‘Dracula’s Castle’ up for sale in Transylvania

An heir of Romania’s former royal family put “Dracula’s Castle” in Transylvania up for sale Monday, hoping to secure a buyer who will respect “the property and its history,” a U.S.-based investment company said.
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Dracula’s Castle is a popular tourist stop, even though the prince who inspired the book never lived there.

The Bran Castle, perched on a cliff near Brasov in mountainous central Romania, is a top tourist attraction because of its ties to Prince Vlad the Impaler, the warlord whose cruelty inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, “Dracula.”

Legend has it that Vlad, who earned his nickname because of the way he tortured his enemies, spent one night in the 1400s at the castle.

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century to serve as a fortress to protect against the invading Ottoman Turks. The royal family moved into the castle in the 1920s, living there until the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana in 1948.

After being restored in the late 1980s and following the end of communist rule in Romania, it gained popularity as a tourist attraction known as “Dracula’s Castle.”

It would be pretty bad ass to own Dracula’s Castle, although they are asking something like $135 million. Now where is that Power Ball ticket…?

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Hamas TV show kills militant mouse character

Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children’s television program was the victim of a pretend beating death in the show’s final episode Friday.

In the final skit, the “Farfour” character was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour’s land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a “terrorist.”

“Farfour was martyred while defending his land,” said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed “by the killers of children,” she added.

The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV.

Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs. Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he did not know what would be shown instead.

Israeli officials have denounced the program, “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” as incendiary and outrageous. The program was also opposed by the state-run Palestinian Broadcasting Corp., which is controlled by Fatah, Hamas’ rival.

I thought we had some violent cartoons, but damn. What’s next a George Bush cartoon…oh wait there already is one -Lil’ Bush

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Manhunt for London bomb suspect

LONDON, England (CNN) — A manhunt is under way in London for the driver of a car abandoned in the center of the city that police say was packed with explosives intended to cause huge numbers of casualties.

British police anti-terror chief Peter Clarke said detectives were examining CCTV footage after the car — loaded with nails, fuel and gas cylinders — was found outside a nightclub in the heart of London’s busy theater district shortly before 2 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Friday.

Police deactivated the device but the incident stoked renewed fears of a terrorist strike almost two years after the city was hit by deadly suicide bombers.

Hours later, another road in central London was closed as police investigated a “suspicious” vehicle. Park Lane, an upmarket address close to Buckingham Palace and the main Oxford Street shopping area was cordoned off.

Security sources told CNN that the “relatively crude device” found in the first car near Piccadilly Circus contained at least 200 liters, or about 50 gallons, of fuel in canisters.

Things like this make me glad I don’t live abroad anymore. I couldn’t imagine something like this happening on a regular basis in major cities of the U.S. I mean we have our share of crap, but a car bomb full of gas and nails? Damn.

EDIT: It looks like the second car the found is related:

A vehicle containing fuel, gas canisters and nails found early Friday near Trafalgar Square is “clearly linked” to another explosives-packed car found outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus, Metropolitan Police said.

A “considerable” amount of fuel and gas canisters, along with a “substantial quantity of nails,” was found in the blue Mercedes 280E, said Peter Clarke, Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner.

He called the discovery of the second bomb “troubling,” but urged the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious behavior to authorities.

The second vehicle was ticketed about 2:30 a.m. Friday (9:30 p.m. Thursday ET), Clarke said. It was near Trafalgar Square, roughly a half-mile from where the first vehicle — also a Mercedes — had been found about an hour earlier.

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