Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, had tweeted early Thursday morning, "Good morning to all my followers. The UAE passport has just been ranked as the 9th most powerful passport with visa-free entry to 157 countries world wide."

 

Passport index

A bilateral visa waiver agreement between the UAE and Russia earlier in July had seen the Emirati passport become the 10th most powerful in the world.

 

Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Croatian Luka Modric were shortlisted for the 2018 Best FIFA Men's Player award.

 

According to a FIFA statement on Monday, Argentinean Lionel Messi missed out on the shortlist for the 2018 Best FIFA Men's Player award.

 

Mohamed Salah had scored 32 Premier League goals last season while Ronaldo scored 26 goals in La Liga last season and Modric was named UEFA's Men's player of the season.

 

Oil & gas, metals & mining, and construction sectors emerged among the top 10 performers with over 10 per cent growth in both revenue and profitability between 2016 and 2017, said a report.

 

Pharma, banking, and medical devices turned out to be the weakest performers with less than 10 per cent growth across both measures, added the latest business sector performance analysis 2017, researched by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

 

A law to combat violence against women in Morocco entered into force Wednesday, following years of heated debate and after thousands called for action in a recent gang-rape case.

 

For the first time women in Morocco have legal protection from “acts considered forms of harassment, aggression, sexual exploitation or ill treatment”. The new law also paves the way for victims of violence to be offered support.

 

A two-day symposium held at the Monrovia City Hall under the theme: “The Values of tolerance in Islam, moderation of Islam, and its impact on global peace” ended today in Monrovia with participants resolving to fight extremism, as well as vowing to promote peace, tolerance, and unity, amongst fellow Muslims and peoples of different faith of the world.

 

The European Union chief executive has proposed a new law which would require Google, Facebook, Twitter and other online platforms to remove extremist content within one hour or face a fine.

 

“One hour is the decisive time window the greatest damage takes place,” said Jean-Claude Juncker in his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament.

 

Afghanistan has witnessed terrorist acts and bombings that go against the teachings of the Islamic Shariah, said Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Zuhair bin Mohammed Al-Idrisi.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has announced that all paid parking zones will be free on Thursday, a public holiday celebrating the Islamic New Year, except for multi-level parking terminals. Parking fees will be reactivated on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram will operate as usual, keeping their regular operating hours.

 

Muslims in Indonesia held festivals, torchlight parades, and various rituals to welcome the Islamic New Year 1440 H on Tuesday, September 11. 

 

Muslim communities from the west to the east of Indonesia celebrated the Islamic New Year`s Eve on Monday evening by holding festivals or flocking to the streets of their towns and cities to parade to express their gratitude to God.