00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News update for Thursday, March 17. Here are the top stories
00:06at this hour.
00:07A March 27 event to launch the new logo for Dubai Expo 2020 will once again focus minds
00:14on progress towards the landmark exhibition.
00:17Preem Ibrahim Al-Hashmi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Managing
00:21Director for Expo 2020, urged UAE residents to come together for the logo launch.
00:27In an editorial written for Gulf News, she said that thousands of people will gather
00:30on the day to discover the results of the UAE's quest to identify the new emblem.
00:37Former Israeli spy chief Meir Dagan has died at age 71. Dagan, who directed The Mossad
00:43from 2002 to 2011, was wanted in the UAE for his alleged role in the Dubai assassination
00:49of Hamas commander Mahmood al-Mabuh in January 2010.
00:54Former Dubai chief Dahi Khalfan Tameem had claimed that Dagan was forced to leave the
00:59agency after Mossad's role in the assassination was uncovered by Dubai police.
01:05Peace talks to end Syria's brutal war broadened on Wednesday to include an opposition group
01:09close to Moscow. The UN, meanwhile, intensified efforts to find a political solution to the
01:14five-year conflict.
01:16UN mediator Stéphane de Mistura met for the first time with the Moscow group, which is
01:21demanding an equal seat at the negotiating table.
01:25Protests have erupted in Brazil after a recorded phone call between President Dilma Rousseff
01:29and her once-popular predecessor was released. The tape suggests Rousseff appointed Lula
01:35da Silva to her cabinet to spare him for arrest for corruption.
01:40Michelle Obama showed off her vocal chops at the South by Southwest music festival on
01:44Wednesday. But the US first lady drew a round of disappointed sighs when she told the crowd
01:50she has no plans to run for president. She made her debut at the Austin Showcase of
01:54Brands and Technology, sitting with Grammy winners Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott.
02:00And finally, the weather. Today's high across the UAE will be 27 degrees Celsius, dropping
02:05to 22 degrees at night.
02:07That's all for now. Thanks for watching. We will be back with the newscast on Sunday,
02:10but you can always get the latest news on gulfnews.com
02:20Newscast is brought to you by the U.S. Department of State.
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