00:00Good day and welcome to the Gulf News Update for Sunday, October the 13th. Here are the
00:09top stories at this hour. Cyclone Phailin left a trail of destruction along India's
00:14east coast and up to 7 people dead after the biggest evacuation in the country's history
00:19helped minimize casualties. As emergency teams began assessing damage from India's biggest
00:25cyclone in 14 years, a massive relief effort went into full swing to distribute food to
00:31an estimated 1 million people, clear roads and help the injured. Most of the affected
00:36population spent the night in shelters and public buildings as deafening winds flattened
00:41homes, uprooted trees and sent glass and asbestos strips flying through the air. Some 2 million
00:48pilgrims poured out of Makkah today to begin the annual Hajj, their numbers reduced on
00:53fears of the deadly MERS virus. Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabiya said last night
00:59that authorities had so far detected no cases of the virus among the pilgrims who moved
01:04from Makkah to Mina by road, by train or on foot. Parents in Dubai are being called on
01:11to stop the school run and let their children take the school bus. An official at the Dubai
01:16Roads and Transport Authority says that no school buses have been involved in any major
01:21accident over the past four years as they adhere to the highest safety standards implemented
01:27by the RTA. More than 130,000 pupils in Dubai use school transport daily, served by more
01:34than 5,000 buses. Activists in Morocco have planned a kiss-in outside Parliament in protest
01:40at the arrest and trial of three teenagers for violating public decency. The protest follows
01:46the posting of photos of the two of them kissing on Facebook. In sport, former world
01:51No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer will part ways with his American coach
01:57Paul Anacon. The two had teamed up in 2010 and the last three years saw Federer win 13
02:04titles, including the Wimbledon crown in 2012. India and Australia clash in the first of
02:10their seven-match one-day international series in Pune today. The match starts at 12 noon
02:15UAE time and is being telecast live on OSN Sports' cricket channel. Entertainment and
02:22he's out. British actor Charlie Hunnam, who was tipped to star as the lead in the film
02:27version of Fifty Shades of Grey, has dropped out, citing a busy schedule. The choice of
02:32Hunnam for the role of Christian Grey was a controversial one when it was announced,
02:37with many fans saying he didn't suit the role. The film's studios said the decision about
02:42the actor's departure was mutual.
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