PARIS: Scientists have discovered a long-buried branch of the Nile river that once flowed alongside more than 30 pyramids in Egypt, potentially solving the mystery of how ancient Egyptians transported the massive stone blocks to build the famous monuments. The 64-kilometre-long river branch, which ran by the iconic Giza pyramid complex among other wonders, was hidden under desert and farmland …

IRVINE: Police ‘took back’ control of a lecture hall, from pro-Palestinian protesters. They had occupied the building at the University of California, Irvine, for ‘some hours’. Police then went on to clear a student encampment that stood for more than two weeks, according to witnesses. Officers from around 10 nearby law-enforcement agencies converged on the campus after university officials requested …

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party on Thursday condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for anti-Muslim comments in election campaign speeches that have heightened concerns over sectarian tensions in the world’s biggest democracy. Modi remains popular across much of India and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely expected to win this general election when it concludes in early June. Since voting …

JERUSALEM: At a field hospital that has become one of Gaza’s main trauma centres, a doctor who has worked in a dozen war zones described the situation as the most “catastrophic” he had ever seen. “It is devastating,” said Javed Ali, International Medical Corps’s head of emergency response in Gaza. Speaking to this news agency from a field hospital northwest …

BANGKOK: Thailand may have to consider relocating its capital Bangkok because of rising sea levels, a senior official in the country’s climate change office said on Wednesday. Projections consistently show that low-lying Bangkok risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century. Much of the bustling capital already battles flooding during the rainy season. Pavich Kesavawong, deputy …

BRUSSELS: Fifteen EU states want “new ways” to handle irregular migrants, including sending some to third countries, in a demand made as the bloc plots out how to implement a recently adopted overhaul of its asylum rules. The countries presented their joint stance in a letter dated May 15 to the European Commission, which was made public on Thursday. It …

MANAMA / RAFAH: The Arab League on Thursday called for a UN peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories, even as Israel vowed to “intensify” its ground offensive in Rafah, in defiance of global warnings. In its final statement following a meeting in Manama, the 22-member group called for “international protection and peacekeeping for­ces of the United Nations in the occupied …

The Women’s World Cup will take place in South America for the first time after Brazil was chosen to host the 2027 edition at a FIFA congress Friday marked by debate about the onslaught in Gaza. After the success of Australia and New Zealand in 2023, which earned a record $570 million in commercial revenue, FIFA chose to continue its …

The social network formerly known as Twitter has fully migrated over to X.com, owner Elon Musk said on Friday. The billionaire head of Tesla, SpaceX and other companies bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and announced the rebrand to X last July. Although the logo and branding were changed to “X”, the domain name remained Twitter.com until Friday. “All core systems are …

French police on Friday shot and killed an armed man who was allegedly trying to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen. “National police in Rouen neutralised early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X. Police responded at 6:45am local time to …