00:00Good day and welcome to the Gulf News Update for Wednesday, March the 4th.
00:09Here are the top stories at this hour.
00:11In a bid to expedite passenger movement through Dubai Airport, the General Directorate of
00:16Residency and Foreigners Affairs has announced plans to do away with the passport control
00:22counters from the departures wing of Terminal 3.
00:26If implemented, passengers will no longer have to queue at passport control counters.
00:31Instead, their details will be passed on to immigration officers while booking the tickets
00:36with Emirates.
00:38Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu warned the U.S. last night that it was negotiating
00:43a bad deal with Iran that could spark a nuclear nightmare.
00:48The speech drew an immediate rebuke from President Barack Obama, exposing a deepening U.S.-Israeli
00:54rift.
00:55The Iranian government also denounced Netanyahu's 39-minute speech as boring and repetitive.
01:02India's western state of Maharashtra has introduced a ban on beef so strict that even possession
01:08could land you in jail for five years.
01:11The measures make the sale or possession of beef an offense punishable by the jail term
01:16or a Rs. 10,000 fine.
01:19Downton Abbey publicists say Maggie Smith was misinterpreted in remarks widely reported
01:25as suggesting she will leave the TV show after its sixth season later this year.
01:31Milk Publicity said Smith has always been on the record as saying she'll be with the
01:36show for as long as the show runs.
01:39Producers haven't announced whether the show will have a seventh season.
01:44Britain's Queen Elizabeth has stripped veteran entertainer Rolf Harris of an honour she bestowed
01:49on him in 2006, basing the move on his conviction for child sex crimes last year.
01:56Harris was jailed for almost six years in July last year for repeatedly abusing young
02:01girls over decades when he was a much-loved host on children's television.
02:07And finally, the weather.
02:08Today's high across the UAE will be 28 degrees Celsius, dropping to 21 degrees at night.
02:15That's all for now.
02:16Thanks for watching.
02:17As always, you can get the latest news at gulfnews.com
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