Dutchman's Noah's ark opens doors

Some off-beat news: How literal is this? Half-sized literal?

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The ark is nearly three storeys high

A half-sized replica of the biblical Noah's Ark has been built by a Dutch man, complete with model animals.

Dutch creationist Johan Huibers built the ark as testament to his literal belief in the Bible.

The ark, in the town of Schagen, is 150 cubits long - half the length of Noah's - and three storeys high. A cubit was about 45cm (18in) long.

The ark opened its doors on Saturday, after almost two years' construction, most of it by Mr Huiber himself.

'Past comprehension'

"The design is by my wife, Bianca," Mr Huibers said. "She didn't really want me to do this at all, but she said if you're going to anyway, it should look like this."

Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras and bison are included in the ark's interior.

The Bible's Book of Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most tamed animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures in the boat, which survived a catastrophic flood sent down by God to punish man.

Mr Huibers spent nearly two years building the ark

Mr Huibers, a contractor, built the ark out of cedar and pine - because Biblical scholars are still not sure as to which type of wood was used in the ark's construction.

He began building in May 2005, after he dreamed of the Netherlands being flooded.

"In February 1992, I had a dream that Holland will become flooded. The next day, I found a book about Noah's Ark in the local bookshop, and since then, my dream has been to build the ark," he said.

Visitors were stunned. "It's past comprehension," Mary Louise Starosciak told the Associated Press.

"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big."

The ark includes a 50-seat theatre showing a segment of the Disney film Fantasia retelling the story of Noah's Ark.

US visitor Lois Poppema told AP she thought the Netherlands was the right place for an ark to be built: "Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television .. saying that all Holland will be flooded.

"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warning will become [such an important] issue - and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."

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Princess Máxima has third daughter

Hooah! And since Princess Máxima is from here it fits well on the blog.

"Princess Máxima has given birth to a baby girl, the state information service (RVD) announced on Tuesday evening. The baby is the third daughter for Maxima and crown prince Willem Alexander and the eighth grandchild for queen Beatrix.

Máxima was admitted to the Bronovo hospital in The Hague on Tuesday afternoon. The baby was born at around 10pm, weighed 4.1 kgs and was 52 cm long, the RVD said.

Hundreds of well wishers had gathered outside the hospital on Tuesday evening hoping for a glimpse of the new princess. Her press debut is likely to be Wednesday morning.

The couple's two other daughters, Amalia and Alexia, were both born naturally at the Bronovo hospital.

Queen Beatrix now has seven granddaughters and just one grandson. She herself had three sons and is the oldest of four daughters."

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