00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News Update for Monday, January 20. Here are the top stories
00:10at this hour. The UAE Cabinet has approved compulsory military
00:14service for all Emirati men aged between 18 and 30. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
00:20al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, made the announcement
00:25at a Cabinet meeting. The service will be optional for women. The service will cover
00:30military training at the armed forces, nine months for high school graduates and two years
00:34for those with less than a high school education, Sheikh Mohammed said. He added that the UAE's
00:40message to the world is a message of peace. The stronger we are, the stronger our message,
00:45he said. UN Chief Ban Ki-moon has invited Iran to take
00:48part in preliminary Syrian peace talks this week in Switzerland. An offer to Tehran has
00:52been accepted. But Syria's main opposition group said it would withdraw from talks unless
00:57Ban retracted the offer to Iran. An interim deal on Iran's nuclear program
01:02has taken effect today. The process will begin with the UN nuclear watchdog confirming that
01:07Tehran has curbed its high-level uranium enrichment. This should pave the way for partial suspension
01:12of EU and US sanctions. Indian Minister Shashi Tharoor has asked for
01:17a rapid inquiry into the death of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar. In a letter to the Indian
01:22Home Minister, Tharoor called for police to expedite the report and said he was horrified
01:26to read the reckless speculation in local media about Pushkar's death in an upscale
01:31New Delhi hotel last week. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kherjewal and his cabinet colleagues
01:36who wanted to protest outside the federal Home Ministry office over alleged police inaction
01:42were stopped on the way today. Police said Kherjewal was prevented from going ahead since
01:47rehearsals for a public day parade were going on.
01:50In tennis, Dominika Sibylkova provided another shock at the Australian Open as she sent Maria
01:55Sharapova crashing out. The Slovakian enjoyed one of the biggest wins of her career – 3-6,
02:016-4, 6-1. Football and Samuel Eto'o seized on slack
02:06defending to score his first Chelsea hat-trick in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United last
02:12night. It was United's 7th league loss leaving them not only 14 points behind leader
02:17Arsenal but 6 points from the 4th Champions League spot.
02:21And finally, weather. Today's high across the UAE will be 20 degrees Celsius, dropping
02:26to 14 degrees at night. That's all for now. Thanks for watching. And
02:30as always, you can get the latest news at www.goldnews.com
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