00:00Good day and welcome to the Gulf News Update for Sunday, February the 2nd.
00:08Here are the top stories at this hour.
00:11Aid agencies in Syria have evacuated hundreds of people from the rebel-held Damascus suburb
00:16of Yarmouk in a rare moment of coordination between the government and rebel forces.
00:22Granting relief groups access to an estimated 250,000 people trapped by fighting across
00:28Syria was one of the goals of the peace talks held last week in Switzerland.
00:33Anti-government protesters blocked voting in dozens of constituencies in tense Thai
00:38elections today.
00:39The poll has been overshadowed by bloodshed, an opposition boycott and fears of protracted
00:45political limbo.
00:47Despite weeks of mass street demonstrations aimed at forcing her from office, Prime Minister
00:52Yingluck Shinawatra was widely expected to extend her family's decade-long winning streak
00:57at the ballot box.
00:59Officials said voting could not go ahead in 45 out of 375 constituencies nationwide because
01:06of the demonstrators.
01:09In entertainment, the Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington will no longer perform
01:13on the first night of the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival on February 13.
01:19The cancellation of the whole tour is due to a scheduling conflict which forced the
01:23band to cancel all their dates in Asia, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East including
01:28Dubai, event organisers Chill Out Productions said.
01:32Refunds will be available after February 4 through Ticketmaster.
01:37Meanwhile, organisers of Red Fest DXB have announced that British singer-songwriter Rita
01:43Ora will perform on Valentine's Day at Dubai Media City.
01:47Ora will close the two-day festival with a line-up of acts including John Newman, Naughty
01:53Boy, DJs Mark Ronson and Zane Lowe and American headliners The Lumineers.
01:59And finally, the weather.
02:00Today's high across the UAE will be 23 degrees Celsius, dropping to 17 degrees at night.
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