Motorists could receive fines of Dh400 from Monday for travelling below 120kph on sections of a major Abu Dhabi motorway.

The new traffic measures were introduced at the start of April on the first and second left-hand lanes of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Road.

The maximum speed limit for the route, which links Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will remain at 140kph.

The third lane and the last lane, for use by heavy vehicles, will not include minimum speed requirements, police confirmed.

Drivers who have failed to maintain the set speed limit since its implementation have received warnings from Abu Dhabi Police.

But financial penalties will be imposed for failing to stick to the speed limit from May 1.

Tommy edited this

Residents in Dubai who already hold a driving licence — from a country not eligible for automatic conversion — can now take a driving test without having lessons first.

It is known as the 'golden chance' and is already being offered to drivers in Abu Dhabi.

Motorists who arrive to Dubai from certain countries, such as the UK, need only to visit the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to convert their foreign licence to a UAE version. Others must take driving lessons and pass the necessary tests despite already having passed a driving test in their home country.

Lessons and associated costs amount to about Dh7,000 ($1,906) but can run up to Dh20,000.

The change was announced on the authority's Twitter account with the link on where to apply.

Read more

Test text

President Sheikh Mohamed hails Sultan Al Neyadi's historic spacewalk

Watch live: Sultan Al Neyadi embarks on historic spacewalk

President Sheikh Mohamed on Friday hailed Sultan Al Neyadi's historic spacewalk, saying that the UAE is continuing to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration and science.

Dr Al Neyadi, a father of six from Al Ain, exited the International Space Station on Friday at 5.41pm GST alongside Nasa colleague Stephen Bowen to begin a six-and-a-half-hour maintenance assignment.

He became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

“With this week’s new discoveries by the Hope probe, the achievements of the Rashid rover mission and Sultan Al Neyadi’s first ever spacewalk by an Arab astronaut, the UAE continues to make a meaningful contribution to space exploration and advancements in science,” Sheikh Mohamed said on Twitter.

You can add text before a video

and afterwards

Let's try to enter this at the same time. 

NEW LINE FROM TH

This is another draft post. 

How does this look Tommy?

Join the whatsapp community

This is good to go - TH

Subhead 1

Some text in here.

And in here too.

Saving this as a draft

This is good to go - TH

Holly Johnston reports:

The Advantage Sweet oil tanker, flagged under the Marshall Islands, sent a distress call and the US 5th Naval Fleet is monitoring the situation, naval command said in a statement.

The 270-metre vessel was en route to Houston, Texas, when it was intercepted, according to tracking website MarineTraffic. It left Mina Saud Port on the south cost of Kuwait on Tuesday.

The ship is owned by Advantage Tankers LLC.

Read more here