Egypt unveiled Saturday five ancient Pharaonic tombs at the Saqqara archaeological site south of Cairo, the latest in a series of landmark discoveries in the area.

Saqqara is a vast necropolis of the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to more than a dozen pyramids, animal burial sites and ancient Coptic Christian monasteries.

Egyptian archaeologists discovered the five tombs northeast of the pyramid of King Merenre I, who ruled Egypt around 2270 BC.

When Al Sadd wrapped up a second straight Qatar title by stretching their unbeaten league run to 49 games, they were inevitably dubbed the 'Invincibles' after another team that reached the same number.

While the 12-team Qatar League is not as formidable as the 2003-4 English Premier league, unlike Arsenal, Al Sadd have turned their run into two league titles in a championship loaded with millionaire imports.

Their form has inspired hopes for the national team in the country that is hosting the World Cup.

The United Nations and aid groups have warned of grave consequences for Yemen after an international pledging conference failed to raise enough money to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the war-torn country.

Overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine, aid-starved Yemen -- already suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN -- is on the verge of total collapse.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates left the US "profoundly disappointed", it said Saturday, urging allies to avoid normalising ties with a regime accused of "horrific atrocities".

Assad's surprise trip on Friday was his first official visit to an Arab country since civil war erupted in his country in 2011, killing close to half a million people.

It was the latest sign of warming relations between Syria and energy-rich UAE -- a key US ally which also normalised ties with Israel in 2020.

US conservatives and Israel stepped up pressure this week against the possibility that an agreement to restore the Iran nuclear deal could see Washington drop its "terrorist group" designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The IRGC, one of the most powerful forces in Iran, was officially branded a "foreign terrorist organization" by the administration of president Donald Trump in 2019, a move that came on top of his decision the previous year to repudiate the 2015 six-party accord that put limits on Iran's nuclear program

Powerful rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a key figure among the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, died in Israel on Friday, his family said. He was 94.

Kanievsky had the ear of Israeli premiers and was regarded by his followers as "the Prince of Torah", the Hebrew word for the Old Testament.

His family announced his death in a short statement, while local media said his funeral would be held on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett mourned the passing of a "giant of his generation".

Israel on Friday appealed to the United States not to remove Iran's Revolutionary Guards from its blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations as part of a revived nuclear deal.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "is a terrorist organisation that has murdered thousands of people, including Americans," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a joint statement.

"We refuse to believe that the United States would remove its designation as a terrorist organisation," they said.

The International Energy Agency on Friday urged governments to urgently implement measures to cut global oil consumption within months following supply fears stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The IEA also called on the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia to help "relieve the strain" on markets, while warning that the world faced the biggest shock to supply "in decades".

Myanmar's junta has approved the sale of Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor's Myanmar subsidiary to Lebanese conglomerate M1 Group, both companies said on Friday, in a move activist groups warn could put sensitive customer data in the hands of the military.

The Southeast Asian nation has been in chaos since a coup last year sparked huge protests and a bloody military crackdown on dissent, sending the economy into freefall.

When 28-year-old Syrian Omar Alshakal saw the exodus of desperate people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he knew first hand what they were going through -- and starting thinking of ways to help.

"As a person who came from a war I completely understand how people are scared and fleeing, trying to be safe," he told AFP, shivering in his jacket and grey beanie in the freezing temperatures at the Siret border crossing between Ukraine and Romania.

"I try to make sure I can help as many people as I can and give them hope for the future," he says.