author - oman observer

Paris: An extra day every four years, what's not to love? The calendar quirk of February 29 keeps us in sync with the seasons but it has also spawned a host of rituals and superstitions, not to...

More than 100 people were reported killed early Saturday in overnight strikes across Gaza, as Israel's spy chief was in Paris for talks seeking to "unblock" progress towards a truce.The Paris...

Tehran: Candidates running for seats in Iran's legislature launched Thursday their election campaigns, one week ahead of polls expected to tighten conservatives' grip on power. Voters are due to cast...

LONDON: Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia said on Thursday that she and her daughter Dasha were together and comforting each other following the opposition politician's sudden death last week in a Russian...

BEIJING: China's Wildlife Conservation Association is working with the National Zoo in Washington in an arrangement that could bring more pandas back to the United States, signalling improving...

Paris: France's iconic Eiffel Tower was closed for a fourth day on Thursday as employees extended a strike over the monument's management, unions said. The stoppage at one of the world's best-known...

Paris: Baleen whales have evolved a special voice box to help them to sing underwater -- but this could also make them uniquely vulnerable to being drowned out by human noise pollution, according to...

Ranchi: Fast bowler Ollie Robinson was named in the England team for the fourth Test against India in Ranchi starting on Friday with spinner Shoaib Bashir also getting the nod. The 30-year-old...

By Andrea PALASCIANOAfter the shock of Alexei Navalny's death in an Arctic prison, Russian dissidents in exile are vowing to pick up the pieces and press on with their battle against President...

Gaza: Israel launched air strikes Thursday on southern Gaza's Rafah after threatening to send troops against Hamas militants in the city where around 1.4 million Palestinians have sought...

Surat, India: The glittering diamonds sparkle the same but there are key differences: mined natural gems are more than a billion years old, while laboratory-made rocks are new and cost less than half...

Geneva - An alarming lack of food, surging malnutrition, and the rampant spread of disease could spark an explosion in child deaths in Gaza, the United Nations warned Monday. Twenty weeks into...

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories: Deadly fighting raged on in Gaza on Monday after Israel warned that, unless Hamas frees all hostages, it will push on with its offensive during the Muslim holy...

Gaza Strip - Israel has threatened to invade Gaza's Rafah by the start of Ramadhan if Hamas does not return the remaining hostages by then, despite international pressure to protect Palestinian...

Qatar acknowledged Saturday that prospects for a new pause in Israel's war with Hamas were "not really promising" as Israel rejected appeals to hold off on a threatened assault on the Gaza city of...

Washington: Biden versus Trump: The lineup in the 2024 US election has long been a foregone conclusion, with a rematch between the two presidents appearing all but certain.But what would happen if,...

CAIRO - Gaza's largest functioning hospital was under siege on Friday in Israel's war with Hamas, leaving patients and doctors helpless in the chaos as warplanes struck Rafah, the last refuge for...

MUNICH: The head of the United Nations on Friday called for technology firms to stop profiting from the proliferation of toxic content after accusing social media platforms of complicity in fuelling...

MUNICH: US Vice President Kamala Harris said the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony on Friday, if confirmed, would be a further sign of the brutality of...

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognising a Palestinian state was "not a taboo for France" in his first such comments since the start of the war in Gaza. "The recognition of a...