Retirement planning might seem like a thoroughly modern concern, with pensions, investments and annuities forming part of today’s financial toolkit. But these financial tools are much older than they appear. In the later Middle Ages, people were already exchanging lump sums for steady income streams – and, in cities like Vienna, these arrangements underpinned entire […]
When an exam board for England, Wales and Northern Ireland recently clarified that students are now permitted to use gender-inclusive or gender-neutral forms in French, Spanish and German exams, it marked more than a technical adjustment to assessment criteria. These updates highlight an important fact about the nature of languages. They are not fixed systems […]
MUSCAT, JUNE 16 The Ministry of Social Development, in cooperation with the Oman Sociologists Association, on Tuesday held the scientific forum titled ‘Digital Citizenship: A Scientific Reading Between Reality and Future Prospects’, bringing together academics, researchers and specialists to discuss the growing importance of responsible digital engagement in an increasingly connected world. Held under the […]
There’s a new trend in horror fiction: the female cannibal. In Monika Kim’s The Eyes are the Best Part (2025), a college student eats the eyeballs of the men who fetishise her. In Delilah S. Dawson’s Bloom (2023), the love interest, who appears to be living a fantasy version of cottage life, is actually including […]
MANAMA: Omani researcher Alia al Saadi, from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), won third place in the first edition of Ibn Khaldun Research Award, organised by Mustaqirah foundation in Bahrain. The award took the theme of ‘Family in the Digital Space’. Alia al Saadi merited 3rd place ranking due to her outstanding participation in a joint […]
Liver cancer is one of the fastest rising causes of cancer-related deaths in the UK, and the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. More than 6,000 people die from liver cancer in the UK each year. Its major drivers are largely preventable, but public awareness of the scale of the problem remains low. Most […]
MUSCAT: The National Committee for Road Safety held a meeting on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Lt Gen Hasan bin Mohsin al Shraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs and Chairman of the Committee. During the meeting, the fourth edition of the Traffic Safety Competition was reviewed, alongside traffic indicators and statistics, awareness efforts, and […]
The greatest challenge to India’s government in years began as an online joke. On May 16, after Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant described unemployed youth as “cockroaches”, Abhijeet Dipke, an international student in the United States, mused on X, “What if all cockroaches come together?” Thousands responded. Dipke had hit a nerve. Soon after, […]
AL MUDHAIBI: The activities of the 3rd edition of the “Grape Festival 2026” began on Wednesday in the Niyabat of Samad Al Shan in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi, Al Sharqiyah North Governorate. The festival is organised by the governorate in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources and a number of […]
Public debates about transgender issues are often framed as disagreements over evidence or safety. In my new article published in the International Journal of Transgender Health, I argue current policy shifts are better understood as part of a recognisable escalation pattern. I call this “trans eliminationism” – efforts to remove trans people from social, legal […]
