Authorities say a faulty carabiner is to blame for yesterday's circus accident in Providence. Nine people were injured—several seriously—after the apparatus broke during the circus's "hair hang" act, causing a group of acrobats to fall more than 25 feet.

The naked man who was filmed running wild through San Francisco's 16th Street BART Station last month was identified late yesterday as 24-year-old Yeiner Garizabalo, a former circus acrobat who apparently suffered a nervous breakdown.

A woman visiting the circus in Salina, Kansas, had a too-close encounter with an escaped tiger in the most unlikely of places: The bathroom.

I'm never going to the circus again.

We may never know if the person who fired his gun into the BancorpSouth Arena parking lot in Tupelo, Mississippi at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning intended to hit the circus elephant traveling there while on tour with a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show. We may never know if the shooter, in the heat of the moment, mistook the elephant (Carol) for a much smaller human-sized human with whom he was having a personal conflict. We may never know what the elephant—an honor student, active in her church choir, well-liked and respected by her peers—was doing in the shadowy parking lot so late at night. (Probably just resting.)

Sarah — a 54-year-old Asian elephant performer in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus with a known history of poor health — was filmed by animal rights activists collapsing onto her side as she boarded her boxcar after a performance in Anaheim, Ca.

On Friday, the new owners of the Resorts Casino Hotel officially revealed their innovative marketing strategy to stimulate business and make the local townsfolk proud: fill up the place with scantily clad ladies, put on some naked circus shows, and improve the noodle bar.

If you need a reminder that wild animals are, in fact, wild, here it is. Watch as a pride of lions at Ukraine's L'viv Circus attack their helpless trainer—who survived, thankfully—during a recent routine gone awfully, horribly awry.

Sabu, a five-ton elephant, escaped from the circus and wandered through Zurich last night, terrifying locals but doing surprisingly little damage. Sabu swam in Lake Zurich and was filmed strolling through the city's shopping and financial districts.

A spooked elephant killed its trainer at a Shriner circus in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "In 30 years I've been doing my vending, I've never heard an animal killing their trainer and all," said a balloon vendor. The show will go on.

Most circuses don't include Nissans from the 90's driving at high speeds on a wall so broken down and flimsy that you can see daylight through it. Then again, this isn't like most circuses, because this circus is in India.

Remember that video of an unbound horse running alongside bicycles in the Tour de France, featured in Amelie? A runaway Barnum & Bailey zebra paid homage to that yesterday, but on a downtown Atlanta highway.

Joe Rollino once lifted 3200lbs (back in days of yore) and could still, according to this AP report, bend quarters with his fingers. He was finally felled by a minivan (he was trying to cross a street in Brooklyn, not lift it over his head or anything).

In case driving a bus wasn't your thing and you're still looking for a job, please note that Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus is hiring. And you don't even need to wear makeup, put on a silly wig, or taunt tigers either. A job fair is scheduled for next week and the circus is looking to fill 200 ticketing, ushers and maintenance positions for its Coney Island summer run. Applications available for download! [CIDC]

It's rare that a stage-managed pop star can break free of her chains, but all of America bore witness to a time in Britney Spears's life when a gum-smacking "Y'all!" became a Klonopin-chomping "Y'allllllll." Now, Spears appears to be back on the wagon and of sound mind, body, and hair, but she confesses in the new documentary Britney: For the Record that she almost prefers the bald ol' days:

Fresh off her VMAs victory and rumored reunion with Kevin Federline, Britney Spears continues to pound the comeback trail like it was a naughty windshield in need of a good pummelling-by-umbrella. Her latest salvo is the new single "Womanizer," the first track off her upcoming album Circus. According to Us Weekly, Spears started shooting the video this week in Los Angeles under the guidance of "Toxic" helmer Joseph Kahn, donning a wig (another reunion!) and straddling a businessman in what's being called "erotic" choreography. In the meantime, we have the single right here — have a listen (and a Cheeto). [Us]

In the wee hours of this morning, Barnum & Bailey's Circus paraded their elephants into Manhattan, in what has become an annual tradition and spectacle. PETA is not too happy about this sort of thing. Is the circus really bad? On one hand, they're cruelly exploiting majestic mammals for the pitiful bemusement of humanity. On the other hand: elephants! Below, a clip of last year's NYC elephant march. Is there an easy answer to this one?