New Dubai Mall evacuated after cracks appear in giant aquarium

Security personnel inside the mall after it was evacuated when water started gushing out of the aquarium

Emergency crews are seen arriving at Dubai Mall following the incident

Visitors view the huge aquarium in Dubai Mall

Leak: A torrent of water gushes out of the giant Dubai Mall aquarium after a crack opens up in the glass

Part of the vast Dubai Mall has been evacuated after its giant aquarium developed a leak, a police official said today.

The aquarium, one of the largest tanks in the world at 167ft by 66ft, has hundreds of living animals including Sand Tiger sharks and rays.

It is thought to have developed a crack and a witness said people in part of the mall were evacuated and dozens of emergency vehicles were outside.
Six divers entered the tank and appeared to be coordinating with workers outside the glass, while workers mopped up water from the floor.

Emaar's chairman Mohammed Alabbar denied there was a leak in the aquarium, saying there was a 'technical fault in the operating device,' according to a statement carried on the country's official news agency WAM.
But a witness said water had been leaking from a crack in the aquarium glass.

'I saw a small crack in the aquarium glass and there was a little water coming out and a lot of water on the floor,' said Ranjin, a 27-year old corporate secretary.

'The police came and evacuated the area around the aquarium.'

Dubai Aquarium is planning to have more than 33,000 animals representing more than 85 species in the giant tank.

It also features an underwater zoo which has penguins, seals, crocodiles and water rats among its attractions.

It is operated by Emaar Properties and also features the world's largest acrylic viewing panel.

One million people had already visited the aquarium seven months after it had opened.
This is the latest in a string of problems for the aquarium.

Shortly before its opening in October 2008, over ten per cent of the sharks in the tank were been killed in attacks that marred the build-up to its unveiling.

Sand Tiger sharks killed at least 40 smaller reef sharks and were aggressive towards divers working on final preparations in the giant tank.

Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping mall by total area, contains around 600 retailers and had over 37 million visitors in its first year of operation.

It now has an average of 750,000 visitors every week. As well as shops and restaurants, the Mall also contains an ice rink and cinema.

Emaar Properties, the Arab world's largest developer, came under scrutiny earlier this month when it closed the observation deck at Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower and the firm's flagship project, just a month after its fanfare opening.


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Man arrested after kiss sparked Newark airport scare

Haisong Jiang was released in the early hours of Saturday









A man held for breaching security at Newark airport near New York, sparking the closure of a busy terminal, was kissing his girlfriend goodbye.

Haisong Jiang, 28, a Chinese-born student, was arrested late on Friday night and will be charged with defiant trespass, the Port Authority said.

He is due in court next week and could face a fine of up to $500 (£312).

Flights were grounded and passengers evacuated from the secure side of the terminal after the incident.

A surveillance video shows a man in a light-coloured jacket slipping underneath a security cordon at the airport, shortly after being told by an official to move away.

'Not some prank'

After the security official steps away, a man believed to be Mr Jiang is seen ducking underneath the security cordon and kissing a woman in a long white coat, before walking away with her, arm-in-arm toward the boarding area.

According to Mr Jiang's flatmate, his girlfriend is a recent graduate from Rutgers university who lives in Los Angeles. She was visiting New York for the holidays, AP reported.

The incident took place just hours after tougher screening rules for air passengers were unveiled following the alleged Christmas Day bomb plot against a US plane.

Authorities had to scour the city to track down Mr Jiang, who is studying for a doctoral degree in molecular biosciences at Rutgers university, after he left the airport.

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg expressed anger that he could only face a fine.

"It wasn't some prank that didn't do any harm - it did a lot of harm because it sent out an alert that people can get away with something like this," he said.

He said he had committed a "terrible injustice" to the thousands who had faced disrupted travel after flights were cancelled.









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American soldier captured in Taliban Afganistan shown in video sent by Taliban - He said he is scare

This video frame grab taken from a Taliban propaganda video released Saturday, July 18, 2009 shows an American soldier who went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan June 30 and was later confirmed captured. The soldier, whose identity has not yet been confirmed by the Pentagon pending notification of members of Congress and the soldier's family, says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released Saturday on a Web site pointed out by the Taliban. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video is the captured soldier.




The American soldier who went missing June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed to have been captured, said in a video posted by the Taliban that he's "scared I won't be able to go home.


Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video posted Saturday on the Internet is the captured soldier, but the Defense Department has not released his name. The video provided the first glimpse the public has had of the missing soldier.

The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier's dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting cross-legged.

Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:

"Well I'm scared, scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner."

He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.

"I have a very, very good family that I love back home in America. And I miss them every day when I'm gone," he said.

He is also prompted by his interrogators to give a message to the American people.

"To my fellow Americans who have loved ones over here, who know what it's like to miss them, you have the power to make our government bring them home," he said. "Please, please bring us home so that we can be back where we belong and not over here, wasting our time and our lives and our precious life that we could be using back in our own country. Please bring us home. It is America and American people who have that power."

"I'm glad to see he appears unharmed, but again, this is a Taliban propaganda video," she said. "They are exploiting the soldier in violation of international law."

Afghan Police Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said the soldier went missing in eastern Paktika province near the border with Pakistan from an American base. The region is known to be Taliban-infested.

Afghans in contact with the Taliban told The Associated Press that the soldier was held by a Taliban group led by a commander called Maulvi Sangin, who operates in the area where the American went missing. They said the fighters initially planned to smuggle the soldier across the border into Pakistan but ruled that out because of U.S. missile strikes and Pakistani bombing attacks against militant targets in the area. Instead, they decided to move him north into Taliban-controlled areas of Ghazni province.

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