The UAE becomes first Arab country on Twitter’s trend countries

This week, Twitter announced it was expanding its local trends feature on the website, adding 70 new countries and cities to the resource – one of which is the United Arab Emirates.

In a Twitter blog post, the social network revealed:

We first launched Trends as a useful way for people to find out what topics are being talked about around the world, right now. Early last year, we added Local Trends to make it easier to find more locally relevant topics in specific countries and metropolitan locations.

Today, we’re adding Trends for more than 70 new cities and countries – bringing the total number of locations to more than 100.

Here are the current UAE trends (at time of posting): #taxes; #dearsomeone; #justsaying; #happyendings; Ryan Giggs; Kerala; Doha; ASAP; Barça; and Torres.

Justin Bieber Quits Twitter

The teenage singer broke millions of his fans’ hearts this week after announcing he is staging a temporary separation with Twitter.

Bieber took to his official page to tweet:

I’m just excited at this pt to get on stage and perform. gonna take a little break from twitter and enjoy this time with my family until then.

Great news for us – not so great for the millions of girls obsessed with him.

However, the 17-year-old has since posted a few more residual tweets – so all hope is not lost for Bieber’s fans. Whoop-dee-doo(!)

The Zuckerberg vs. Winklevoss drama continues

(CC) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com / bub.blicio.us / CC-BY , via Wikimedia Commons

After years of litigation in hopes of scoring a bigger slice of Facebook, twins Tyler and Cameron Vinklevoss were told enough is enough on Monday by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Winklevoss brothers must now accept a cash and stock settlement with Facebook that had been valued at $65 million.

But despite the fact Mark Zuckerberg won the original legal battle against the former Harvard classmates – the feud made famous on The Social Network – he is now in another spot of bother after a New York man filed an amended lawsuit against him this week, citing a 2003 email in which Zuckerberg discusses an urgent need to launch his site before “a couple of upperclassmen” could launch theirs. An apparent reference to the Winklevoss twins, we wonder?

And finally… What’s been trending on Twitter this week:

_ Doha _

The Arab city has been trending in the UAE this week obviously due to the fact that foreign ministers met in Qatar to try to open the deadlock in Libya’s civil war.

But divisions within NATO immediately appeared at the international “contact group” meeting when Belgium ruled out boosting air attacks or arming Libyan rebels. Meanwhile, news reports are suggesting that there is increasing frustration in Paris and London that air strikes have neither tipped the balance of the war in favour of rebels trying to end Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule nor even ended devastating shelling of the besieged city of Misrata.

Johnny Madness

The very first season of Arabs’ Got Talent came to an end last Friday, with Egyptian poet Amr Qattamesh walking away with the programme’s grand prize.

However, it was contestant Johnny Madness, a beat-boxer from Lebanon, who trended on Twitter for ten minutes after his appearance in the live grand finale. The future looks bright for the young star, who is said to be interested in beat-boxing alongside Lebanese superstar Najwa Karam.

_ Barça-Madrid _

Never before have football arch rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid faced each other four times in the space of just 18 days.

But this is just what the Spanish football giants will do over the next few weeks after both clubs went through to the semi-finals of the Champions League, which will take place on April 27 in Madrid and May 3 in Barcelona.

But before that, Pep Guardiola’s and Jose Mourinho’s teams meet for a La Liga (Spanish league) clash this Saturday, followed by the Copa Del Ray final on April 16.