00:00Good day, welcome to the Gulf News update for Wednesday, March 5. Here are the top stories
00:09at this hour.
00:10A woman who threatened to blow up a fake explosive belt at the Dubai Public Prosecution building
00:15last year was sentenced to seven years in jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance
00:20this morning. The Uzbek woman later said her act was intended to prove the paternity of
00:24her 10-year-old son. Today's ruling is subject to appeal within 15 days.
00:29India will elect a new parliament over a nine-day period from April 7 to May 12. The
00:35results will be announced on May 16, according to the Election Commission. The world's largest
00:39democratic exercise will involve a staggering 814 million voters, an increase of nearly
00:45100 million from 2009.
00:47The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that citizens of 13 European Union member
00:51states will be granted visa on arrival in the UAE with effect from March 22. The move
00:57comes after a decision taken by the UAE Cabinet. The new countries include Poland, the Czech
01:02Republic, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia and Bulgaria. UAE citizens who fail to join
01:08the mandatory military and reserve service will face up to 10 years in prison, according
01:13to a draft law passed by the Cabinet in January. The law has been referred to the Federal National
01:18Council for debate.
01:20The Israeli army says it shot two Hezbollah fighters who allegedly tried to plant a bomb
01:25near the fence between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syrian-held territory earlier
01:29today.
01:30US and Russian foreign ministers will attend French-sponsored talks in Paris today on helping
01:35Lebanon cope with the conflict in Syria. However, the talks are also set to veer towards the
01:40flaring crisis in Ukraine, according to officials.
01:44Etisalat yesterday reported a 5% jump in 2013 profits to 7.1 billion dirhams after expanding
01:51its footprint in new international markets. The group, which operates in 15 markets in
01:56the Middle East, Asia and Africa, also registered nearly 18% growth in revenues to 38.85 billion
02:03dirhams.
02:05Sports football and England manager Roy Hodgson has defended midfielder Tom Cleverley after
02:09an online petition was set up calling for the Manchester United player to be banned
02:14from selection for his World Cup squad. The petition, which hits out at Cleverley's inept
02:18displays, has gained over 10,000 signatures since it was posted.
02:23And Karl Lagerfeld has created a luxury Chanel supermarket for the French label's autumn-winter
02:28fashion show. The event on Tuesday had the likes of Rihanna and Keira Knightley in the
02:32audience, but the show took a nosedive when a rowdy fashion crowd looted the set afterwards.
02:38And finally, the weather. Today's high across the UAE will be 27 degrees Celsius, dropping
02:42to 18 tonight.
02:43That's all for now, thanks for watching and as always, you can get the latest news on
02:47GOVNews.com
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