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Escaped lioness kills keeper in Iran, prowls zoo for hours

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A lioness killed her keeper in Iran on Sunday as he was feeding her lunch, then escaped with her male partner and prowled around a zoo before being captured, media reported.

The official IRNA news agency said the 40-year-old victim, identified only by his family name, Esfandani, was putting meat through a feeding window when the two lions managed to open their cage.

Police and guards captured the couple a few hours later at the zoo in the central city of Arak, some some 200 kilometers (144 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran.

Authorities are investigating the case. Such incidents are rare in Iran, and often blamed on poor safety measures and inadequate emergency service.

The 60-day deadline for an Iran peace deal is expiring. Here’s where things stand

The deal that U.S. President Donald Trump signed at Versailles in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. The deadline was Monday, and the two sides are further apart than they were then. Talks, such as they are, have focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting a U.S. blockade on Iran, both of which were supposed to have happened under the interim deal. There has been no sign of any compromise on the strait, or that detailed nuclear talks have even begun. The U.S., meanwhile, has no good options for getting out of the war it started alongside Israel.
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