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Adnan Al-Jaziri

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  • 6 min read

PUBLISHED BY ICN PRESS

  • Immersive Wellness Experiences: Enjoy world-renowned health traditions, from restorative Japanese thermal hot springs to therapeutic Scandinavian saunas and clean-air retreats.

  • Effortless Active Exploration: Stay active while sightseeing through extensive city bike networks, scenic coastal walking trails, and magnificent alpine hikes.

  • Pristine Natural Surroundings: Experience exceptionally clean air, crystal-clear glacial waters, and protected wilderness reserves that deeply refresh mind and body.

  • Slower-Paced Cultural Mindset: Embrace local lifestyle traditions like Nordic hygge that encourage travelers to slow down, unwind, and reduce stress.

What truly makes a nation one of the best in the world? Is it breathtaking natural beauty, exceptional quality of life, or unrivaled personal safety?

From the stunning fjords of New Zealand to the tech-forward streets of Japan, these nine destinations set the global gold standard. Each offers a unique blend of vibrant culture, world-class infrastructure, and inspiring landscapes that draw travelers and dreamers alike.

Which of these incredible nations is at the very top of your personal travel bucket list? Let us know below!

🇳🇿 New Zealand – #10

New Zealand captivates with its surreal landscapes, where dramatic fjords, towering snow-capped peaks, and lush rainforests sit just moments apart. Famous for its high quality of life, commitment to environmental conservation, and outdoor lifestyle, it remains a dream destination for adventurers and peace-seekers alike. The country’s rich Māori heritage adds deep cultural meaning to its natural wonders.

Whether you are exploring the serene waters of Milford Sound, trekking through untouched wilderness, or enjoying the warmth of its friendly communities, New Zealand continually sets the benchmark for living in harmony with nature and prioritizing well-being above all else.

🇦🇺 Australia – #09

Australia effortlessly combines vibrant, world-class cities with vast, ancient wilderness. Home to iconic architecture like the Sydney Opera House, golden surf beaches, and the Great Barrier Reef, life here revolves around sunshine, coastal living, and outdoor exploration. Beyond the bustling harbors and laid-back urban centers, the vast Outback offers deep connection to Indigenous history and unique biodiversity found nowhere else on Earth.

With its strong economy, thriving culture, and breezy balance of modern efficiency and relaxed lifestyle, Australia consistently ranks as one of the most desirable, dynamic, and breathtaking nations to live in or visit.

🇳🇱 Netherlands – #08

The Netherlands is a global model of progressive design, exceptional infrastructure, and an enviable work-life balance. Famous for its historic canal networks, endless tulip fields, and world-renowned cycling culture, living here centers around sustainability and effortless connectivity. From the iconic, gable-roofed architecture of Amsterdam to the modern innovation hub of Rotterdam, the country seamlessly pairs rich heritage with forward-thinking urban living.

Celebrated for its open, inclusive society, world-class healthcare, and top-ranked quality of life, the Dutch lifestyle offers a vibrant blend of cultural sophistication, eco-friendly travel, and timeless European charm.

🇨🇦 Canada – #07

Canada stands as a global beacon of natural grandeur, safety, and inclusive community values. Spanning six time zones, its territory encompasses majestic Rocky Mountain ranges, pristine glacial lakes, and sweeping boreal forests alongside cosmopolitan cities like Vancouver and Toronto. Known for its welcoming multicultural ethos, world-class healthcare, and exceptional standard of living, Canada offers dynamic seasonal beauty year-round. From quiet moments beside crystal-clear turquoise waters to the cozy charm of alpine villages, the Canadian way of life is centered around respect for nature, personal freedom, and creating warm, thriving communities despite the cold winter air.

🇫🇮 Finland – #06

Consistently crowned the world’s happiest nation, Finland showcases how simplicity, nature, and modern innovation create an extraordinary quality of life. Famous for its vast pine forests, thousands of serene lakes, and magical Nordic winters lit by the Northern Lights, Finnish living prioritizes balance, wellness, and trust. Exceptional public education, high social equality, and a deep-rooted tradition of sauna culture define daily life. Whether cozying up in a glass igloo under dancing auroras or exploring vibrant, design-forward Scandinavian cities like Helsinki, Finland offers a tranquil, forward-thinking sanctuary that inspires the rest of the world.

🇩🇰 Denmark – #05

Denmark seamlessly blends historic charm with groundbreaking modern design, defining the art of cozy, high-quality living known around the world as hygge. From the grand, fairytale-like architecture of Frederiksborg Castle to the bike-friendly streets of Copenhagen, the nation emphasizes sustainability, social well-being, and architectural elegance.

Denmark routinely ranks near the top for global happiness, work-life balance, and civic trust. Its manicured royal gardens, picturesque canals, and innovative culinary scene reflect a society built on community, comfort, and functional beauty. It stands as a shining example of how tradition and modern progress thrive together.

🇳🇴 Norway – #04

Norway is a land of raw, majestic beauty where deep coastal fjords meet soaring mountain peaks and vibrant Arctic heritage. Known for its picturesque coastal fishing villages with bright red wooden cabins like those in Reine, Norway offers an unmatched connection to the outdoors. Powered by sustainability, exceptional social welfare, and a high standard of living, Norwegian culture embraces the spirit of friluftsliv—living outdoors in all seasons. From watching winter snow fall over icy waters to witnessing the summer midnight sun, Norway delivers a tranquil, highly prosperous, and visually unforgettable living experience.

🇸🇪 Sweden – #03

Sweden represents a masterclass in modern Nordic living, perfectly balancing historic architecture, cutting-edge innovation, and sweeping natural beauty. From the historic cobblestone streets of Visby filled with summer roses to the grand water views and lush green parks of Stockholm, Sweden embodies the concept of lagom—just the right amount. Highly regarded for its social equality, environmental leadership, and rich design culture, life here is orderly yet deeply creative. Sweeping forests, archipelagos, and thriving urban centers make Sweden an inspiring, progressive nation where quality of life and stunning aesthetics go hand in hand.

🇨🇭 Switzerland – #02

Switzerland is synonymous with precision, prosperity, and alpine perfection. Nestled in the heart of Europe, its iconic snow-dusted peaks, pristine mountain lakes, and historic cities offer a picture-perfect setting that feels straight out of a storybook. World-renowned for its financial stability, exceptional infrastructure, safety, and neutrality, Switzerland delivers an unmatched quality of life. Whether enjoying world-class winter sports, tasting fine chocolates, or riding scenic mountain railways through dramatic valleys, the Swiss lifestyle blends timeless tradition with flawless modern efficiency, making it one of the most admired and prosperous nations on Earth.

🇯🇵 Japan – #01

Japan is an extraordinary country where thousands of years of deep tradition harmoniously coexist with ultra-modern innovation. From serene bamboo groves, ancient shrines, and snow-capped Mount Fuji to the neon-lit streets and high-speed rail systems of Tokyo, Japan offers a uniquely captivating cultural tapestry. Renowned globally for its safety, exquisite cuisine, incredible cleanliness, and unmatched hospitality (omotenashi), life here is crafted with meticulous attention to detail. Japan continually fascinates the world by preserving its rich historical arts and tranquil gardens while remaining at the absolute forefront of global technology, architecture, and futuristic design.

Thank you for exploring the world’s most incredible destinations with us! Whether you are seeking travel inspiration, lifestyle trends, or top-tier digital media, we are dedicated to curating moments that elevate your everyday feed.

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Parkin's regional growth plans
  • Parkin

Parkin’s regional growth plans now stretch past the UAE, after the Dubai-listed parking operator signed a memorandum of understanding to take its technology into Egypt.

The agreement brings in three local partners: Modon Misr for Asset and Facility Management, transport services provider Mwasalat Misr, and Redcon Properties. They control the ground. Parkin brings the cameras and the software.

What the Egypt agreement covers

The partners plan to deploy Automatic Number Plate Recognition parking systems, AI-enabled parking cameras, barrierless entry, digital permits and parking management platforms across assets the Egyptian companies already run. They will also work out technical, operational and commercial models that suit the Egyptian market.

Read that carefully. An MoU is a framework, not a contract. No sites, dates or pricing have been fixed.

Parkin says the goal is better parking efficiency and a smoother experience for drivers in Egypt’s growing cities. Chief Executive Mohamed Abdulla Al Ali called the deal a step in the company’s regional expansion, and said technology, data and operational know-how would carry the weight in building parking systems that work.

Inside Parkin’s regional growth plans

Line up the past four months and the pattern gets obvious.

In May, Parkin Company PJSC signed a long-term framework agreement with Sharjah master developer Arada, covering up to 9,900 spaces at the Aljada megaproject, phased between 2026 and 2030. The smart paid parking system there went live on 15 July, the company’s first paid operation outside Dubai. On 10 August came an MoU with Abu Dhabi’s Q Mobility, the operator behind Mawaqif, aimed at linking digital payments and AI-driven occupancy management across the two emirates.

Egypt is the first step outside the country altogether. Parkin’s regional growth plans have moved from one emirate to three markets in under four months, and every deal so far has been a partnership rather than a purchase.

Why the technology travels

Parkin holds a 49-year concession over Dubai’s paid public parking. That covered roughly 229,000 spaces at the end of 2025 and 141 million transactions last year. Volume at that scale teaches a system what a busy Thursday evening looks like, and that learning is the exportable part.

Think of a car park as a checkout lane. The old version needed a ticket, a barrier, and a queue behind whoever lost their ticket. The smart parking solutions UAE operators have been rolling out since 2024 read the plate on the way in, start the clock, and charge the wallet on the way out. Nobody stops. Nobody hunts for coins.

That model does not care which country the tarmac sits in, which is why Parkin smart parking systems can move across borders faster than physical infrastructure usually does.

What Egyptian drivers could see

Egypt keeps building new cities and communities, and each one arrives with parking demand attached. Modon Misr chief executive Mohamed Aboutaleb said the partnership could support how parking and mobility develop as that construction continues.

For now, nothing is switched on. The partners still have to agree on what the technology costs, who operates it, and where it lands first. Parkin Egypt remains an intention on paper.

Watch the next announcement instead. If a named development and a go-live date appear, the Egypt move stops being exploratory and starts being a business.

  • 3 min read
Iran trade suspension in the UAE
  • UAE

Iran trade suspension in the UAE took effect late on August 18, covering all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions until further notice. Afra Al Hameli, director of the strategic communications department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the decision. She cited regional escalations undermining regional and international peace and security. Officials gave no end date.

Abu Dhabi moved hours after its Ministry of Defence said air defences detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the country. One fell outside UAE territorial waters, and the second landed inside them. Neither caused reported damage or casualties.

Tehran rejected the account. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the claim baseless. He said such accusations run against the principle of good neighbourliness and damage efforts to build trust among regional states.

What the Iran trade suspension in the UAE covers

The scope of the Iran trade suspension in the UAE reaches beyond merchandise. Banks, shipping lines, logistics operators and commodity traders with Iranian exposure face a blanket prohibition on payments and commercial dealings. Firms holding open contracts have no published guidance on wind-down periods or exemptions. Implementation details will decide how hard the measure bites.

UAE-Iran trade has run through Dubai for decades. Mark Kimmitt, a retired US general and former assistant secretary of state, told Al Jazeera the emirate had quietly become Iran’s largest supplier, ahead of China and Turkiye, providing roughly a third of Iranian imports each year. On that estimate, the embargo could cut deeper than measures Washington has imposed.

A brief reopening now reversed

Direct cargo shipping between the two countries stopped in early March, days after the war began. Sailings resumed in late June through Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port. That window lasted under two months.

Authorities also suspended roaming services for Iranian mobile users in the UAE ahead of the trade decision, cutting calls, messages and banking access for residents and travellers. Shipping and oil market fallout. Strait of Hormuz shipping remains close to a standstill. Kpler data show 10 crossings on Monday and two on Sunday. Five-day average traffic sits near 10 transits, against roughly 130 daily before the war.

A vessel sailing outbound through the strait took a hit from an unknown projectile early on Tuesday. UKMTO reported damage to the engine room and one crew death. Oman’s coastguard assisted the surviving crew. Brent crude oil price settled above $91 a barrel on Tuesday as traders weighed the risk of a longer closure. Roughly 25 percent of seaborne crude and petroleum product trade, and about 19 percent of liquefied natural gas, passed through the strait in 2025.

Diplomacy stalled

Iran trade suspension in the UAE lands one day after the 60-day window tied to the June 17 US-Iran memorandum of understanding expired without a final deal. President Donald Trump said Washington holds no talks with Tehran and has none scheduled. He also said the strait is open and cleared of mines, a claim transit data does not support.

UAE-Iran relations had shown tentative improvement earlier in the summer. Abu Dhabi has denied claims that frozen Iranian funds were released or moved through its banking system. Whether the Iran trade suspension in the UAE proves temporary will depend on the missile investigation and on any return to negotiations.

  • 3 min read
Ministry upgrades the online service
  • Trade

The paper form that once stood between a business owner and a protected brand name has been retired for anyone preparing to register a trademark in Bahrain. Officials at the Bahrain Ministry of Industry and Commerce have rebuilt the service for registering trademarks and service marks in a single class, trimming the documents, approvals, and time an application used to require. An online trademark application now replaces the paper file.

The change looks small. Its reach runs wider than the form it replaced.

Inside the upgraded service

Applications face a technical and legal review first, then move into the later stages of registration. The ministry has simplified the steps, reworked the interface and turned paper forms into electronic ones. It has also standardised service information published across different channels, so an applicant reads the same instructions wherever they look.

Eman Ahmed Al Doseri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said the upgrade belongs to a continuing review of ministry services and delivery standards, meant to improve efficiency and give customers clearer sight of what each procedure involves. She added that the ministry stays committed to shaping services around what beneficiaries need, while raising service quality and the effectiveness of its work system.

Sound, scent and a single class

Al Doseri explained that applicants can now register a trademark in Bahrain electronically, covering a national trademark or service mark in one class under the Nice International Classification of Goods and Services. Visible marks qualify, including words and images. So do marks nobody can see. Sound marks and scent marks sit inside the service, subject to approved requirements.

The Nice Classification groups goods and services into numbered classes used across most of the world. One class is the boundary here. Bahrain does not accept applications covering several classes at once, so a company selling both software and clothing files twice.

What it takes to register a trademark in Bahrain

Trademark registration in Bahrain runs through the Trademark Office at the Industrial Property Directorate, where nationals and residents of the kingdom file directly, while foreign applicants living outside Bahrain work through IP registration agents or law firms authorised by the directorate. Protection lasts ten years from the application date, and holders can renew it for further terms. 

Legislative Decree No. 11 of 2006 sets the rules. Businesses that register a trademark in Bahrain gain rights they can enforce against unauthorised use, counterfeiting, or imitation. Bahrain also belongs to the Madrid Protocol, so a company can reach the market by extending an international registration rather than filing locally.

After examination, the ministry publishes an accepted mark, and third parties get 60 days to oppose it. Errors made at filing tend to surface at that stage. Where nothing is contested, guides to the process put the wait from filing to registration at roughly six months. 

A wider push on government services

The trademark work sits inside a broader re-engineering of public services. More than 1,300 government services have been documented, translated and published. Around 800 more are being developed and re-engineered across government sectors.

Proposals and feedback shape the queue. They arrive through Tawasul, the national system for suggestions and complaints, through investor feedback, and through secret shopper reports assessing government services. Guidance manuals and service-level agreements have followed.

For a small company weighing whether to register a trademark in Bahrain, the calculation now turns less on paperwork and more on the choice of class and the strength of the mark itself.

  • 3 min read
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