A “heroic” group of cyclists in the US fought off a cougar for more than 15 minutes after it grabbed a woman in its jaws.
Keri Bergere, a member of the group, suffered neck and face injuries in the attack but escaped with her life thanks to her comrades.
The cyclists were riding on a trail in Washington state when a pair of the big cats, also known as mountain lions, suddenly ran up.
One of the animals then grabbed Ms Bergere and dragged her off her bicycle.
It happened on 17 February but details of the struggle have only now been revealed in a TV interview.
“I just remember getting tackled from this side and ending up at the other side of the road pinned to the ground and hearing all the ladies rallying and fighting for my life,” Ms Bergere told KING, an affiliate of NBC News, Sky News’ US partner network.
The other cougar ran into the hills, while the four riders with Ms Bergere mounted a counterattack to save her from the grips of the attacker’s jaws – which at that point were around her face and exerting pressure.
“Erica and Tisch come over with sticks and a rock and we’re hand-to-hand combat-battling this thing,” fellow rider Annie Bilotta said.
Cougars use the powerful force of their jaws to crush the skulls, neck bones and windpipes of prey, experts say.
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For a time it seemed that the 34kg cat would not relent, despite Ms Bergere also fighting back by poking at the creature’s eyes and nose, she said.
But about 15 minutes into the saga, the cyclists said, the cat weakened its pressure on her and she was able to slip her face out of its jaws.
The group then managed to pin the mountain lion down with a bicycle while they waited for help to arrive.
Officers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife later arrived on the scene and shot dead the animal. Officials have concluded the animal had no diseases or abnormalities that might have contributed to its behaviour.
“We may have had a very different outcome without their heroic efforts,” the department’s Lieutenant Erik Olson said of Ms Bergere’s friends.
On Day 77, US correspondents Mark Stone and David Blevins answer your questions on everything from Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and their impact on American consumers, to Trump’s relationship with Putin and if they have plans for the Arctic, and penguins.
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Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Image: Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Image: Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
Image: People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
Image: A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
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“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
Image: A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
Image: A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Protesters refuse to take Donald Trump’s policies lying down
It was built to honour George Washington, a founding father of the United States.
And in the shadow of the 555ft Washington Monument, protestors were refusing to accept Donald Trump’s policies lying down.
“Stand tall,” they chanted, again and again.
“In every city, stand tall. In every state, stand tall. In truth, stand tall. In justice, stand tall.”
Those words, shouted by thousands on the city’s iconic mall, were reinforced by the words on their placards and t-shirts.
A minister, wearing a t-shirt with ‘Troublesome Priest’ printed on it, told me she found what was happening in the US government “appalling and immortal”.
One man said he had won the long-distance award, having travelled 2,750 miles from Hawaii for the protest.
“I finally reached a breaking point,” he added. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Another woman said: “We have to speak up, we have to act, we have to do something, because this is not America.”
I asked her what she would say to those who argue the people did speak when they elected Donald Trump as president.
She replied: “Some people have spoken and then some people have not and those of us that have not, we need to speak now.”
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Image: People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Image: Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.