author - oman observer

Paris - France votes on Sunday in presidential elections facing a stark choice between centrist President Emmanuel Macron and challenger Marine Le Pen, after a fractious campaign that has seen the...

Colombo - Sri Lanka's beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down on Saturday, as a cabinet minister and other senior party members backed street protests calling for...

Geneva - A total of 5,133,747 Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia invaded on February 24, the UN refugee agency said Friday.The figure marks an increase of 48,387 from Thursday's data, UNHCR...

London: Queen Elizabeth II turned 96 on Thursday, receiving a rousing "Happy Birthday" from a military band outside her Windsor Castle home, after a troubled year hit by health concerns. The Band of...

Jerusalem: Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli warplanes exchanged fire early Thursday in the biggest escalation in months, followed by fresh violence at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.Israel...

Shanghai: Shanghai further eased its weeks-long Covid-19 lockdown on Wednesday despite mounting deaths and tens of thousands of new cases -- but some residents are furious that uneven enforcement is...

Hong Kong - Asian markets were marginally higher on Wednesday while oil began recovering after a downgraded IMF global growth forecast for 2022 had sent crude prices plunging.The International...

A US federal judge on Monday struck down the Covid-19 mask mandate for public transportation imposed by the administration of President Joe Biden, prompting major airlines to quickly drop the...

Severe fuel shortage sparked spontaneous protests across Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of angry motorists burning tyres and blocking a major road leading into the capital, police and...

Beijing - China Eastern Airlines resumed flying Boeing 737-800 aircraft Sunday, flight tracking data showed, just weeks after a March crash that killed 132 people and led it to ground 223 planes.Data...

Beijing - The mounting cost of China's zero-Covid policy threatens to derail Beijing's ambitious GDP target, analysts say, as supply chains snarl, ports face delays and Shanghai remains mired in...

San Francisco: Tesla chief Elon Musk has launched a hostile takeover bid for Twitter, offering to buy 100 percent of its stock and take it private, according to a stock exchange filing.Musk offered...

Baybay- The death toll from landslides and floods in the Philippines rose to 58 on Wednesday, official tallies showed, as rescuers dug up more bodies with their bare hands in villages crushed by...

Colombo - Crisis-stricken Sri Lanka Tuesday announced it would default on its $51 billion external debt pending a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.The finance ministry said creditors,...

Islamabad: Pakistan lawmakers on Monday elected Shehbaz Sharif as the country's new prime minister following the weekend ouster of Imran Khan, who resigned his national assembly seat -- along with...

Paris: President Emmanuel Macron is in no way guaranteed to sweep France's presidential run-off against far-right rival Marine Le Pen, facing disaffection among swathes of voters unimpressed with his...

London - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who turns 96 soon, has spoken of serious fatigue after she contracted Covid-19 in February despite aides downplaying her illness.At the time, Buckingham Palace...

Paris - France voted on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election projected to produce a run-off rematch between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen that will be...

London - Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday apologized for knocking a mobile phone out of the hands of a supporter as he left the pitch following Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to Everton.Footage on social...

Islamabad - Shehbaz Sharif, expected to become Pakistan's new prime minister Monday after leading the opposition alliance that ousted Imran Khan, is a tough administrator with a penchant for quoting...