The UAE emirate of Dubai has announced that it has scrapped the 30% tax on alcohol, and will no longer charge for personal alcohol licences.
Known as the Gulf's "party capital", where expatriates outnumber nationals by nine to one, Dubai has historically been more attractive to tourists and wealthy foreign workers than its neighbours, partially because of its tolerance of a more liberal lifestyle.
Despite this, the high alcohol tax had led to residents often driving to Umm al-Quwain and other emirates to buy alcohol in bulk.
Japan on Sunday (1 January) assumed the Chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council for the month of January. This is the 12th time that Japan has chaired the Security Council, despite the fact that it is a non-permanent member. However, also on 1 January, Japan joined four other countries as non-permanent members of the Council for the next two years.
The other four new members are Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.
The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday at 9:34 AM in his residence at the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.
The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Papacy in 2013.