00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News update for Tuesday, January the 7th. Here are the
00:10top stories at this hour.
00:12Rain showers hit parts of the UAE this morning with more rain expected later. The UAE Met
00:17office said the weather was unstable and advised people to stay away from the sea and take
00:22care if venturing out in the rain and wind.
00:25Heavy to moderate rain fell in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ruwais, Sharjah, Ras al Qaimah, Dalma
00:30Island and some parts of the Eastern Emirates. The unstable weather has been caused by a
00:35surface low-pressure area coming from eastern Saudi Arabia, with wind speeds reaching up
00:40to 65 km per hour in coastal areas.
00:44Today's high across the UAE will be 21 degrees Celsius, dropping to 13 degrees at night.
00:51Islamist rebels besieged the headquarters of Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and
00:55the Levant in eastern Syria yesterday as fighting between rival rebel groups spread across the
01:01country. Rebels besieged ISIL's office in Raqqa and released 50 people jailed by the
01:07militant group in another building.
01:09Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has started sending out invitations for a peace conference
01:14on Syria in Geneva on January 22, with Iran missing from the invitee list so far.
01:21Israel has published plans to build 272 homes and colonies in the occupied West Bank, even
01:27as US Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up his 10th visit in a year trying to forge
01:32an Israel-Palestinian peace deal. Israel says it is building colony homes in areas it intends
01:39to keep in any final peace agreement.
01:42The coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades gripped the US Midwest and
01:48pushed towards the east and south of Canada. The arctic blast closed schools and daycare
01:54centres, grounded flights and forced people to protect exposed skin from instant frostbite.
02:01Many across the nation's mid-section went into virtual hibernation as temperatures plunged
02:05below minus 18 degrees Celsius. Forecasters said some 187 million people could feel the
02:12effects of the polar vortex by the time it spread across the country today.
02:18In sport, England forward Theo Walcott will miss this year's World Cup in Brazil after
02:23being ruled out for at least six months with a knee injury, his club Arsenal said.
02:28Cristiano Ronaldo has meanwhile dedicated his two goals in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over
02:34Celta Uigo on Monday to Portuguese legend Eusebio, who died at the age of 71 on Sunday.
02:41The fourth season of hit TV show Downtown Abbey has broken records in the US following
02:46its premiere on Sunday. According to Nielsen, the British miniseries attracted 10.2 million
02:52viewers, up by 22 per cent compared to season three's premiere. The premiere date of season
02:57five has not been announced in the UAE.
03:00That's all for now, thanks for watching and as always you can get the latest news on gulfnews.com
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