00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News Update for Tuesday, December 15. Here are the top
00:10stories at this hour.
00:13The UAE Ministry of Health has reduced prices of 142 medicines. The price reductions, ranging
00:20from 2 to 66 percent, will come into effect from January 1, officials said.
00:26It was the sixth price reduction initiative, which will cover drugs of 24 pharmaceutical
00:31companies in the UAE.
00:34The EU is set to unveil controversial proposals for a new border and coastguard agency in
00:40response to Europe's refugee crisis, with powers to intervene even when the host country
00:46does not consent.
00:48The new 1,000-strong force is aimed at slowing the record flow of nearly one million refugees
00:54to Europe this year, mainly from the war in Syria.
00:58But some member states in the 28-nation European Union are hostile to a plan which could see
01:04them cede sovereignty over their own land and sea borders to bureaucrats in Brussels.
01:10In sport, the Micromax Indian Aces were joined by the Philippine Mavericks as winners on
01:15the opening day of the International Premier Tennis League at the Dubai Tennis Stadium
01:20yesterday.
01:21The Indian Aces powered their way to a swift 25-18 win over legendary Japan warriors, while
01:27the Mavericks found a hero in big-serving Ivo Karlovic, who stunned the home team's
01:32marquee player Roger Federer to close out a 26-24 win against the OBI UAE Royals.
01:40Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho watched his team suffer a 2-1 loss at table-topping Leicester
01:45City on Monday night and said he felt ashamed at their lowly Premier League position and
01:51betrayed by his players.
01:53The champions have now lost nine of their 16 league games and stand one point above
01:58the relegation zone in the 16th place.
02:02The next generation of Star Wars films kicked off with an elaborate debut for The Force
02:07Awakens in Los Angeles on Monday that served as a proverbial passing of the lightsaber
02:12to new groups of fighters dueling in a cinematic galaxy far away.
02:18The world's first screening of the seventh Star Wars film attracted a constellation of
02:22stars and despite being in charge of The Force Awakens for the past three years, director
02:28J.J. Abrams seemed overwhelmed by the banditry of the premiere.
02:33The Vice Sheikh Zayed Road had a starring role in the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond
02:37that released today.
02:39It was revealed that the film was the most expensive one to have been shot in the Emirate.
02:45The trailer for the third Star Trek film shows the towers of Sheikh Zayed Road clad in mist
02:50and a crash site at the IFC.
02:52Jamal Al Sharif, chairman of the Dubai Film and Television Commission, told Tabloid that
02:56the filming here in October cost $32 million.
03:01And finally, the weather.
03:02Today's high across the UAE will be 25 degrees Celsius, dropping to 19 degrees at night.
03:08That's all for now.
03:09Thanks for watching.
03:10And as always, you can get the latest news on Gulfnews.com.
