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  Aleppo / AFP President Bashar al-Assad said victory for his forces in Aleppo would be a “huge step” in ending Syria’s war, as government troops battled on Thursday to retake more rebel ground. Despite pleas from increasingly cornered opposition fighters, Western countries and the United Nations, Assad also rejected talk of a ceasefire in Aleppo. Repeated diplomatic efforts this week ...

  MANAMA / WAM The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states and the United Kingdom have agreed to launch the GCC-UK Strategic Partnership to foster closer relations in all fields, including political, defence, security, and trade. This was announced on Wednesday, following the first GCC-UK Summit in Manama, which was presided over by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The 2017 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) is on track to be the most important in the event’s history for driving commercially focused action, said industry leaders at a press event on Wednesday. Hosted by Masdar, the forthcoming ADSW theme is ‘Practical Steps Towards a Sustainable Future’. The week’s anchor event, the World Future ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai Wholesale City, a global integrated wholesale trading hub and member of TECOM Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The China Commodity City (CCC) Group, the world’s largest exporter of goods, in China’s Zhejiang Province. Aiming to build a long-term strategic relationship between the two parties and leverage possible future collaborations between ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Etihad Museum will open its doors to the general public from January 7, 2017, the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has announced. This follows the recent official inauguration of the museum on December 2, on the eve of UAE’s 45th National Day in the presence of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The seventh annual SIAL Middle East exhibition, the fastest growing event for the region’s food, drink and hospitality sectors, concluded yesterday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) with a record number of visitors and deals worth billions of dirhams conclude. Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Mai Dubai, the Dubai-based bottled drinking water company, commissioned Swisslog to automate its storage and distribution logistics at its new mega expansion project in Dubai in order to reach its 2020 goals. The order value of the project amounts to 21 million US dollars. As Swisslog builds on its strengths in logistics in the food ...

  Aleppo / AFP Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians on Wednesday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive. In the face of a blistering assault by forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad, the rebels were reported to have retreated on Wednesday from ...

  Sydney / AFP Australia’s economy contracted for just the fourth quarter in 25 years, official data showed on Wednesday, slowing the annual growth rate to 1.8 percent amid weaker government and consumer spending on top of softer trade figures. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 0.5 percent contraction for the September quarter. It was the weakest figure in ...

  Washington / AFP The US Supreme Court overturned a $399 million patent infringement penalty imposed on Samsung for copying Apple’s iPhone design, in a case watched for its implications for technology innovation. The shorthanded justices ruled 8-0 that Samsung should not be required to forfeit the entire profits from its smartphones for infringement on design components, sending the case ...