Emojis have changed the way people talk over text message and on Monday, the tiny pictures with the potential to express a thousand emotions are being celebrated as part of the annual World Emoji Day, which marks its 10th anniversary this year.
Most popular emojis
Emojipedia, which documents and analyses the emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium, the international body that regulates emojis and other digital characters, has released its list of the current most popular emojis based on people visiting their meaning pages on the website. These include:
- Heart Hands
- Red Heart
- Fire
- Skull
- Check Mark Button
- Waning Crescent Moon
- Face With Tears of Joy
- Face Holding Back Tears
- Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes
- Melting Face
The blog also analysed the use of emojis on Twitter. In July 2013, during the early years of emojis, only four out of every 100 tweets contained at least one emoji. Fast forward to March 2023, and about 27 tweets in every 100 had at least one emoji.
New emojis for 2023-2024
As with every year, Unicode will approve a new set of emojis that will be released in a staggered fashion from September. Emojipedia created sample illustrations of some of the items on the Emoji 50.1 draft list, which includes a lime, a head shaking vertically and a phoenix.
There are 108 new emojis being considered this year, most of which are skin colour and directional variations. For example, the emoji for a person in a wheelchair facing right will also have a version facing left.
All the proposed emojis in the draft are expected to be approved, and they will then be adopted by technology companies such as Apple to include in their own software updates.
Emojis: A brief history
The first set of pixelated icons was designed in 1999 by Shigeta Kurita, who is considered the founding father of emojis, for mobile phones and pagers. The term emoji is a blend of two Japanese words: those for picture and letter or character.
Kurita designed 176 emojis, drawing on sources such as Japanese graphic novels, the typeface Zapf Dingbats and common symbols. The original set is displayed at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York, and includes illustrations of weather situations, as well as the heart symbol and a range of facial expressions.
The start of emojis being used worldwide is associated with Apple's addition of an emoji keyboard in 2011, which was immediately followed by Android. Now, there are 3,664 emojis on record, according to Unicode.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Union Berlin (5.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Freiburg (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach (8.30pm)
Sunday
Mainz v Augsburg (5.30pm)
Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (8pm)
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Top Hundred overseas picks
London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith
Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah
Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott
Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw
Trent Rockets: Colin Munro
Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson
Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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