Daily headlines from the UAE and around the world brought to you by Gulf News. Solar Impulse plane begins global journey. UN urges action on Daesh. Indonesia executions. Doping in cycling. American Sniper is highest-grossing US film in 2014. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Good day. Welcome to the Gulf News Update for Monday, March the 9th. Here are the top
00:09stories at this hour.
00:11The first attempt to fly around the world in a plane using only solar power launched
00:15this morning in Abu Dhabi, in a landmark journey that will test its pilots' endurance to
00:19the limits.
00:20The Solar Impulse 2, piloted by Andre Borsberg of Switzerland, took off from Al-Bateen Airport
00:26and headed to Muscat, where it is expected to land later today. From Muscat, the plane
00:31will make 12 stops on an epic journey spread over five months, with a total flight time
00:35of around 25 days.
00:38The UN Secretary-General has called on the international community to halt the destruction
00:42of Iraqi archaeological sites by Daesh. Ban Ki-moon branded the smashing of priceless
00:47and ancient artifacts as a war crime. His comments came hours after Iraq's tourism
00:53and antiquities minister called on the US-led coalition Fighting Daesh to protect the sites.
00:59The families of two Australian drug smugglers facing imminent execution in Indonesia visited
01:04them today for the first time on a prison island. Muran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the
01:09ringleaders of the so-called Bali 9 gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying
01:14to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia. Australia has mounted a diplomatic campaign to stop
01:19the executions from going ahead.
01:22Doping and cycling remains widespread, with cheats experimenting with designer drugs and
01:27becoming ever more sophisticated, according to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission.
01:33In a report published this morning, the commission features an incredible claim from a respected
01:38cycling professional that 90% of the peloton is still doping in one form or another.
01:44The controversial American Sniper has become the highest-grossing film of 2014 in the US.
01:50Director Clint Eastwood's film about Navy SEAL Chris Kyle passed The Hunger Games Mockingjay
01:54Part 1 to be the top film from last year, and has pulled an estimated $337.2 million
02:01since its limited release on Christmas Day. Worldwide, the film has crossed the $500 million mark.
02:07And finally, weather. Today's high across the UAE will be 29 degrees Celsius, dropping
02:12to 20 degrees at night.
02:14That's all for now. Thanks for watching, and as always, you can get the latest news
02:18at gulfnews.com.