Dubai / Emirates Business SMEs are a crucial component for sustainable economic growth in the GCC post the oil price decline but need to overcome key challenges to succeed. The finding comes from the latest research by Bloovo.com on the role SMEs play in catalysing economic success across the region. With a USD 275 billion export shortfall due to …

  Aleppo / AFP Intense air raids shook Syria’s Aleppo on Wednesday as increasing tensions between Moscow and Washington poisoned efforts to revive a failed ceasefire. The UN Security Council is meeting for talks on salvaging the truce — which collapsed on Monday after only a week — but the mood was likely to be tense after the United States …

  Aden / AFP Heavy fighting between Yemeni government forces and Shiite rebels for control of the heights overlooking the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait has left 17 combatants dead, the loyalist commander said on Wednesday. The waterway connects the Suez Canal and Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean beyond and is a major shipping lane. …