SELENA GOMEZ HITS 400+ MILLION

Big congrats to Selna Gomez for the massive milestone of 400 plus followers on Instagram! 

She is now the most followed woman, dethroning Kylie Jenner.

Not only is she the most followed woman on the social media app, but she's also the most followed actress and singer, too!

Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo remains the No. 1 most followed person on the app, with over 562 million followers. Lionel Messi trails him with 442 million. Selena comes in at No. 3, followed by Jenner at 382 million and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at 369 million.

Here's a look at the most followed Instagram accounts (as of March 18):

1. Instagram - 618 million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 562 million
3. Lionel Messi - 442 million
4. Selena Gomez - 400 million
5. Kylie Jenner - 382 million
6. Dwayne Johnson - 369 million
7. Ariana Grande - 361 million
8. Kim Kardashian - 348 million
9. Beyoncé - 300 million
10. Khloé Kardashian - 298 million
11. Justin Bieber - 281 million
12. Kendall Jenner - 279 million
13. Nike - 278 million
14. National Geographic - 266 million
15. Taylor Swift - 249 million
16. Virat Kohli - 241 million
17. Jennifer Lopez - 238 million
18. Kourtney Kardashian - 215 million
19. Nicki Minaj - 213 million
20. Neymar - 206 million

DUBAI TAXI IS SAYING GOODBYE TO STREETSIDE HAILING

The days of hailing a taxi from the side of the road may soon be a thing of the past in Dubai. 

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority aims for 80 percent of taxis to be booked through Hala service. They plan to expand the service using the Careem mobile app so that most of the rides can be booked online in the future.

A transition towards an online booking taxi service should cut waiting times to less than three and a half minutes, and reduce wasted mileage while cutting fuel consumption and carbon emissions. With this transition, designated zones reserved for e-hail services will be created alongside extra parking spaces for both street-hail taxis and e-hail vehicles, as well as more parking for taxis in high-demand areas.

TAYLOR SWIFT NEW MUSIC!

Taylor Swift surprises fans with 4 unreleased songs ahead of her Eras Tour.

These four tracks are re-recordings of her Hunger Games soundtrack contributions, another re-recording of her own song, plus a never-before-heard song:

• "Eyes Open (Taylor's Version)"
• "Safe & Sound (Taylor's Version)" ft. Joy Williams and John Paul White
• "If This Was A Movie (Taylor's Version)"
• All Of The Girls You Loved Before

What a way to start the weekend ;) 

BILLIE EILISH ACTING!

Billie Eilish surprises everyone by giving us a first look at her acting debut!

She shared a short clip of her in the new Amazon Prime series Swarm, which premieres on the streaming service Friday, March 17th on her Instagram. 

About the show: Swarm, created by Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) and Janine Nabers, will focus on an obsessed fan from Houston (Fishback) who goes to violent and twisted lengths to get close to her favorite R&B singer Ni'jah, played by Chloe Bailey. It turns out that the story is actually inspired by the Beyhive and certain fans' relationship with Beyoncé. 

It's definitely giving creepy scary vibes! But we will be watching! 

NICOLE SCHERZINGER DISS...

Nicole Scherzinger called out her former bandmates from the Pussycat Dolls in a new unofficially released solo song called "Freedom." 

Scherzinger sang, "Please allow me to introduce myself / I’m not that little doll you knew / She paid her dues / Now she owns herself." She continued, “I’ve got a new attitude down inside of me / I’ve got a new pair of shoes / Step aside, please/ I’m through working for you / Was killing me to compromise..." 

She is currently in a lawsuit with the girl group's founder, Robin Antin. She is definitely throwing clear shade with this song! 

So let's see how all this drama will pan out! 

SWIFT CITY!

Arizona City in the USA has officially renamed the city of Glendale to Honor Taylor Swift. 

Temporarily called "Swift City" now. The temporary name change will go into effect March 17 and 18, the days of Swift's scheduled "Eras Tour" show at Glendale's State Farm Stadium.

The Mayor of now "Swift City" even held up blue and lavender merch to commemorate the new name! They wanted to celebrate the start of her tour with naming the whole city after her...now that's special! 

Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" has dates scheduled across North America through August.

RAMADAN WORKING HOURS

The UAE has announced the official work timings for private sector employees during the holy month of Ramadan.

The hours will be reduced from 8 working hours to 6 hours. 

As for the federal government employees; the hours will be 9am to 2.30pm from Monday to Thursday, and from 9am until noon on Fridays.

Also, ministries and federal departments will be allowed to implement flexible working or remote work schedules depending on the nature of the job.

So far Ramadan's expected start date is March 23, but the exact date is likely to be announced on the night of March 22 by the moon-sighting committee.

OSCARS 2023 HIGHLIGHTS!

The Oscars this year were definitely different! Starting with breaking a 62-year tradition of rolling the red carpet...they decided it was time for a color change! 

Rihanna's performance was truly a highlight for us, but Lady Gaga's surprise last-minute performance turned a few heads! She did her performance make-up free! 

It was a night to remember with lots of tears and joyful moments. Here is the full list of winners:

Animated feature
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – WINNER!
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

Supporting actor
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!

Supporting actress
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Documentary feature
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
Navalny – WINNER!

Live-action short
An Irish Goodbye – WINNER!
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase

Cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front – WINNER!
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Elvis
Empire of Light
Tár

Makeup and hair
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
The Whale – WINNER!

Costume design
Babylon
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – WINNER!
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

International film
All Quiet on the Western Front – WINNER!
Argentina, 1985
Close
EO
The Quiet Girl

Documentary short
The Elephant Whisperers – WINNER!
Haulout
How Do You Measure a Year?
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger at the Gate

Animated short
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – WINNER!
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It

Production design
All Quiet on the Western Front – WINNER!
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans

Original score
All Quiet on the Western Front – WINNER!
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans

Visual effects
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water – WINNER!
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick

Original screenplay
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!
The Fabelmans
Tár
Triangle of Sadness

Adapted screenplay
All Quiet on the Western Front
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Living
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking – WINNER!

Sound
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Elvis
Top Gun: Maverick – WINNER!

Original song
Applause, Tell It Like a Woman
Hold My Hand, Top Gun: Maverick
Lift Me Up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Naatu Naatu, RRR – WINNER!
This Is a Life, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Editing
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

Director
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Todd Field, Tár
Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness

Lead actor
Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser, The Whale _ WINNER!
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Bill Nighy, Living

Lead actress
Cate Blanchett, Tár
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once – WINNER!

Best picture
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once - WINNER!
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking

VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW IS COMING BACK...

The annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is coming back, after it was put on hiatus in November 2019 following VS’s declining sales plus controversies surrounding the brand.

The reactions online have been mixed; some were quick to call the brand to revamp, and its aim to “champion women’s voices,” a direct Savage X Fenty ripple effect. Others were more cautiously optimistic. “I’ll reserve my outrage until we see if they actually have become inclusive or all this is just merely performative”. 

Lizzo, who has her own line of size-inclusive shapewear called Yitty, reacted online to this by saying... “This is a win for inclusivity for inclusivity’s sake,” she wrote on Twitter. “But if brands start doing this only because they’ve received backlash, then what happens when the ‘trends’ change again? Do the CEOs of these companies value true inclusivity? Or do they just value money?”

The VS show was once one of the most anticipated (and watched) in the world, So...the pressure is on, let's wait and see what happens! 

TYGA & AVRIL LAVIGNE DATING?

Spotted!! The duo showed some PDA at a Paris Fashion Week party!

Rocking an oversized Vetements hoodie and black over-the-knee boots, Avril was cuddled up with rapper Tyga as they mingled with friends. 

The pair were also photographed holding hands as they made their way through the crowd that night.

This is only 2 weeks after Avril Lavigne has broken up with Mod Sun, her former fiancé. 

Tyga has an interesting dating history; with his on-and-off relationship with Kylie Jenner, from 2014 to 2017. He also dated Blac Cgyna from 2011 to 2014—sharing a son together King Cario, and was even married to Jordan Craig from 2010 to 2011.

Let's see how long these 2 last ;)