$query = new EntityFieldQuery();
$query->entityCondition('entity_type', 'node')
  ->entityCondition('bundle', 'article')
  ->propertyCondition('status', NODE_PUBLISHED)

  /**
   * Adds a condition on entity-generic metadata.
   *
   * If the overall query contains only entity conditions or ordering, or if
   * there are property conditions, then specifying the entity type is
   * mandatory. If there are field conditions or ordering but no property
   * conditions or ordering, then specifying an entity type is optional. While
   * the field storage engine might support field conditions on more than one
   * entity type, there is no way to query across multiple entity base tables by
   * default. To specify the entity type, pass in 'entity_type' for $name,
   * the type as a string for $value, and no $operator (it's disregarded).
   *
   * 'bundle', 'revision_id' and 'entity_id' have no such restrictions.
   *
   * Note: The "comment" entity type does not support bundle conditions.
   *
   * @param $name
   *   'entity_type', 'bundle', 'revision_id' or 'entity_id'.
   * @param $value
   *   The value for $name. In most cases, this is a scalar. For more complex
   *   options, it is an array. The meaning of each element in the array is
   *   dependent on $operator.
   * @param $operator
   *   Possible values:
   *   - '=', '<>', '>', '>=', '<', '<=', 'STARTS_WITH', 'CONTAINS': These
   *     operators expect $value to be a literal of the same type as the
   *     column.
   *   - 'IN', 'NOT IN': These operators expect $value to be an array of
   *     literals of the same type as the column.
   *   - 'BETWEEN': This operator expects $value to be an array of two literals
   *     of the same type as the column.
   *   The operator can be omitted, and will default to 'IN' if the value is an
   *   array, or to '=' otherwise.
   *
   * @return EntityFieldQuery
   *   The called object.
   */
  public function entityCondition($name, $value, $operator = NULL) {
    // The '!=' operator is deprecated in favour of the '<>' operator since the
    // latter is ANSI SQL compatible.
    if ($operator == '!=') {
      $operator = '<>';
    }
    $this->entityConditions[$name] = array(
      'value' => $value,
      'operator' => $operator,
    );
    return $this;
  }

 /**
   * Adds a condition on an entity-specific property.
   *
   * An $entity_type must be specified by calling
   * EntityFieldCondition::entityCondition('entity_type', $entity_type) before
   * executing the query. Also, by default only entities stored in SQL are
   * supported; however, EntityFieldQuery::executeCallback can be set to handle
   * different entity storage.
   *
   * @param $column
   *   A column defined in the hook_schema() of the base table of the entity.
   * @param $value
   *   The value to test the field against. In most cases, this is a scalar. For
   *   more complex options, it is an array. The meaning of each element in the
   *   array is dependent on $operator.
   * @param $operator
   *   Possible values:
   *   - '=', '<>', '>', '>=', '<', '<=', 'STARTS_WITH', 'CONTAINS': These
   *     operators expect $value to be a literal of the same type as the
   *     column.
   *   - 'IN', 'NOT IN': These operators expect $value to be an array of
   *     literals of the same type as the column.
   *   - 'BETWEEN': This operator expects $value to be an array of two literals
   *     of the same type as the column.
   *   The operator can be omitted, and will default to 'IN' if the value is an
   *   array, or to '=' otherwise.
   *
   * @return EntityFieldQuery
   *   The called object.
   */
  public function propertyCondition($column, $value, $operator = NULL) {
    // The '!=' operator is deprecated in favour of the '<>' operator since the
    // latter is ANSI SQL compatible.
    if ($operator == '!=') {
      $operator = '<>';
    }
    $this->propertyConditions[] = array(
      'column' => $column,
      'value' => $value,
      'operator' => $operator,
    );
    return $this;
  }

$query = new EntityFieldQuery();
$query->entityCondition('entity_type', 'node')
  ->entityCondition('bundle', 'article')
  ->propertyCondition('status', NODE_PUBLISHED)
  ->fieldCondition('field_news_types', 'value', 'spotlight', '=')
  // See the comment about != NULL above.
  ->fieldCondition('field_photo', 'fid', 'NULL', '!=')
  ->fieldCondition('field_faculty_tag', 'tid', $value)
  ->fieldCondition('field_news_publishdate', 'value', db_like($year) . '%', 'like') // Equal to "starts with"
  ->fieldCondition('field_news_subtitle', 'value', '%' . db_like($year) . '%', 'like') // Equal to "contains"
  ->fieldOrderBy('field_photo', 'fid', 'DESC')
  ->range(0, 10)
  // Run the query as user 1.
  ->addMetaData('account', user_load(1));

$result = $query->execute();
if (isset($result['node'])) {
  $news_items_nids = array_keys($result['node']);
  $news_items = entity_load('node', $news_items_nids);
}