News around the world

Lost boy found inside toy claw game arcade

A three-year-old boy who went missing from his home in Lincoln, Nebraska was found safe and well inside a toy claw game arcade.

The boy, whose name has not been released, got out of his mother's house when she was in the washroom. She called police and they searched the area around her home and soon found an extra special prize trapped inside the claw machine in the bowling alley across the street.

The boy wasn't paying attention to anyone outside of the machine and "was just picking up stuffed animals and putting them down where they come out of," said Rachell Hildreth, a bartender at the bowling alley.

"You have to weave your way in and out, so he had to work pretty hard to get in there," said Jim Lakey, the owner of the machine who freed the boy, not with the claw but with a regular old key. He was unhurt and was allowed to keep one of the toys from the machine.

 

'World's most haunted island' for sale

The 'world's most haunted island' is up for auction. Do you think anyone will be brave enough to buy it? The island of Poveglia lies in Italy off the coast of Venice in the Venetian Lagoon. While Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Poveglia lies deserted and rarely sees any visitors.

Poveglia was once home to victims of the plague who were dumped there to contain the disease between 1793 and 1814.

In the 1920s its existing buildings were turned into a hospital for mentally ill people and operated until 1968. Legend has it that a disturbed doctor ran the mental hospital and tortured some of his patients. It is said that tens of thousands of spirits haunt the island, which has been featured in ghost hunting documentaries and shows like Ghost Adventures. A worn down 15th century castle is all that remains on the island. Access to Poveglia has been very restricted since the hospital closed down.

There are plans to turn the castle into a luxury hotel, however, a group of architects and planners have launched their own campaign to buy the island to avoid another island in the Venetian Lagoon becoming privately owned.

Toronto's baby girl gorilla's name is...

And the name of the Toronto Zoo's baby girl gorilla is....Nneka! The name was chosen by her father, Charles, on Wednesday.

Charles was released into a pen with three arrangements of fruits, nuts, palm leaves and bamboo. Each arrangement had a card with a potential name for the baby girl attached to it. One plant represented the name Nia, which means "purpose." Another represented Nyota, which means "star."

The last arrangement representing the name Nneka, which means "mother is supreme/renowned/prominent," was Charles' favourite. The zoo asked people to submit their favourite names for the baby online. All names had to be suitable for a girl, begin with the letter N - the letter her mother's name begins with - and be of African descent. Nearly 10,000 names were submitted and a panel of judges narrowed them down to 20 and then three.

"We are thrilled to have Nneka join our gorilla troop and become part of our successful breeding program. This significant birth will help raise awareness on the plight of this critically endangered species and brings us one step further in our efforts to help in the protection of Western lowland gorillas," said Maria Franke, the Toronto Zoo's curator of mammals.