Jockstrip: The world as we know it

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

Police in Lillian, Ala., confirm that a man may have been involved in the illegal slaughter of dogs for more than four decades. The man's property, according to court records, contained the remains of more than 2,000 animals. He may have been paying $10 for each animal in order to take it to his premises for slaughter.

Meanwhile, there is an investigation into allegations that greyhounds from a racetrack in Pensacola, Fla., may have been improperly disposed of.

Autopsies showed all the racing dogs were killed by gunfire.

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Chang Chang was the world's oldest panda living in captivity. Now animal officials at a zoo in the eastern part of China confirm that the beautiful animal has died, at age 35. Animal Planet reports that the panda, a male, died of organ failure earlier this week.

The body of the animal will be taken to a taxidermist who will stuff Chang Chang for future display in China.

Veterinarians say that 35 in panda years is compared to about 80 or so in human terms. Chang Chang had been in good health until recently, when some of his internal organs began to deteriorate.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

A sudden heat wave in India has resulted in more than 1,000 deaths. Health officials in the area near the Bay of Bengal confirm that temperatures reached as high as 120 degrees and stayed there for some time last week.

State officials say the death count, officially put at 1,030, is the highest ever recorded in India during a one-week period as the result of soaring temperatures.

Published reports indicate that many peasants decided to work in the intense heat rather than seek shelter; many of them are among the dead.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

Frail Pope John Paul II has told the people of Azerbaijan they must reject violence. The 82-year-old pontiff, who recently told a crowd at St. Peter's that he has no plans of stepping down, told a crowd in Baku that violent acts are "offensive to the name of God."

The pope went to the former Soviet-bloc country at the invitation of the nation's president, Geidar Aliev. The invitation came as a surprise, considering that the county has fewer that 200 Catholics.

Aliev says he hopes the pope will intervene in a dispute between his country and neighboring Armenia.