Australia to Issue Car Plates with Emojis

This undated promotional handout image released to AFP by Personalised Plates Queensland in Brisbane on Feb. 21, 2019 shows a car with a licence plate displaying an emoji next to the number.
This undated promotional handout image released to AFP by Personalised Plates Queensland in Brisbane on Feb. 21, 2019 shows a car with a licence plate displaying an emoji next to the number.
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Australia to Issue Car Plates with Emojis

This undated promotional handout image released to AFP by Personalised Plates Queensland in Brisbane on Feb. 21, 2019 shows a car with a licence plate displaying an emoji next to the number.
This undated promotional handout image released to AFP by Personalised Plates Queensland in Brisbane on Feb. 21, 2019 shows a car with a licence plate displaying an emoji next to the number.

An Australian state will begin offering drivers personalized license plates with emojis for the first time in the world.

An emoji is a small digital icon or image used to express an object, symbol, emotion or idea. Examples include expressive faces and vegetables, the German News Agency (DPA) reported.

Vehicle-owners in Queensland can add emojis to their license plates from March 1, the company supplying the new plates Personalized Plates Queensland (PPQ) said Wednesday.

Initially, only five types of emojis will be offered: heart eyes, smiley, sunglasses, laugh-out-loud and winking faces, said the concerned authority in Queensland.

Even though they will be displayed on official plates, the emojis will just be for decoration, and won't be part of the car's registration. The white-on-black plates will have a mix of three letters, two numbers and one of the five emojis. The emoji plates will cost 475 Australian dollars (US $340).



Australian Hiker Found Alive after Surviving for Two Weeks on Berries and Muesli Bars

A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
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Australian Hiker Found Alive after Surviving for Two Weeks on Berries and Muesli Bars

A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)
A general view of Cooma Hospital where hiker Hadi Nazari was transferred to for a health check in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, 08 January 2025. (EPA)

An Australian student missing for two weeks near the country's tallest mountain was found on Wednesday, after surviving by foraging for berries, drinking water from a creek and finding two muesli bars left behind by other hikers, police said.

Hadi Nazari, a 23-year-old university student from Melbourne, went missing from his group of friends on December 26 in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Nazari was found on Wednesday afternoon by a group of hikers who alerted the authorities, police in the state of New South Wales said.

“This is the fourteenth day we've been looking for him and for him to come out and be in such good spirits and in such great condition, it’s incredible," NSW Police Inspector Josh Broadfoot said.

The student was in "really good spirits" with no significant injuries, he added.

More than 300 people had searched for Nazari across rugged bushland, police said. The national park is home to the 2,228 meter (7,310 foot) Mount Kosciuszko.