Tag Archives: 강남 마사지

  • -

There has been no public pushback from authorities despite a severe fiscal crunch, which has brought unpopular measures such as plans to end government-subsidized gasoline prices

Tags : 

The motion passed easily, according to pro-government Web sites.

And with it, Iranian authorities took another step in restructuring the state to reward the forces that help keep them in power – handing wider decision-making roles to the formidable Revolutionary Guard and its vast paramilitary network that have led the crackdowns against opposition protesters.

The Revolutionary Guard has always been a centerpiece of Iran’s Islamic establishment. But the latest door opened to its militia wing suggests a deepening policy role by Iran’s most hard-line groups as opposition forces grow bolder in their demands and the West considers tighter sanctions over its nuclear impasse with Tehran.

The Basij will again be out in force Thursday for expected protest marches to coincide with events marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Their attempts to crush the anti-government movement have been well documented since Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election last June, including the trademark Basiji motorcycle charges in protest crowds.

What’s perhaps less noticed – but with even deeper significance – is the evolving role of the huge Basij force from loosely organized Islamic vigilantes to a more cohesive force with increasing channels to Iran’s leadership and security apparatus.

“It’s clear that the Revolutionary Guard has been increasingly inserted in Iran’s decision-making equation during the crisis,” said Patrick Clawson, deputy director at the Washington Institute for 대전 안마 Near East Policy. “Expanding the role of the Basij is a natural extension of this.”

The Basij’s big brother, the Revolutionary Guard, has long been a pillar of Iran’s regime as a force separate from the ordinary armed forces. The Guard now has a hand in every critical area including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology.

It also has absorbed the paramilitary Basij as a full-fledged part of its command structure – giving the militia greater funding and a stronger presence in Iran’s internal politics.

The chief of the Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, often accuses dissidents of waging a “soft revolution” against the Islamic system and says forces such as the Basij are needed more than ever to quash internal threats.

The Basij has its roots as volunteer fighters during the 1980-88 war with Iraq. It then developed as a grass-roots defender of the system – taking on roles such as Islamic morality police at checkpoints and parks or as shock troops busting up pro-reform gatherings or publications.

Iran’s meltdown since June has made the Basij into a front-line force against the opposition.

Security forces turned to them as neighbor-by-neighbor informants with hundreds of thousands of eyes and ears in every corner of the country. They also became a first-call attack squad against protests, often roaring into battle on motorcycles and armed with batons.

At least eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and protests in the last major opposition march in late December.

On Monday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed to deliver a “punch in the mouth” to opposition groups if they follow through with calls for marches on Thursday during state-run celebrations of the Islamic Revolution.

He said the Basij would be deployed to provide “order and security.”

It was the latest nod by the ruling clerics that the Basij is moving deeper into the fold.

At the late January Cabinet meeting, one of Ahmadinejad’s top advisers, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, made a speech praising the Basij before the vote to give the group an open invitation to get involved with decisions and policies in every ministry, according to Rajanews.com, a pro-Ahmadinejad Web site. The report also appeared in other government-allied sites as well as some opposition blogs.

Basij leaders also are reportedly asking for another budget increase for the next Iranian year that starts in late March. Last year, the Basij funding was boosted a staggering 200 percent to more than $500 million, according to Sobh-e Sadegh, a publication controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

There has been no public pushback from authorities despite a severe fiscal crunch, which has brought unpopular measures such as plans to end government-subsidized gasoline prices.

No one in the embattled government wants to risk ruffling groups such as the Basij, which has remained among the strongest supporters of Ahmadinejad.

“They can serve almost as Ahmadinejad’s private army,” said William O. Beeman, a University of Minnesota professor who has written on Iranian affairs.

The higher political profile for the Basij also appears to fit into efforts to expand hard-line oversight in schools and universities. The Basij have been increasingly active in recruitment as the political tensions grow.

Precise numbers on Basij membership are not published, but some estimates range as high as 1 million or more.

“If they acquire more power as a body, they will be able to recruit more forces who will see this as an instant route toward social mobility and power,” said Beeman.


  • -

Bob Kerrey — a friend of Martin’s — presided over Saturday’s ceremony, Alan Nierob said

Tags : 

Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey — a friend of Martin’s — presided over Saturday’s ceremony, Alan Nierob said. Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels was Martin’s best man, he said.

Most of the roughly 75 guests — who included Tom Hanks, 대전 마사지 Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Carl Reiner and Ricky Jay — were not told that Martin and Stringfield would wed when they were invited to his home for a “party,” Nierob said. The ensuing nuptials were a surprise to them, he said.

Martin, 61, was previously married to actress Victoria Tennant, whom he divorced in 1994 after about 8 years together, Nierob said.

It was the first marriage for Stringfield, 35, a writer and former staffer for The New Yorker magazine.

The two had dated for about three years, Nierob said.

Martin delivered his vows sporting an Inspector Clouseau mustache he let grow in for his appearance in the upcoming sequel to 2006’s “Pink Panther” remake.

His other movies include “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” “L.A. Story,” “Parenthood,” and “Father of the Bride.”

His novel “Shopgirl” was made into a 2005 film starring himself and Claire Danes.

The wedding was first reported by The Insider, a CBS celebrity news show.


  • -

“All of the people are very scared,” Hakim said by telephone

Tags : 

Instead of keeping the offensive secret, Americans have been talking about it for weeks, expecting the Taliban would flee. But the militants appear to be digging in, apparently believing that even a losing fight would rally supporters and sabotage U.S. plans if the battle proves destructive.

No date for the main attack has been announced but all signs indicate it will come soon. It will be the first major 대전 안마 offensive since President Barack Obama announced last December that he was sending 30,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan, and will serve as a significant test of the new U.S. strategy for turning back the Taliban.

Marjah Marines Brace for Offensive Afghanistan: Life on the Frontline

About 400 U.S. troops from the Army’s 5th Stryker Brigade and about 250 Afghan soldiers moved into positions northeast of Marjah before dawn Tuesday as U.S. Marines pushed to the outskirts of the town.

Automatic rifle fire rattled in the distance as the Marines dug in for the night with temperatures below freezing. The occasional thud of mortar shells and the sharp blast of rocket-propelled grenades fired by the Taliban pierced the air.

“They’re trying to bait us, don’t get sucked in,” yelled a Marine sergeant, warning his troops not to venture closer to the town. In the distance, Marines could see farmers and nomads gathering their livestock at sunset, seemingly indifferent to the firing.

The U.S. goal is to take control quickly of the farming community, located in a vast, irrigated swath of land in Helmand province 380 miles southwest of Kabul. That would enable the Afghan government to re-establish a presence, bringing security, electricity, clean water and other public services to the estimated 80,000 inhabitants.

Over time, American commanders believe such services will undermine the appeal of the Taliban among their fellow Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in the country and the base of the insurgents’ support.

“The military operation is phase one,” Helmand Gov. Gulab Mangal told reporters Tuesday in Kabul. “In addition to that, we will have development in place, justice, good governance, bringing job opportunities to the people.”

Marjah will serve as the first trial for the new strategy implemented last year by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. He maintains that success in the eight-year conflict cannot be achieved by killing Taliban fighters, but rather by protecting civilians and winning over their support.

Many Afghan Pashtuns are believed to have turned to the Taliban, who were driven from power in the U.S.-led invasion of 2001, because of disgust over the ineffectual and corrupt government of President Hamid Karzai.

“The success of the operation will not be in the military phase,” NATO’s civilian chief in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, told reporters Tuesday. “It will be over the next weeks and months as the people … feel the benefits of better governance, of economic opportunities and of operating under the legitimate authorities of Afghanistan.”

To accomplish that, NATO needs to take the town without causing significant damage or civilian casualties. That would risk a public backlash among residents, many of whose sons and brothers are probably among the estimated 400 to 1,000 Taliban defenders. U.S. aircraft have been dropping leaflets over the town, urging militants not to resist and warning civilians to remain indoors.

Provincial officials believe about 164 families – or about 980 people – have left the town in recent weeks, although the real figure could be higher because many of them moved in with relatives and never registered with authorities.

Residents contacted by telephone in Marjah said the Taliban were preventing civilians from leaving, warning them they have placed bombs along the roads to stop the American attack. The militants may believe the Americans will restrain their fire if they know civilians are at risk.

Mohammad Hakim said he waited until the last minute to leave Marjah with his wife, nine sons, four daughters and grandchildren because he was worried about abandoning his cotton fields in a village on the edge of town. He decided to leave Tuesday, but Taliban fighters turned him back because they said the road was mined.

“All of the people are very scared,” Hakim said by telephone. “Our village is like a ghost town. The people are staying in their homes.”

Sedwill said NATO hopes that when Marjah has fallen, many Taliban militants could be persuaded to join a government-promoted reintegration process.

“The message to them is accept it,” he said. “The message to the people of the area is, of course, keep your heads down, stay inside when the operation is going ahead.”

Mangal, the governor, said authorities believe some local Taliban are ready to renounce al Qaeda and give the government a chance.

“I’m confident that there are a number of Taliban members who will reconcile with us and who will be under the sovereignty of the Afghan government,” he said.

Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former Afghan interior minister who lectures at the National Defense University in Washington, said the U.S. had little choice but to publicize the offensive so civilians could leave and minimize casualties. He said it would have been impossible to achieve complete surprise because “an operation of this scale cannot be kept secret.”

But Jalali added that publicizing the operation may have encouraged hard-core Taliban to stand and fight to show their supporters and the international community that they will not be easily swayed by promises of amnesty and reintegration.

“Normally the Taliban would leave. They would not normally decisively engage in this kind of pitched battle. They would leave and come back because they have the time to come back,” Jalali told The Associated Press.

“If there’s stiff resistance in Marjah, this could increase the recruiting power of the Taliban or at least retain what they have in that area,” he said. “It’s become the symbol of Taliban resistance. So I would suspect it’s possible there would be stiff rearguard resistance. If it becomes bloody, it would affect opinion in Europe and the U.S.”

Jalali also said that success would depend on whether the Afghan government can make good on its promise of services once the battle is over.

“If the coalition can stabilize Marjah, rebuild it and install good governance, that can be an example for other places,” he said. “If not, it would be another problem.”

Echoing this theory, McChrystal told reporters at a defense conference in Turkey last weekend that it was necessary to tell Afghans that the attack on Marjah was coming so they would know “that when the government re-establishes security, they’ll have choices.”


  • -

Known for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC’s “The Tomorrow Show.” Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols

Tags : 

Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia, said his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz.

ImageKnown for his improvised, casual style and robust laughter, Snyder conducted a number of memorable interviews as host of NBC’s “The Tomorrow Show.” Among his guests were John Lennon, Charles Manson and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in Milwaukee in the 1960s, 부산 안마 then moved into local television news. He anchored newscasts in Philadelphia and Los Angeles before moving to late night. He gained more fame when Dan Aykroyd lampooned him in the early days of “Saturday Night Live.”

In 1972, Snyder left news to host “The Tomorrow Show,” which followed “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

His catch phrase for the show was: “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air.” Snyder smoked throughout his show, the cigarette cloud swirling around him during interviews.

In 1995, he returned to late night television as the host of “The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder” on CBS. The program followed David Letterman’s “Late Show” until 1998, when Snyder was replaced by Craig Kilborn.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

“When I was a kid leukemia was a death sentence,” he wrote then. “Now, my doctors say it’s treatable!”


  • -

“I mean, Marie Brenner, one of our best writers, did a great piece on him, and she noted in the piece that he had Hitler’s speeches in his office, and he went absolutely ballistic.” Brown says the future president got his revenge at a party a year later: “She suddenly felt something cold and wet in the back of her dress

Tags : 

<img src="http://image.baidu.com/search/http:%5C/%5C/p0.qhimgs4.com%5C/t019e7c0b381a68cd69.jpg" alt="\'693139 9416\’ 故 37512189 8579?” style=”max-width:400px;float:left;padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px;”>Tina Brown has been the guiding hand behind some of our most provocative magazines. Time now for some questions-and-answers with the legendary editor, talking with Tony Dokoupil:

It rarely happens that a magazine cover can still make waves 25 years after it hit newsstands.

“Demi was totally up for it. I mean, this was very brave of Demi to do, really,” said Tina Brown.

But Brown’s 1991 Vanity Fair cover of Demi Moore, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, has helped turn naked baby bump images into a celebrity rite of passage.

“And the funny thing is, it’s still going on,” Brown said. “I mean, there are stars now who feel the need to do a Demi Moore pregnant shot.”

During the 1980s and ’90s, Brown edited two of the most prestigious and powerful magazines in America — reviving Vanity Fair, and then The New Yorker. 

“My goal was seduction — seduction, seduction, seduction,” she said.

Now the fabled queen of buzz, who burnished the careers of so many cover subjects, is a cover story herself, with a new memoir, “The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992” (Macmillan). 

Brown wrote it all by hand. “It was just, you know, written on planes, written at night, written on the heat of the moment.”

And what a moment it was.

Take March 20, 1985, a photo shoot of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. 

“It came together really because Harry Benson, the photographer, had a genius idea to bring a boombox to the White House with a cassette in it: Frank Sinatra singing, ‘Nancy With the Laughing Face.’ Nancy says, ‘Honey, let’s dance!’ I mean, it’s as we weren’t there.”

Dokoupil asked, “When you saw that kiss happen, what’s going through your head?”

“Oh my God! Oh my God! We’re turned around the magazine.”

It flew off the newsstands, Brown said.

In those pre-digital years, print magazines were often fat with advertising and bursting with life — but for a time, Vanity Fair was not. “It was a huge snore,” she said. “I bought it and it just slipped from my hand out of sheer boredom.”

When Conde Nast turned to Brown, she was barely 30. She was a genteel daughter of filmmakers whose wit got her kicked out of three British boarding schools. 

“I was a kind of wicked describer. I mean, one school I was kicked out for writing my diary, which, you know, was prescient, in which the headmistress discovered that I’d referred to her bosoms as unidentified flying objects.”

At Vanity Fair, Brown pioneered a now-familiar blend of high culture and low. “Many people kept saying, ‘Well, is it a fashion magazine? Is it a celebrity magazine? Is it a serious journalism magazine? Is it a political magazine? The point was, it was all of those things, because we are all of those things.”

Brown dealt in gossip, too … some of it more relevant than ever. “Yeah, I love gossip,” she said. “Gossip’s irresistible. But gossip’s powerful and important, too, because frequently gossip is the first way stories begin. Frequently, gossip’s right.”

As she told “60 Minutes” in 1990, “Donald Trump always came on the line with a gag, and in a funny way, it did win him the hearts of the press, I think.”

She told Dokoupil, “I found him very beguiling, actually. I thought he had a kind of freshness and bravado that made me laugh. But then he got less and less entertaining, to be honest.”

“Why?” Dokoupil asked.

“Because the desire for publicity made him so impossible to deal with,” said Brown. “I mean, Marie Brenner, one of our best writers, did a great piece on him, and she noted in the piece that he had Hitler’s speeches in his office, and he went absolutely ballistic.”

Brown says the future president got his revenge at a party a year later: “She suddenly felt something cold and wet in the back of her dress. As she turned around, she saw Donald Trump progressing across the room and realized that he had emptied wine down her dress.”

And of course, there were the perils of editing while female, such as the Warren Beatty episode: “I’m talking about a cover; he’s talking about, when is my husband next out of town?”

For 35 years, Tina Brown has been married to the author and newspaper editor Sir Harold Evans.

“Tina has an amazing scent for the big story, the next big story, a news nose which is exceptional,” Evans said. Also, “a judge of character; and the ability to translate that character into somebody you feel you know.”

After Vanity Fair, Brown partnered with recently-accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein on a magazine called Talk. But, 천안 안마 she says she never suspected the film producer’s alleged dark side.

Dokoupil asked, “Should you have dug deeper?”

“No, because it wasn’t my business to pry into what he did after hours,” she said. “I had no idea what was going on.”

“Did Harvey Weinstein ever come on to you inappropriately?”

“Never. I think Harvey’s taste was, you know, girls of 21 who were in high-heeled shoes from Hollywood. But you know, it’s a very shocking and disturbing story. And I think it’s been very cathartic indeed to hear the silence broken.”

By the way, Brown’s own story later included an adventure as Dokoupil’s editor at the old Newsweek. He reminded her, “You sent me to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in a submarine. I went to astronaut training camp. I went …”

“Are you whining, Tony?” she laughed.

These days, all of her big-name editorships have fallen away, replaced by a live conference business … and more time for tea at home.

But Tina Brown is still Tina Brown.

Does she miss it now? “Sometimes,” she said. “I don’t have Vanity Fair or The New Yorker behind me now. But I have a life. I have a reputation. And I can still get things done.”

         For more info:

tinabrownmedia.com


  • -

Frey later acknowledged that the memoir contained many fictitious episodes, and Winfrey, who initially defended the author, denounced him in person on her TV show

Tags : 

The book was a best-seller after Winfrey chose it for her book club in fall 2005. Frey later acknowledged that the memoir contained many fictitious episodes, and Winfrey, who initially defended the author, denounced him in person on her TV show.

Nan A. Talese was with Frey on that show. At a session of a nonfiction writers’ conference in Dallas on Saturday, she accused Winfrey of “fiercely bad manners” and 대구 안마 said she would have done nothing differently in how she handled Frey’s manuscript.

“I’m afraid I’m unapologetic of the whole thing. And the only person who should be apologetic is Oprah Winfrey,” Talese said, according to The Dallas Morning News.

As for Frey’s use of fictitious elements in his ostensibly factual account of addiction and recovery, Talese said: “When someone starts out and says, ‘I have been an alcoholic. I have lied. I have cheated.’ … You do not think this is going to be the New Testament.”

A judge approved a tentative settlement in May, calling for publishing house Random House and Frey to refund $2.35 million to those who bought his book before his appearance on Winfrey’s show.


  • -

The agency said it was freezing the assets in U.S

Tags : 

The Treasury Department said it was targeting one person and four companies for penalties over their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction. The agency said it was freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Rostam Qasemi and four subsidiaries of a previously penalized construction firm that he runs.

The sanctions made public Wednesday expand existing U.S. unilateral penalties against elements of the Guard Corps, 청주 안마 or IRGC, which Western intelligence officials believe is spearheading Iran’s nuclear program.

The announcement came as U.S. officials lobby for action at the U.N. Security Council, which has already hit Iran with three sets of sanctions. The Obama White House wants to impose fresh international sanctions over Tehran’s failure to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

Qasemi commands the Guard Corps’ Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, which Treasury described as its engineering arm that is involved in the construction of streets, tunnels, waterworks, agricultural projects and pipelines. Its profits “are available to support the full range of the IRGC’s illicit activities, including WMD proliferation and support for terrorism,” Treasury said in a statement.

Khatam al-Anbiya was hit with U.S. sanctions by the Bush administration in 2007. Wednesday’s penalties apply to Qasemi and Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries, the Fater Engineering Institute, the Imensazen Consultant Engineers Institute, the Makin Institute and the Rahab Institute.

“As the IRGC consolidates control over broad swaths of the Iranian economy, displacing ordinary Iranian businessmen in favor of a select group of insiders, it is hiding behind companies like Khatam al-Anbiya and its affiliates to maintain vital ties to the outside world,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

“Today’s action exposing Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries will help firms worldwide avoid business that ultimately benefits the IRGC and its dangerous activities,” he said.

Treasury’s move followed a tough new warning to Iran from President Barack Obama, who said on Tuesday that the country remains on an “unacceptable” path to nuclear weapons, despite its denials, and that the U.S. and like-minded countries would soon present a set of punishing sanctions at the United Nations.

His comments came in response to Iran’s announcement that it was rejecting a deal it provisionally accepted in October under which it would ship low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enriching for use in a Tehran medical research reactor. On Sunday, Iran said it would would produce its own higher-enriched uranium. On Tuesday, Iranian state television said the process began in the presence of inspectors from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.

Mr. Obama said he was sticking to a two-track approach: offering to negotiate, while threatening further pressure. He said the world would welcome an Iranian decision to accept U.N. demands that it live up to its nuclear control obligations.

“And if not, then the next step is sanctions,” he said. “They have made their choice so far, although the door is still open. And what we are going to be working on over the next several weeks is developing a significant regime of sanctions that will indicate to them how isolated they are from the international community as a whole.”

Mr. Obama said that work to broaden the U.N.’s sanctions was moving quickly, but he gave no specific timeline for the presentation of a new resolution. Russia, a traditional opponent of sanctions, appears ready to support new penalties. But another of the council’s five permanent, veto-wielding members, China, which has increasingly close economic ties to Iran, can block a resolution by itself. China has said the time is not yet right for fresh sanctions.


  • -

It Doesn’t Get Better Than This – Alex Band 15

Tags : 

TheShowBuzz.com brings you an exclusive listening party featuring the complete original soundtrack from the movie, with songs by Jibbs, Ashlee Simpson, Lifehouse and more.

In the “Bratz” movie, due out Aug. 3, the dolls come to life as high school girls who vow to keep their friendship together even though their different interests in school are pulling them apart.

The Bratz fit into four different cliques. Janel Parrish plays Jade, the scientist; Skyler Shaye plays the jock, Cloe; Nathalia Ramos plays Yasmin, the singer-journalist; and 강남 마사지 Logan Browning plays Sasha, the cheerleader.

In their new school, Carry Nation High, the foursome discovers how difficult to navigate the high school’s social structure, which is based firmly on cliques. They decide that they should take a stand against pressure.

“Bratz – Original Movie Soundtrack” Track Listing1. Rock Star – Prima J 2. Fearless – Daechelle 3. Love Is Wicked – Brick & Lace 4. Rainy Day – Janel Parrish 5. Open Eyes – The Bratz 6. Heartburn – NLT 7. It’s All About Me – Chelsea Staub in the role of “Meredith” 8. Now or Never – Orianthi 9. Out From Under – Joanna 10. In Crowd – Sean Stewart 11. Express Yourself – Black Eyed Peas ft. Apl de Ap 12. My Life – Slumber Party Girls 13. Go Go – Jibbs 14. It Doesn’t Get Better Than This – Alex Band 15. Saying Goodbye – Matt White 16. Invisible – Ashlee Simpson 17. Alter Ego – Clique Girlz 18. Tell Me – Dropping Daylight 19. If This Is – Lifehouse 20. Fabulous – Chelsea Staub in the role of “Meredith”


  • -

Saturday evening

Tags : 

Visitors who were on the viewing floor at the time of Saturday’s incident told The Associated Press they heard a loud noise, then saw what looked like smoke but turned out to be dust seeping out of the crack in one of the elevator doors.

Uncategorized | \ub300\uc804\uc548\ub9c8 [\uc720\uc131][\ub454\uc0b0] \u2605010.6833.8243\u2605“It almost sounded like a small explosion. It was a really loud bang,” said Michael Timms, 31, 전주 안마 an American telecommunications engineer who lives in Dubai and was visiting the tower with his cousin Michele Moscato.

About 45 minutes later, rescue crews arrived and pried open the elevator door, Timms said. The faulty elevator was caught between floors, so rescuers hoisted a ladder into the shaft to help those trapped inside get out.

Abu Naseer, a spokesman for Dubai’s civil defense department, confirmed the incident. He said the call for help came in around 6:20 p.m. Saturday evening.

Emergency crews used another elevator to reach the observation deck and were able to rescue all 15 people stuck inside the faulty elevator unharmed, he said.

Photos: World’s Tallest Building Opens

The 2,717-foot building’s owner, Emaar Properties, has revealed few details about the incident since closing the observation deck indefinitely.

In a brief statement Monday, the company said the viewing platform was temporarily shut for “maintenance and upgrade” because of “unexpected high traffic.” It also hinted at electrical problems, saying “technical issues with the power supply are being worked on by the main and subcontractors.”

Emaar has made no mention of problems with the elevators. That angers some involved in the incident.

“What just kind of shocks me is that they were going to brush this under the rug to save face. If it broke, at least tell people it broke,” Timms said.

The company has not responded to specific questions about the incident or made anyone available to speak despite repeated requests by the AP.

Witnesses say the company provided little information to visitors stuck on the 124th floor observation deck as rescue crews worked. That lack of information caused panic among some visitors.

“I was really starting to get upset, getting really nervous,” said Moscato, 29, a nurse visiting from Columbia, South Carolina. “I started crying.”

She said she and Timms asked to use the stairs because they felt uncomfortable taking the elevator back down, but were told that was not allowed.

They, the people trapped in the elevator and an estimated 60 other visitors on the observation deck were eventually taken down in a freight elevator not normally used by the public, they said.

It remains unclear what exactly caused the elevator to fail.

Moscato said she spoke with a man, whose name she did not know, after he escaped from the elevator who said the lights went off and the elevator began to fall before the brakes kicked in. It was not possible to independently verify the account.

The $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa opened with fireworks and other festivities in a widely televised celebration on Jan. 4 after a series of delays.

It boasts more than 160 stories, but the exact number is not known. The tapering, silvery tower ranks not only as the highest building but also as the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

The observation deck, which is mostly enclosed but includes an outdoor terrace bordered by guard rails, is located about two-thirds of the way up on the 124th floor.

By AP Business Writer Adam Schreck


  • -

Sgt

Tags : 

Some brought makeup kits, Starbucks cups filled with throat-clearing salt water and even karaoke machines. Others came before dawn, armed with sleeping bags and pillows. “Why wouldn’t I get here early? My No. 1 goal is to be on the program,” said Lonnie Beatty, 20, who spent the night on a trolley platform just outside the stadium grounds in order to be one of the first in line.

Producers said they expected more than 10,000 people to show up for their chance at stardom.

With the Comic-Con entertainment expo drawing a record crowd of more than 120,000 to San Diego over the weekend and thousands more in town for a sandcastle competition and an international youth soccer tournament, “Idol” hopefuls who wanted some shut-eye resorted to craigslist.com or even military bases for beds.

Sgt. Jessica Robson, a 26-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan veteran stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., said she snagged a bunk at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot but got up at 4 a.m. anyway.

Show executives said they hoped to winnow the contestants down to between 300 and 500 for the second round.

“We’ll see everyone who wants to be heard,” said Patrick Lynn, a senior 부산 안마 producer. “It’s all about trying to find out who’s going to be the person who’s going to make it past the judges, who’s going to make it to Hollywood.”

Six more auditions are set in the coming weeks in Dallas; Omaha, Neb.; Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Miami and Philadelphia. The show returns to the air in January.

By Allison Hoffman


If you need us then send an e mail.