Grizzly bear shot dead after dragging woman from her tent and killing her
A grizzly bear has been shot dead in Montana after it dragged a woman from her tent and killed her, local officials have said.
Leah Davis Lokan, 65, of California, was on a mountain biking trip with two friends in Ovando, Montana, when the 400lb bear attacked their camp in the early hours of Tuesday.
Officials hunted the beast for three days using helicopters and ground equipment, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) said.
It is believed to have raided a chicken coop overnight on Wednesday, leading wildlife staff to set a trap in the hope of luring it back.
A bear trap was set up in Ovando following the attack. Pic: AP
The bear, which will be formally identified in due course, returned to the scene – two miles away from where Ms Lokan died – and was shot dead in the early hours by staff using night-vision goggles, according to MFWP.
Ovando, which is located along the banks of the Blackfoot River, is home to just 100 people.
Ms Lokan and her friends were camping behind the local post office when she was attacked at around 4am.
A helicopter surveys the area for the bear. Pic: AP
She was said to be an experienced cyclist and outdoor enthusiast, working as a nurse back in California.
Mike Castaldo, president of her local cycling team who knew her for more than 15 years, paid tribute.
“She had a really good spirit. She always had a smile on her face. Always lit up when she saw you. Always gave you a big hug,” he said.
The town of Ovando sits on the Blackfoot River. File pic: AP
Bear attacks on humans are rare, despite as many as 1,000 living in the region, which borders Canada.
Dona Aitken, an artist who lives around seven miles from Ovando, said the bear’s death would reassure locals.
“Everybody recognises this as really abnormal behaviour to actually attack somebody sleeping in a tent in town,” she said. “I think we still don’t have a good answer for why he did that.”
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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