$1,000 for doomsday bunker party

A Cold War-era bunker designed to save Soviet leaders from a nuclear attack will host a 24-hour party for Russians willing to pay $1,000 for a ticket to escape the apocalypse, which, according to New Age prophesies, could come on Friday.

Bunker No. 42, now a tourist attraction full of red alarm lights, is located 56 meters (184 feet) under ground in central Moscow, near the Kremlin, and can accommodate up to 300 people.

"Many people would feel much calmer if they could spend this critical day enjoying maximum comfort and safety," said Alexei Pavlovsky, a tour guide at the bunker, adding there was strong interest in the party which will start at midnight on December 20.

Pavlovsky said the idea of holding a party at the bunker, which has served as a museum since 2006, came from visitors keen to mark the end of an era in the Maya Long Count calendar due at sunrise on December 21 - an event interpreted by some groups as the end of days.

"We don't have control over things such as the end of the world. But we are ready for pretty much everything," he said.

"There'll be a children's room with cartoons, for adults there'll be movies, talks dedicated to the end of the world and tours of the museum. There'll be live broadcasts from other bunkers in other countries."

Upon entering the bunker, built in 1956, visitors will be whisked 18 floors down in an elevator to a warren of rooms where loudspeakers blast out the old Cold war warning: "Attention! Attention! The enemy has carried out a nuclear attack!"

"The bunker is rather big, but everything here is arranged in a way that makes people feel safe. This is a comfortable, cozy place to spend not just a day, but a whole war and even the end of the world," said Anna, a student visiting the bunker on Wednesday.

Other resorts across the world are offering refuge for those fearing the doomsday predictions.

A hotel on the slopes of Mount Rtanj in Serbia is selling itself as the best place to survive the apocalypse, basing its promise on the mystical powers that locals say have flooded the area since the mountain swallowed a castle belonging to a well-to-do sorcerer, trapping him inside.

Owner protests to get monkey back

A woman whose pet monkey was found wandering in an Ikea parking lot protested Wednesday with some 15 other people at a Toronto Animal Services office Wednesday in an effort to get him back.
 
Yasmin Nakhuda alleges the Japanese macaque, named Darwin, was illegally taken from her by animal control officials and moved to a sanctuary in Sunderland, Ontario, where he now lives.
 
Nakhuda is due in court Thursday to try to get an interim order to have returned to her.
 
Her lawyer, Ted Charney, says he has been told the sanctuary plans to ask for the case to be adjourned Thursday.
 
"Nakhuda has no claim of ownership over a wild animal that is no longer in her possession," the sanctuary said in its response to her filing to have Darwin returned.
 
A filing from the sanctuary asks for an adjournment on several counts, including a request that it be given more time to gather evidence.
 
The sanctuary also claims that it now owns Darwin, arguing that unlike domestic animals, wild animals are owned by the person that possesses them and Nakhuda voluntarily turned the monkey over to Toronto Animal Services.
 
The young monkey captured worldwide attention earlier this month when he was spotted wandering the store parking lot in a little coat.
 
Nakhuda, a real estate lawyer, said she was never given the chance to remedy the situation after being fined $240 for breaking the city's prohibited-animal bylaw.
 
"I've spoken to a number of people in the legal community and they do agree that there is no statute allowing the city to take an animal away based on the circumstances," Nakhuda said at the protest.
 
In court documents, Nakhuda says she, her husband and their two kids would be willing to move to a city that allows monkeys in order to keep Darwin, whom they consider part of the family.
 
Nakhuda said she hopes to have Darwin back by Christmas.
 
The primate sanctuary has said the monkey is doing well and the agency was prepared to fight any legal challenges for its return.

Girl pregnant with tumour

An 11-year-old girl, who was accused of being pregnant because her stomach kept growing, was found to have  a large tumor inside her instead.

One day, the mother of the girl was called down to the school for a meeting in order  to inform her that her daughter was rumored to be pregnant because of her swollen stomach. The school also informed the mother that her daughter was being bullied and made fun of by classmates because they believed that she was pregnant, according to USA TODAY.

The news came as a shock to Janet Roberts of Jacksonville, Florida. As soon as she heard from the school she gave her daughter a pregnancy test. The young girl denied being pregnant. The girl was right. The test came back negative.

Roberts tested her daughter again every two weeks later and those tests were negative as well.

 After the negative pregnancy tests Roberts knew that something was wrong so she t took her daughter to the doctor.

Doctors who examined the eleven-year-old girl, made a shocking discovery. The test showed a nineteen pound tumor in the girl’s stomach.

The young girl underwent surgery to have the tumor removed.The tumor was successfully removed and the girl is recovering from surgery. Hopefully her bullying she needlessly endured will now end.

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)

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