NATION IN BRIEF

San Francisco Zoo Tiger Escapes, Kills 1

SAN FRANCISCO -- A tiger escaped from its cage at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday and killed one visitor and injured two others, a newspaper reported.

The tiger was shot and killed, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith told the San Francisco Chronicle. It was not immediately clear how it escaped.

The attack happened in a cafe at the east end of the zoo shortly after closing time, the Chronicle reported. The tiger cages are near the center of the zoo.

Police officers and firefighters are investigating.

Final Midnight Mass Is Held at Ground Zero

NEW YORK -- The last midnight Mass at Ground Zero was held Monday night, giving police, firefighters, recovery workers and victims' families a final chance to pray on Christmas Eve at the World Trade Center site, where intensifying construction is increasingly taking up open space.

"A lot of us felt sad this was the last official midnight Mass on site, but at the same time, there was a sense of relief. This brought closure for us," the Rev. Brian Jordan said after the service. A chaplain who spent 10 months at Ground Zero after Sept. 11, 2001, he has since presided over every midnight Mass there.

About 75 people attended the Mass, he said. One police officer was there for the first time; he had recently returned from military service in Afghanistan and before that Iraq, Jordan said. A sanitation worker who was involved in the Ground Zero cleanup sang "God Bless America" and "O Holy Night."

More than 150 people attended the first Mass in 2001, while thousands of workers were still removing the debris from the fallen twin towers and searching for bodies. Over the years, the service became a spiritual salve for those who participated.

Jordan said he decided to make this service the last after Port Authority officials told him that construction will make it impossible to continue the tradition in 2008. Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman disputed that claim, saying Monday that a spot would be found if Jordan wants to hold future services at the site.

-- From News Services