author - oman observer

SAN FRANCISCO — Google has released a new chatbot, Bard, and has shared the experimental technology with a limited number of people in the United States and Britain.Bard competes with similar...

MINOH, Japan — Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry mochi. Strawberries a la mode. These may sound like summertime delights. But in Japan, the strawberry crop peaks in wintertime — a chilly season...

The International Criminal Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for war crimes for President Vladimir Putin and a second Russian official. Here’s a closer look at the court, the warrant, and...

What makes a city great? Whether you’re living in Durban, South Africa, or Medellín, Colombia, perhaps no two people living in one place will have the same answer. But ask residents across...

Silicon Valley Bank’s British subsidiary will be acquired by banking giant HSBC, the Bank of England announced Monday as it emphasized the stability of the nation’s banking system. “This...

Flying to Tanzania for her honeymoon on Ethiopian Airlines in November, Amanda Meeks was ready to celebrate. So, when an email arrived inviting her to bid on business class seats for the leg of the...

LONDON — King Charles III granted his youngest sibling, Prince Edward, the title of Duke of Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace said on Friday, Edward’s 59th birthday. Edward, who is 13th in line to...

JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders have for years considered Iran an existential threat, viewed Saudi Arabia as a potential partner, and hoped that shared fears of Tehran might help forge formal relations...

A refugee crisis. Horrific floods. The vulnerability of girls and women. Pakistan has been in the middle of a widespread, profound upheaval that the humanitarian aid worker Shabnam Baloch has come to...

Monday is line dancing; Tuesday scrapbooking with friends; Wednesday caring for her two grandchildren.Martine Mirville’s itinerary is an advertisement for retirement in France.After decades of...

The place: a modest house at the end of a narrow street in Culver City, California. The problem: The house’s owner had been feeding bread to a population of rats, which had moved into her kitchen...

THESSALONIKI, Greece — When Yannis Antonoglou, 23, saw his friend’s girlfriend reading in the cafeteria of his train, he thought it was a funny coincidence. They had met a few days before at a...

The United Arab Emirates sits on a rich fossil bounty. ADNOC, the national oil company, is one of the world’s top hydrocarbon producers. Two months ago the UAE hosted some 140,000 delegates at the...

Britain and the European Union struck a landmark agreement Monday to end a festering dispute over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, potentially resolving one of the most poisonous legacies...

Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday that the city would lift its mask mandate, one of the last such policies in the world, as it winds down its once-stringent COVID-control measures. “Evidence...

LAGOS, Nigeria — After Nigeria won independence from Britain in 1960, thousands of Nigerians watched as their new green and white flag was raised over the capital at the time, Lagos, at midnight. As...

Oat, soy, and almond drinks can keep the word milk in their names, the Food and Drug Administration proposed this week, in an effort to end a long-running battle between the powerful dairy industry...

A year of war in Ukraine has reshaped the world in ways few had predicted. Far beyond the front lines, the ripple effects of Russia’s invasion have reordered lives and upended economies. Here is a...

My husband and I have had a recurring fight since the Clinton administration. He has a habit of shedding his socks and leaving them, near — but not in — the hamper. I ask why he can’t seem to...

Microsoft will start limiting conversations with the new chatbot in its Bing search engine to five questions per session and 50 questions per day, the company said on Friday. Microsoft released a...