‘New date for doomsday set for January 1, 2017’

London: Even though people around the globe waiting anxiously for the world to end on December 21 have survived unscathed, the actual Apocalypse is nigh on four years away, Doomsdayers have claimed.

According to followers of The Sword of God Brotherhood, the new date for total destruction is January 1, 2017, the Daily Mail reported. They believe that the Prophet Gabriel told the Brotherhood that the dying time will come on this date and only members of the cult will survive, while everyone else will perish in hellfire. The gloomy prediction follows the Doomsday scenes of people around the world preparing for oblivion at 11.11pm, when the 5,126-year calendar of the ancient Mayan civilisation ended. Elsewhere, Mayans marked the end of the solar cycle at Guatemala’s Gran Jaguar Temple, while there was a bumper crowd at Stonehenge, where end of the world onlookers joined Druids in celebrating the winter solstice. Other predictions for oblivion include 2023, when Judgement Day will be upon us according to theologist Ian Gurny. However, with some luck of the Irish, man will be around for a little while longer. Irish saint Malachy foretold in 1143 that there would be 112 more popes before catastrophe - and we are on 111. A more realistic forecast, however, is approximately 4,500,000,000 AD, when the Sun will swell into a giant star, engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and possibly Mars. ANI