00:00Good day and welcome to the Gulf News Update for Wednesday, June the 11th.
00:09Here are the top stories at this hour.
00:11As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee Iraq's second city of Mosul after
00:17Islamist militants effectively took control of it.
00:21Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIL group overran the
00:26city and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh.
00:30Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by asking Parliament to declare a state of
00:35emergency to grant him greater powers.
00:39Thousands of South Korean police officers have stormed the church compound in their
00:43hunt for a fugitive billionaire businessman over April's ferry sinking that left more
00:48than 300 people dead or missing.
00:51Authorities believe the businessman owns the ship and that his alleged corruption
00:56may have contributed to its sinking.
01:00Cristiano Ronaldo had a hand in a goal and hit a post on his return as Portugal concluded
01:05their World Cup preparations with a 5-1 rout of the Republic of Ireland last night.
01:12The Real Madrid striker, who missed his country's previous two warm-up games because of thigh
01:17and knee injuries, was not at his brilliant best for long periods of a one-sided friendly
01:23in the United States.
01:25He has already scored in the football world.
01:28Now Arab Idol winner Mohamed Assaf is moving on to Formula One with his first concert at
01:34the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix announced today.
01:36Assaf, who performed at the FIFA World Congress on Tuesday in Sao Paulo, will play at the
01:42first of four after-race concerts at the DOO Arena on November 20, organisers Flash
01:48said.
01:50Jennifer Lopez said she is flying to Brazil to perform during the tournament's opening
01:54ceremony on Thursday.
01:56FIFA officials announced earlier this week that the singer would not perform the official
02:01tune, We Are One, alongside Pitbull and Claudia Letty.
02:07There is one official confirmation though.
02:10Gulf News' very own clairvoyant camel Shaheen has predicted who will win the opening game
02:16– Brazil or Croatia.
02:18Log on to gulfnews.com to watch Shaheen in action all through the World Cup.
02:24And finally the weather.
02:25The daytime temperature will be 41 degrees Celsius, falling to 27 at night.
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