UAE Hotel Boasts 'Most Expensive Christmas Tree Ever'
The tree is the latest in a series of publicity seeking efforts by the hotel. Photograph: BBC
BBC: A glitzy hotel in Abu Dhabi has put on show a jewel-encrusted Christmas tree which it says is worth over $11m (£7m).

Items of jewellery studded with scores of precious stones are draped on the tree's branches, along with more traditional baubles and lights.

While the tree alone is worth a mere $10,000, the jewellery adds more than $11m to the value, said the hotel's general manager Hans Olbertz.

He admitted the idea for the tree was hatched by the hotel's marketing team.

The hotel has a tree every year, Mr Olbertz said.

But this year, "we said we have to do something different", AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

The vast majority of the population of the oil-rich UAE are Muslim.

But Mr Olbertz said he did not think the tree would offend local sensibilities.

"It's a very liberal country," he said, according to AFP. >>> | Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Tree
To the tree >>>
BBC: Canada Braces for More Heavy Snow

Canada has been blanketed in snow from coast to coast after severe winter storms hit transport and left tens of thousands of homes without electricity.

Strong winds and snowfall have hampered relief efforts, with meteorologists forecasting more bad weather to come.

Coastal areas of Nova Scotia have been issued with storm warnings and Vancouver, Quebec and Ontario were also braced for more wintry weather.

Analysts say Canada may have its first countrywide white Christmas since 1971.

Several areas in the US were also bracing for an extended cold snap, with storm warnings in place across a number of states after a weekend of hurricane-force winds and heavy snowfall. >>> | Monday, December 22, 2008

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