Global doomsday hot spots draw believers, revelers

A fringe Christian group has been spreading rumors about the world’s impending end, prompting Chinese authorities to detain more than 500 people this week and seize leaflets, video discs, books and other material.

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, also called Eastern Lightning, which preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. Authorities in the province of Qinghai say they are waging a “severe crackdown” on the group, accusing it of attacking the Communist Party and the government.

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For some, doomsday will be a chance for mockery.

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, producer and host of the History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens” program, is throwing a party in New Orleans on Friday where he will descend onstage in a mock spaceship. Tsoukalos is a leading proponent of the idea that ancient myths arose from visits by alien astronauts, an idea rejected by many mainstream researchers. Still, Tsoukalos scoffs at the idea that the world will come to an end Friday.

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Associated Press writers Florent Bajrami in Bugarach, France; Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Paisley Dodds in London; and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.

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