," said Will Bax, Chief Executive of the Duchy of Cornwall.

"That ambition requires significant investment and, in some cases, means rebalancing what ⁠we own in order to ‌be as impactful as ‌possible to our communities, now and in the future."

Bax ‌said the money would be "largely funded ‌by reinvesting capital from across the Duchy, alongside development income, partnerships and some borrowing."

William, who received a private income of more than 20 million pounds from the ‌Duchy last year, and his father King Charles have in recent years ⁠faced ⁠criticism over the way their estates have been managed. Aides say William has been looking closely at management of the Duchy since inheriting it in 2022.

In 2024, a Sunday Times report and separate TV documentary accused Charles and his heir William of making millions from the country's health service, army and schools from charges imposed by their respective estates.

The Duchy subsequently reduced rents significantly for a number of charity and community tenants.

Varieties

Japan Arrests Americans over Stunt at Baby Monkey Punch's Zoo

Tourists have flocked to the Ichikawa City Zoo to see the macaque named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth. Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP
Tourists have flocked to the Ichikawa City Zoo to see the macaque named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth. Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP
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Japan Arrests Americans over Stunt at Baby Monkey Punch's Zoo

Tourists have flocked to the Ichikawa City Zoo to see the macaque named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth. Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP
Tourists have flocked to the Ichikawa City Zoo to see the macaque named Punch, who was abandoned by his mother shortly after his birth. Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

Two American nationals were arrested in Japan after a stunt in which one entered the monkey enclosure at a zoo where a baby macaque named Punch became a global internet sensation this year, police said Monday.

One of the men, who identified himself as a 24-year-old college student, was arrested Sunday after climbing over a fence and dropping into a dry moat surrounding the monkey exhibit at Ichikawa City Zoo outside Tokyo.

The other man, who was filming the act, identified himself as a 27-year-old singer.

Images on social media showed a person scaling the fence in a costume that included a smiley face head with sunglasses, prompting the monkeys to scatter.

The men did not come close to the animals, and were quickly apprehended by zoo officials, said an official at Ichikawa Police who spoke with AFP on a traditional condition of anonymity.

The two men face charges of forcible obstruction of business, which they refute, the police official said.

The duo did not have formal identifications with them and initially tried to lie to police about their names, he added.

The arrests follow a massive surge in domestic and international visitors to the zoo, driven by Punch's viral fame.

The baby monkey became an internet star this year after the zoo posted photos of Punch clutching an IKEA plush orangutan for comfort after being rejected by his mother.

Punch was raised in an artificial environment after being born in July, and began training to rejoin his troop earlier this year.

Punch's predicament sparked huge interest online, spawning a devoted fanbase under the hashtag #HangInTherePunch.

An unprecedented number of tourists are flocking to Japan, but some residents have become fed up with unruly behavior.

Last year, a Ukrainian YouTuber with more than 6.5 million subscribers was arrested after livestreaming himself trespassing in a house in the Fukushima nuclear exclusion zone.

And a US livestreamer known as Johnny Somali was arrested in 2023 for allegedly trespassing onto a construction site.

Varieties

India’s Lifeline Ferry Across Strategic Archipelago

This photograph taken on March 30, 2026 shows passengers boarding the MV Kalighat vessel near Chowra in the waters of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (AFP)
This photograph taken on March 30, 2026 shows passengers boarding the MV Kalighat vessel near Chowra in the waters of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (AFP)
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India’s Lifeline Ferry Across Strategic Archipelago

This photograph taken on March 30, 2026 shows passengers boarding the MV Kalighat vessel near Chowra in the waters of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (AFP)
This photograph taken on March 30, 2026 shows passengers boarding the MV Kalighat vessel near Chowra in the waters of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (AFP)

Leaping from a small boat in choppy waters off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, George Washington jumps on board the only ferry service connecting hundreds of communities across the strategic archipelago.

"These ships are a lifeline for the people," 18-year-old Washington told AFP, travelling between two tiny green specks in the 800-kilometer-long (500-mile) Indian Ocean chain, from Chowra to the slightly larger Car Nicobar.

"If I had missed this one, I'd have to wait for the next one for a few days," Washington said, after clambering onboard the government-run MV Kalighat, an 85 meter-long (278 foot) cargo and passenger vessel.

Washington's journey lasted about five hours on the ferry service that takes up to 50 hours from end to end.

Running from the archipelago's capital Sri Vijayapuram in the north to the southern tip of Campbell Bay, the ferry serves as both a passenger and cargo ship linking the 836-island archipelago.

At each stop, passengers like Washington or others laden with sacks of coconuts or pineapples for the market get on and off.

At bigger ports, a few cargo containers are loaded or unloaded.

Many islands like Chowra -- a three-kilometer-long (two-mile) forest speck in a vast blue sea -- lack deep-water jetties.

So passengers must reach ocean-going ferries by smaller tenders.

Recalling one such journey, islander Tony Usman said "it was very scary", as the poor weather made the transfer from a small boat to the ferry treacherous.

"I hope that more ships are added and the jetty too is expanded, which is in a bad state," said Usman, 15, who was also travelling from Chowra to his home at Car Nicobar.

India hopes to change that soon.

- 'Touch every island' -

As part of a $9-billion plan, New Delhi is building a megaport, an airport and city on the Great Nicobar island, at the southern end of the archipelago.

The colossal construction is projected to expand the population and bring tourists to the archipelago, located more than 2,500 kilometers (1,555 miles) from India's mainland.

New Delhi sees development there as a way to counter China's growing regional influence.

Giant container ships ply sea lanes skirting the archipelago's southern tip, where roughly a third of global maritime trade transits between Asia, Africa, the Gulf and the Red Sea.

Vijay Kumar, the archipelago's director of shipping, said port facilities would be upgraded and new vessels deployed within two years.

"We are going to augment facilities -- either by reconstruction, or construction of new jetties," he said, underlining that his service's mandate is to "touch every island".

"We shall line up 10 plus new vessels for the region."

For now, the slow ferry remains the main form of long-distance transport serving the archipelago's estimated 420,000 residents, as government-run helicopters remain out of reach for most.

Passengers bring their own food or distraction for their long trips, with some playing carom -- a popular board game -- to pass the time, while goats tied up at a corner graze on a handful of hay.

Harjinder Pal Kaur, 66, says the ferry has already come a long way from the 1970s, when she settled on the Great Nicobar island.

At that time, there was only one boat a month, and the journey took up to six days without any air conditioning, while passengers today can pay for more comfortable sleeping cabins.

"We spent so many months with no fresh rations as the ships failed to reach here, or the limited vegetables they were carrying were spoiled during the long journey," she recalled.

Kalighat crew member Vincent Soreng said the journeys offer a rare window into island life.

"You learn so much about life observing all the people and hearing their stories along the way," Soreng said.