News

  DENVER / AP A budget ski resort in western Colorado came up with an eye-popping offer — a $700 lift ticket, the most expensive in the nation. Only this lift ticket comes with a sweet bonus: a pair of handcrafted skis made from Colorado wood. Gimmicky? Sure. But Sunlight Mountain Resort says that in an era of increasing ski-industry ...

  MINNEAPOLIS / AP Minnesota’s first-in-the nation ban on soaps containing the once ubiquitous germ-killer triclosan takes effect Jan. 1, but the people who spearheaded the law say it’s already having its desired effect on a national level. The federal government caught up to Minnesota’s 2014 decision with its own ban that takes effect in September 2017. Major manufacturers have ...

  HOUSTON / AP Houston’s first underground drinking water reservoir — a decades-old collection of more than 200 concrete columns inside a cavernous space near downtown — had been unused for years and was set for demolition when a nonprofit group reimagined it as something new: a public space. The 87,500-square-foot-space, dubbed the “Cistern” and reminiscent of ancient European water ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Central Bank announced that the Money Supply aggregate M1 increased by 0.04%, from AED472.4 billion at the end of October 2016 to AED472.6 billion at the end of November 2016. In its statement, the bank announced that the Money Supply aggregate M2 increased by 0.8%, from AED1203.3 billion at the end of October 2016 ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), ranked second in UAE foreign aid contributions, according to the report titled ‘UAE’s Foreign Aid in 2015’ by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC). ADFD’s expenditure amounts to AED2.70 billion (US$736.73 million), whereas government aid, ranked first with 86.1% market share of total aid spent; AED27.84 ...

  Dubai / WAM The Emirates Development Bank (EDB) approved an estimated budget of AED1.5 billion for 2017 to finance housing loans for Emirati citizens and to help establish small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The decision was taken during the EDB’s 10th board meeting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The budget allocates AED750 million for housing loans for Emirati citizens ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said that the announcement of President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, naming 2017 as the official ‘Year of Giving’ presents joyful tidings for the UAE and its people. Al Mansouri said, “It ushers in a new year that is set to establish new milestones in ...

  DUBAI / WAM Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises and the Al Habtoor Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU constitutes an understanding of collaboration between Al Habtoor Group and Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development where the Al Habtoor Group will give priority business to members of Dubai SME proving they can ...

  Dubai / WAM In implement to the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai on Sunday directed the formation of the Higher National Committee for the Year of Giving initiative, which would include five Ministers as members and ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE, led by President His Highness, continues its confident progress to further bolster its humanitarian and economic leadership, while embracing generous giving as an approach, said His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Saturday. The declaration of 2017 as ...