Circus Elephants Join Joplin Clean-up Effort

In our Daily Threat Assessment slideshow, we bring you stories that are (mostly) a big deal in some way but also striking, shocking, funny, or just plain strange, and divvy them up into two types: With Us and Against Us. In today’s installment:

• A circus elephant in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri helps clear debris 

• Egyptian officials admit to “virginity checks” on female detainees

• Food prices on track to double in the next 20 years

• Obama administration racks up limousines

Click through to the photo gallery.