Dubai / WAM Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker has shown that October data signalled a further improvement in business conditions across Dubai’s private sector economy, underpinned by strong rises in output and incoming new work. At 53.2 in October, the seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index registered above the crucial 50.0 no-change value for the eighth month running. …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) on Wednesday announced its financial and operating results for the first nine months of 2016. “During the period, we delivered strong operational performance and further reduced our capex and costs base consistent with our plan, while maintaining our focus on safety,” said Saeed Al Dhaheri, TAQA’s Acting Chief Operating Officer. …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE leadership has empowered Emirati women, including those in business, to play a more effective role and become key partners in development, innovation, creativity and spreading happiness in society, said HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Supreme President of the Family Development Foundation and Head of the Supreme Council for …

  Ain Issa / AFP US-backed forces pressed offensives on Wednesday on the IS group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq, as a strike by the American-led coalition was reported to have killed 20 civilians near Raqa. Supported by coalition air raids, Iraqi forces have pushed into IS’s Mosul stronghold and a Kurdish-Arab militia alliance has been advancing on the extremists’ de …

  Jerusalem / AFP Israeli forces attacked a Syrian military position on Wednesday, hours after a rocket from Syria hit the Israeli-held Golan Heights, the army said. “In response to the projectile which hit Israel earlier today, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) targeted an artillery position of the Syrian regime in the northern Syrian Golan Heights,” a statement said. The …

  Moscow / AFP Russia on Wednesday accused a Dutch submarine of trying to monitor its aircraft carrier and escort vessels in the Mediterranean, denouncing such manoeuvres as “dangerous”. According to the Russian defence ministry, the Severomorsk and the Vice-Admiral Kulakov, two of its anti-submarine ships, had “spotted a submarine from the Dutch navy… which tried to approach the Northern …

  Bashiqa / AFP Iraqi Kurdish forces came under heavy fire from a salmon-coloured house on the edge of the IS group-held town of Bashiqa, but when they stormed it, it was empty. “The fiercest resistance was coming from here,” said Corporal Hawkar Weis, pointing to the two-storey house on the eastern side of Bashiqa, which is now under the control …

  Aden / AFP An elite Yemeni force backed by Saudi-led coalition air strikes killed 30 suspected Al-Qaeda fighters in the southeast of the country in a 24-hour operation that ended on Wednesday, the army said. The force raided an Al-Qaeda hideout west of the port city of Mukalla on Tuesday in a “very successful” operation that lasted 24 hours, …

  Brussels /AFP The EU warned Turkey on Wednesday that “backsliding” on rights after a coup attempt was putting its membership bid at risk and urged Ankara to decide whether or not to commit. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan however hit back at the “shameless” European Union and challenged it in return to make a final choice on Turkey’s long-stalled application …

  Denpasar / AFP An Australian woman and her British boyfriend went on trial on Wednesday accused of beating a policeman to death on a popular beach on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. David Taylor and Sara Connor appeared separately in court accused of murdering Balinese policeman Wayan Sudarsa, whose battered body was found on Kuta beach in August. …