Dubai reaches for the skies despite crisis

By Adam Schreck, Associated Press

Dubai unveiled the world's tallest skyscraper today, hoping to shift international attention away from the Gulf emirate's deep financial crisis and rekindle the optimism that once powered its turbocharged growth.

Crews rushed to complete preparations for the official opening of the Burj Dubai tower, which stands at least 160 stories high. The exact height is 828 metres (2,717 feet), it was revealed at this evening's inauguration.

And it was revealed that the tower will be renamed the Burj Khalifa, state news agency WAM reported. Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and serves as the UAE federation's president.

The developer's chairman said it cost about $1.5 billion to build the tapering metal-and-glass spire billed as a "vertical city" of luxury apartments and offices. It boasts four swimming pools, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani.

Dubai's ruler opened the skyscraper with a fireworks display and light show in a celebration marking four years since his ascension to power.

Cleaning crews were busy scrubbing windows and sweeping the plaza at the tower's base just hours before festivities began.

Burj Dubai opens in the midst of a severe financial crisis in the city-state — one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai was little more than a sleepy fishing village a generation ago but it boomed into the Middle East's commercial hub over the past two decades on the back of business-friendly trading policies, relative security, and vast amounts of overseas investment.

Then property prices in parts of sheikdom collapsed by nearly half over the past year. Now Dubai is mired in debt and many buildings sit largely empty — the result of overbuilding during a property bubble that has since burst.

Despite the past year of hardships, the tower's developer and other officials were in a festive mood, trying to bring the world's focus on Dubai's future potential rather than past mistakes.

"Crises come and go. And cities move on," Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower's developer Emaar Properties, told reporters before the inauguration. "You have to move on. Because if you stop taking decisions, you stop growing."

Dubai, which has little oil of its own, relied on cheap loans to pump up its international clout during the frenzied boom years.

But like many overextended homeowners, the emirate and its state-backed companies borrowed too heavily and then struggled to keep up with payments as the financial crisis intensified and credit markets froze up.

Meanwhile, speculators who had fueled Dubai's property bubble disappeared along with the easy money, revealing a glut of brand-new but empty homes and crippling many of the emirate's property developers

The sheikdom shocked global markets late last year when it unexpectedly announced plans to reorganize its main state-run conglomerate Dubai World and sought new terms in repaying some $26 billion in debt.

It got some succor from a $10 billion bailout provided by its richer neighbor and UAE capital Abu Dhabi last month. That was on top of $15 billion in emergency funds provided by Abu Dhabi-based financiers earlier in the year.

Burj developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the Dubai government, but is not part of struggling Dubai World, which has investments ranging from Dubai's manmade islands and seaports to luxury retailer Barneys New York and the oceanliner Queen Elizabeth 2.

Emaar's Alabbar said the landmark Burj is 90 percent sold in a mix of residential units, offices and other space, offering a counterpoint to Dubai's financial woes.

The developer has only said the spire stands more than 2625 feet (800 meters) tall. Alabbar said Dubai's ruler will announce the height at the inauguration ceremony.

At a reported height of 2,684 feet (818 meters), the Burj Dubai long ago vanquished its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

But the tower's record-seeking developers didn't stop there.

The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world, and ranks as the world's tallest structure, beating out a television mast in North Dakota.

"We weren't sure how high we could go," said Bill Baker, the building's structural engineer, who is in Dubai for the inauguration. "It was kind of an exploration ... A learning experience"

Baker, of Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said early designs for the Burj had it edging out the world's previous record-holder, the Taipei 101, by about 33 feet (10 meters). The Taiwan tower rises 1,667 feet (508 meters).

Work on Burj Dubai began in 2004 and moved ahead rapidly. At times, new floors were being added almost every three days, reflecting Dubai's raging push to reshape itself into a cosmopolitan urban giant packed with skyscrapers.

During the busiest construction periods, some 12,000 workers labored at the tower each day, according to Emaar. Low-wage migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent provided much of the muscle for the Burj and many of Dubai's other building projects.

The tower is more than 50 stories higher than Chicago's Willis Tower, the tallest building in the U.S. formerly known as the Sears Tower.

At their peak, some apartments in the Burj were selling for more than $1,900 per square foot, though they now can go for less than half that, said Heather Wipperman Amiji, chief executive of Dubai real estate consultancy Investment Boutique.

She said some buyers may struggle to find tenants at going rates once the tower's expected high service charges are factored in.

"The investment community is quite divided," she said. "They're not sure how it's going to play out."

The Burj is the centerpiece of a 500-acre development that officials hope will become a new central residential and commercial district in this sprawling and often disconnected city. It is flanked by dozens of smaller but brand-new skyscrapers and the Middle East's largest shopping mall.

That layout — as the core of a lower-rise skyline — lets the Burj stand out prominently against the horizon. It is visible across dozens of miles of rolling sand dunes outside Dubai. From the air, the spire appears as an almost solitary, slender needle reaching high into the sky.

An observation deck on the 124th floor opens to the public tomorrow, with adult tickets starting at 100 dirhams, or just over $27 apiece. The ride to the top took just over a minute during a visit for journalists early today.

Dubai landmarks like the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab hotel and the manmade Palm Jumeirah island were visible through the haze.

The Burj itself cast a sundial-like shadow over low-rise houses and empty sand-covered lots stretching toward the azure Persian Gulf waters. And yes, Dubai is still open for business: there are gift shops at the base and the top.

* Burj Dubai: www.burjdubai.com

* Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat: www.ctbuh.org

The Independent

Sweden's car sales rev up in December

Swedes showed a renewed zeal for buying new cars in December, with new vehicle registrations shooting up 13 percent compared to the previous year, new statistics show.

According to Swedish motoring association Bil Sweden, a total of 19,340 new automobiles were registered in Sweden in December, an increase of 12.7 percent from the same month last year.

For the whole year, however, only 213,380 new cars were registered in Sweden, a drop of 16 percent compared to 2008.

Bil Sweden nevertheless forecasts sales to trend upward in 2010, projecting that 235,000 new cars will be sold during the year, the equivalent of a 10 percent increase over the 2009 total.

In addition, the association believes that light truck sales will also increase by 10 percent to 30,000 vehicles.

The two top-selling cars in Sweden in 2009 were both Volvos, with the number one V70 recording 20,532 new registrations, compared with 22,070 sold in 2008, and Volvo V50 selling 10,974 new cars, compared with 11,334 sold last year.

The number three most popular new car in Sweden in 2009 was the Volkswagen Passat, which sold 8,588 new cars in 2009, up from 6,184 vehicles sold in 2008.

Truck sales, meanwhile, fell by 7.8 percent in December, with only 3,368 new trucks being registered during the month, according to Bil Sweden.

In addition, sales of heavy trucks – those weighing more than 16 tonnes – dropped by 24 percent to 426 trucks sold.

The association’s figures also reveal how continued uncertainty about Saab’s future has dented the Swedish automaker's sales. 

Only 398 Saabs were sold in Sweden in December, down from 1,161 last year.

For the whole year, only 7,036 new Saabs were registered in Sweden, a drop of 65 percent compared to 2008.

Sales of Volvo cars, on the other hand, increased slightly in December from 3,360 last year to 3,949 in 2009. For the year, however, Volvo sales were down by 13 percent to 41,808, according to Bil Sweden.

TT

The Local

Sweden

Nazi resistance widow Moltke dies at 98

Freya von Moltke, the 98-year-old widow of executed Nazi resistance figure Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, has died at her home in the US state of Vermont, a family member confirmed on Sunday.

The Cologne-born woman died peacefully among her family on January 1 following a viral infection, her son Caspar von Moltke said.

“She was still alert to enjoy the Christmas holidays and was in full control of her mental faculties until the end,” he said, adding that the she will be buried in her adopted country, where she has lived since 1960, on January 8.

A further memorial service will be held in Berlin in March.

Moltke was born in 1911 to the Deichmann family. She married Helmuth James Graf von Moltke in 1931. The couple co-founded the Kreisau Circle, one of Germany’s few anti-Nazi resistance groups. 

After her husband was executed for treason in January 1945, Moltke went on to publish his letters and write about the events of that era within the group.

In 1989 her work won the Geschwister-Scholl- Preis, a literary prize named in honour of Sophie and Hans Scholl, two young Germans executed for founding the White Rose resistance movement during the Second World War. 

DPA

The Local

Germany

Police arrest German Böhse Onkelz rocker Kevin Russell

BY M. SCHNEIDER AND J. MAHNKE

Kevin Russell, the singer from German rock band Böhse Onkelz, has been arrested over a hit and run which has left two people in a life-threatening condition

On New Year’s Eve, the driver of a luxury 420-horsepower Audi caused a horror accident on a Frankfurt motorway.

But while the victims fought for survival in their burning car, the driver who caused the crash fled the scene.

It is now suspected that Russell (45), lead singer with notorious rock band Böhse Onkelz – a play on the German for Bad Uncles – had been behind the wheel of the Audi, and may have been under the influence of drugs.

The accident took place at 8.25pm on the A66. Friends Jamal A. (19) and Fahdi A. (21) were driving in their Opel Astra when suddenly a black Audi R8 sports car rammed into them, pushing their car against the guard rail before it caught fire.

Police spokesman Manfred Füllhardt said: “The Audi driver fled on foot through the fields”.

Courageous passing motorists pulled the victims from the blazing wreckage, before police established the owner of the sports car – who had lent it to the Onkelz singer.

The next morning, Russell was held at the five star Villa Rothschild hotel in Frankfurt, where rooms start at €300.

A drug test proved positive for cocaine and cannabis.

The singer has said he wasn’t driving – could that be true?

Next to the accelerator pedal investigators found part of his dentures, and there were traces of DNA on an airbag. There were also documents from the hotel and drug substitutes in the car.

An investigator told BILD: "We secured clear DNA from the airbag, and will now comapre it with a sample from the suspect. If it is a match, he is definitely the driver".

According to police, Russell also has blue marks on his torso exactly where a seatbelt would have been.

Shortly before the crash he made some purchases at a nearby petrol station – a visit which was caught on security cameras.

One investigator said: “The evidence is more than sufficient”.

The rocker has been released on €50,000 bail. The victims of the accident remain in a critical life-threatening condition.

Bild

Islamist group defends Wootton Bassett protest plan

Islam4UK says it will try to win people round to idea of parade on same route used to return troops' bodies from Afghanistan

Steven Morris

The leader of an Islamist group has vowed to try to persuade Wootton Bassett people to back an anti-war parade along the main street – the same route used to bring home the bodies of troops from Afghanistan.

Anjem Choudary of Islam4UK, a branch of the radical al-Muhajiroun movement, has caused anger by calling for members to parade through the Wiltshire town carrying up to 500 coffins symbolising the Muslim dead from Afghanistan's invasion and occupation.

Local politicians have called on Choudary to think again and a Facebook site dedicated to preventing the march quickly attracted more than 120,000 members. The police said they were aware of "significant community concern" about the proposal.

Choudary admitted Wootton Bassett had been chosen because it would attract huge publicity and that he had not yet spoken to the police – who would have to approve the parade. He also had no date in mind, leaving him open to the accusation that the idea is a publicity stunt.

Choudary said he would try to win the support of local people by engaging with them over the coming weeks. He insisted he did not want to upset residents or families of dead service personnel.

In an open letter on Islam4UK's website, Choudary denies the march is "merely an act of incitement or provocation".

The letter is addressed "to the families of British soldiers who have fallen", and Choudary writes: "It is worth reminding those who are still not blinded by the media propaganda that Afghanistan is not a British town near Wootton Bassett but rather Muslim land which no one has the right to occupy, with a Muslim population who do not deserve their innocent men, women and children to be killed for political mileage and for the greedy interests of the oppressive US and UK regimes.

"The procession in Wootton Bassett is therefore an attempt to engage the British public's minds on the real reasons why their soldiers are returning home in body bags and the real cost of the war".

Hundreds or thousands of people line the market town's High Street regularly to watch coffins carrying the bodies of service personnel being driven to a hospital in Oxford after landing at nearby RAF Lyneham.

The ex-mayor and councillor Chris Wannell said of the idea: "We don't do what we do at Wootton Bassett for any political reason at all, but to pay our respects to those who have given their lives for our freedom.

"We are a Christian country and a traditional old English market town who honour very much our Queen and country. We obey the law and pay respects to our servicemen who protect our freedom.

"If this man has any decency about him he will not hold a march through Wootton Bassett."

The town is finding it increasingly difficult to keep politics at bay. The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, turned up for one recent parade and the BBC filmed Question Time there last month.

The North Wiltshire MP James Gray said local people would not be drawn into political conflict with the group. "They will say these are foolish people making a silly point – we'll get on with our ordinary lives thank you.

"This also misunderstands the nature of what the people of Wootton Bassett do. They are not blood-thirstily in favour of the war. Most people would say they were not qualified to comment on the rightness or wrongness.

"The people of Wootton Bassett are decent, quiet, pragmatic people and they'll stay at home instead [of reacting to the march]."

The secretary of the Wootton Bassett British Legion, Anne Bevis, urged the group to think "long and hard" before marching.

The Facebook group that opposes the march states: "This group can march anywhere it wishes in the country but have chosen to cause outrage and offence."

Some postings suggest blocking the roads or writing to local councillors, while others take a more strident line. One contributor says simply: "I want my England back."

A spokesman for rightwing group the English Defence League said if the march took place it would "descend" on the home address of Anjem Choudary and demonstrate outside two mosques that he frequented.

Tom Robinson said the group had discussed organising a counter-march in Wootton Bassett but felt the best way to register its objections would be to protest outside addresses connected to Choudary. He said the group had Choudary's home address and knew which mosques he frequented.

Robinson said he did not believe the march would actually take place in Wootton Bassett.

The EDL has organised demonstrations in a number of cities in England and its Welsh arm, the Welsh Defence League, has done the same in Wales. The EDL marches have caused community tension and some of the demonstrations have led to clashes with anti-fascist activists.

The Guardian

Celebrity Big Brother: A house where nobody knows your name

By Tom Sutcliffe

The underlying theme for what Channel Four promise us will be their final Celebrity Big Brother had been supplied by Jean Paul Sartre – that famous suggestion from Huis Clos that "Hell is other people". Regular viewers of CBB's opening episodes will know that Sartre got it slightly wrong: for those desperate enough to enter this mausoleum of fame: "Hell is other people not having a clue who you are".

Davina McCall might gamely insist that the housemates are "very precious cargo indeed" but she also knew that we were going to need a potted biography to prevent this from looking like a tricky picture round in an End of the Noughties quiz. No such charity, though, for those actually inside the house – who have to negotiate the awkward moment of introduction without making their mutual bafflement too obvious. Not everyone pulls this off with equal aplomb. Stephanie Beacham, following Nicola T (a page three model) and Alex Reid (cage fighter and Jordan boyfriend) into the airlock set, clearly felt there was at least one friendly face in there already.

"Hello darling, are you jet-lagged?" she crooned at Stephen Baldwin (ex- Hollywood bad boy, born-again Christian evangelist). "What's your name?" he replied suavely – though Stephanie may be able to take some comfort from the fact that he was too stupid to open the door into the house. Stephen on the other hand might have been hoping for a lot more anonymity when Heidi Fleiss, ex-Hollywood madam, followed Lady Sovereign, Sisqo and Dane Bowers down the Perspex staircase. "I've seen you before" she said as she clocked him. "It's been a long time, pal," he replied with what I may well have misinterpreted as nervous haste.

Absolutely nobody knew who Lady Sovereign was (or Sov, as she introduced herself) though she did seem to recognise Sisqo, despite the fact that this ornament of the charts is now reduced to releasing his new singles on YouTube. And Dane Bowers, (ex-boyband and Jordan boyfriend number two) knew before he went in that Alex Reid was going to be in there.

Katia Ivanova (Ron Wood's cocktail waitress) and Jonas Altberg (a euro-disco singer-songwriter known as Basshunter) will have some explaining to do, once they've decompressed from entry but Vinnie Jones appeared to spark a genuine glimmer of recognition. I didn't know his career had been going so badly, to be honest, but unless the definition of celebrity has been tweaked to include Hollywood A-listers with 27-day gaps in their working diary, things must have been a bit quiet on the lairy geezer front just recently.

Only the wildly optimistic would believe that this really is the last Celebrity Big Brother we'll see on British television – but if Channel Four were hoping to round off the first episode of their farewell series with a water-cooler moment they may have been disappointed. Challenging the 12 housemates to cram themselves into an impishly accessorised Mini they warned that those still outside after five minutes would "face the consequences". In the end everyone managed it comfortably inside the time limit and left us with the less than exciting prospect of three minutes looking at vaguely familiar faces squashed up against a set of steamed-up windows.

Extravagant promise and verbal hype had been followed by fizzling anti-climax, a trajectory everybody here was already all too familiar with. It seemed darkly fitting that, while Sartre had supplied the copyline, Tolkien seems to have provided the valedictory logo, the programme idents being almost actionably reminiscent of the great Eye of Sauron. As Tolkien wrote, "the Eye was rimmed with fire but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's... and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing". How did he know what was coming? And could there be a better description of the bleak, reverberating vacancy of this format than those last three words?

The Independent