author - oman observer

Kabul: The Taliban on Tuesday thanked the world for pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid to Afghanistan, and urged the United States to show "heart" to the impoverished country.A...

Paris: Vaccines are effective enough at preventing severe Covid-19 that there is no current need for the general population to be given third doses, according to a report in The Lancet published...

Kabul: The Taliban were due to announce the first members of its new government late Tuesday, an official said. "It was agreed that we would announce a new government before a formal ceremony could be...

Kabul: Universities in Kabul were almost empty on the first day of the Afghan school year, as professors and students wrestled with the Taliban's restrictive new rules for the classroom.The Taliban...

Kabul: The Taliban on Monday claimed total control over Afghanistan, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last remaining holdout of resistance against their rule.Following...

Dubai: The UAE announced a new visa Sunday allowing foreigners to work in the country without being sponsored by an employer, loosening residency requirements in an attempt to boost economic...

The world's leading oil producers are expected to uphold a July deal to slowly boost output at a meeting on Wednesday, despite US pressure to go further. OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia along with...

The United Arab Emirates announced it will resume issuing visas to all tourists fully vaccinated against Covid from Monday, a month before Dubai hosts the delayed Expo 2020 trade fair.The move comes...

The slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines will cost the global economy $2.3 trillion in lost output, a report released Wednesday found.The Economist Intelligence Unit's study found that emerging and...

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that left nearly 3,000 people dead. The Al-Qaeda plane hijackings of September 11, 2001, were the first foreign attack on...

Kabul: Scores of journalists are among the tens of thousands of people trying to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, fearful of violent reprisals from the militants.Despite their...

US President Joe Biden said Sunday he was still planning to finalize the dramatic evacuation from Afghanistan by August 31 but left the door open to extending the deadline if necessary.In a televised...

Kabul: Western security forces were involved in an exchange of fire with unidentified gunmen Monday at Kabul airport, as US President Joe Biden sought to speed up the chaotic evacuation of tens of...

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks on establishing a new "inclusive" government in Afghanistan, a senior official said.Other senior Taliban leaders...

Sri Lanka will issue captive elephants with their own biometric identity cards and ban their riders from drinking on the job under a wide-ranging new animal protection law.Many rich Sri Lankans -...

Sri Lanka announced a 10-day lockdown starting on Friday night in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as surging infections and deaths overwhelm the island's health system.The Indian...

The man dubbed the "father of Sudoku" for his role in popularising the numerical brainteaser loved by millions, has died of cancer at 69, his Japanese publisher has announced.In a notice posted...

US troops fired shots into the air and all commercial flights were cancelled at Kabul airport Monday as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in the hope of catching any flight out after the...

The Taliban were in control of Afghanistan on Monday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and conceded the insurgents had won the 20-year war. The astonishingly quick collapse of the...

Kabul: Afghanistan's Taliban entered the capital Kabul on Sunday and Western-backed President Ashraf Ghani left the country, with the insurgents saying they were seeking complete power.Two officials...