Latest: What do emojis mean? How millennials and Gen-Z use them very differently
Facebook has revealed the most popular emojis in the Mena region, and it seems we are a bunch of romantics.
Aside from the two variations of laughing crying emojis, the other eight are love-related. The black and red hearts both feature, the classic red in two varieties, as well as a shiny heart. Heart eyes, blowing a kiss and a red rose are also in the top 10. Sadly, but perhaps inevitably, the broken heart emoji completes the list.
Top 10 emojis in the Middle East 2020:
Face with tears of joy 😂
Red heart ❤️
Black heart 🖤
Smiling face with heart-eyes 😍
Rolling on the floor laughing 🤣
Face blowing a kiss 😘
Rose 🌹
Sparkling heart 💖
Heart suit (♥️)
Broken heart (💔)
Most popular emojis by country: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Algeria
The social media site has also broken its data down by country, to reveal its three most popular emojis. Every one of them has a heart and the classic crying laughing symbol somewhere in the top three.
UAE users favour two variations of the crying laughing emojis, with the red love heart; while Saudi Arabia's Facebook users lean towards the classic crying laughing emoji and a red heart, but also use the red rose.
Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco have an identical top three of the classic crying laughing emoji, red and black love hearts.
Of the six countries listed, Algeria is the only country to not have a red love heart in a podium position. The North African country's Facebook users plump for the laughter emoji, along with a black heart and red love-heart eyes.
A sign of the times, use of the face with medical mask emoji is also gaining popularity in the region, according to Facebook's data.
The site has seen it used in more than 3.4 million posts in Egypt and Algeria, 1.2m posts in Morocco, 900,000 posts in Saudi Arabia and 600,000 posts in the UAE.
In a bid to remain hopeful, Facebook's data concluded: "Yet, hearts and laughing smileys are still the most popular forms of expression, pointing to the positive mindset that still resides in communities even as we navigate unfamiliar and challenging times."
It was World Emoji Day on Friday. The expressive symbols date back to 1997, when a version was first developed by Japanese network carrier SoftBank. It released a set of 90 unique emojis, which were black and white pixelated line designs. The characters included the thumbs up, heart and smiley faces. Two years later, another Japanese telecom company, NTT Docomo, released 176 original emojis in colour.
Though emojis were used on webpages and online messaging over the years, it was in the 2010s that the use exploded, after a set of about 700 were internationally standardised in 2009 and Apple added an emoji keyboard to its operating system in 2011.
On Thursday, ahead of World Emoji Day, Apple announced it would be launching a boomerang, a ninja and a set of lungs among new 13 symbols.
However, it seems we may not get too many more.
“The emoji keyboard has broadened in recent years,” Jeremy Burge, chief emoji officer at Emojipedia, said at the launch, in reference to several campaigns for the symbols to better reflect the diversity of their legion of users. “It’s had skin tones added, nearly every emoji has a consistent set of three options for gender now, including a neutral option.”
“[But] I don’t think anyone wants a keyboard that dramatically expands to tens of thousands of emojis,” he said. “I think the value comes from the fact that they are a limited set.”
Read more: Facebook launches new 'Hug' reaction button in response to coronavirus
RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
SPECS
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Book%20Details
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
BMW M5 specs
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
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Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
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Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
