
-
Indian army says new exchange of gunfire with Pakistan
-
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre takes own life in Australia: family
-
Hundreds of buildings damaged, dozens injured in 6.3 Ecuador quake
-
India and Pakistan's Kashmir fallout hits economy too
-
Francis's funeral to be grand farewell to 'pope of the poor'
-
Pogacar faces defiant Evenepoel at Liege-Bastogne-Liege
-
Chelsea eye great escape against Barcelona in Women's Champions League
-
Iran, US to hold new round of high-level nuclear talks
-
'Energy and effort' pay off for Reds as Blues' woes continue
-
Albatross and closing birdie lift China's Liu to LPGA Chevron lead
-
On the horizon? Wave of momentum for high seas treaty
-
Developing countries should fast-track US trade deals: World Bank president
-
Grizzlies' Morant 'doubtful' for must-win game 4 v Thunder
-
Trump in Rome for pope funeral in first foreign trip of new term
-
Trump says Russia-Ukraine deal 'very close' after new Kremlin talks
-
US rookies lead PGA pairs event with McIlroy and Lowry in hunt
-
Trump tariff promises get a reality check
-
Warriors coach Kerr 'relatively optimistic' injured Butler will play game 3
-
Postecoglou hopes 'Stonecutter's Credo' can inspire Spurs
-
PSG lose unbeaten Ligue 1 record ahead of Arsenal showdown
-
Venezuela accuses El Salvador president of 'human trafficking'
-
Own goal takes Sundowns to African final against Pyramids
-
Scores of buildings damaged, 20 injured in Ecuador quake
-
US stocks extend rally as market eyes busy calendar next week
-
Pope's death triggers surge of disinformation he fought against
-
Rovanpera takes control of Rally Islas Canarias
-
Zelensky insists Crimea is Ukrainian as US envoy meets Putin
-
Patel and Mendis help Sunrisers beat Kings in Dhoni's 400th T20
-
Copa del Rey ref statements 'unacceptable': Real Madrid after boycotting final build-up
-
Insurance CEO's accused killer pleads not guilty to federal murder charges
-
FBI arrests Wisconsin judge for shielding undocumented migrant
-
Brazil ex-president Collor de Mello jailed for corruption
-
Zelensky insists Crimea 'belongs' to Ukraine as US envoy meets Putin
-
Real Madrid boycott Copa del Rey build-up over referee complaints
-
Trinidad and Tobago votes for parliament, PM, with opposition in lead
-
IMF chief hails 'constructive' Spring Meetings held under tariff uncertainty
-
Iran FM Araghchi in Oman ahead of nuclear talks with US
-
Dozens of buildings destroyed, 20 injured in Ecuador quake
-
Young Barca must 'enjoy' Real Madrid Copa final fight: Flick
-
Pakistan and India border closure separates families
-
Brazil's Bolsonaro 'stable' after post-surgery setback
-
Catholics in secular Cuba hail Francis as 'bridge'
-
US envoy Witkoff, Putin discuss 'possibility' of direct Russia-Ukraine talks
-
Community seeks answers after French school knife killing
-
German prosecutors seek jail terms in VW 'dieselgate' trial
-
Sabalenka makes winning start at Madrid Open
-
EU, US should de-escalate and negotiate trade deal: IMF Europe director
-
Russia accuses Ukraine of killing general in car bombing
-
Emery wants FA Cup glory and Champions League berth for Villa
-
Buildings destroyed, one injured in Ecuador quake

Turkish hilltop where civilisation began
On a sun-blasted hillside in southeast Turkey, the world's oldest known religious sanctuary is slowly giving up its secrets.
"When we open a new trench, we never know what to expect," said Lee Clare of the German Archaeology Institute, who has been excavating there since 2013.
"It is always a big surprise."
Gobekli Tepe, which means "Potbelly Hill" in Turkish, is arguably the most important archaeological site on Earth.
Thousands of our prehistoric ancestors gathered around its highly-decorated T-shaped megalith pillars to worship more 7,000 years before Stonehenge or the earliest Egyptian pyramids.
"Its significance is hard to overstate," Sean Lawrence, assistant professor of history at West Virginia University, told AFP.
Academics believe the history of human settlement began in these hills close to the Syrian border some 12,000 years ago when groups of Stone Age hunter gatherers came together to construct these sites.
Gobekli Tepe -- which some experts believe was never actually inhabited -- may be part of a vast sacred landscape that encompasses other nearby hilltop sites that archaeologists believe may be even older.
- Endless mystery -
None of which anyone would have guessed before the German archeologist and pre-historian Klaus Schmidt began to bring the first discoveries to the surface in 1995.
German and Turkish archaeologists have been labouring in the sun there since, with lengthening queues of tourists now joining them to ponder its many mysteries.
When exactly it all began is even unclear.
"Exact years are nearly impossible to verify," Lawrence said.
"However, the oldest Egyptian monument, the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, was built around 2700 BCE," more than seven millennia after Gobekli Tepe.
"This was the end of what is often thought of as Stone Age hunter gatherer societies and the beginning of settled societies," Lawrence added.
"There remain endless mysteries surrounding the site, including how labour was organised and how the sites were used," he said.
Gobekli Tepe has even inspired the Netflix sci-fi psychological thriller series "The Gift", which turns on one of the ancient inscriptions on its pillars.
Schmidt -- who often wore a white traditional turban on the dig -- puzzled over the megaliths carved with the images of foxes, boars, ducks, lizards and a leopard for over two decades until his early death at the age of 61 in 2014.
- 'Zero point in time' -
The site was initially believed to be purely ritual in nature. But according to Clare, there is now "good evidence" for the beginning of settled life with some buildings similar to those of the same age found in northern Syria.
Turkey -- which in the past has not been renowned for making the best of its vast archaeological heritage -- has wholeheartedly embraced the discoveries.
The items excavated from Gobekli Tepe are shown in the impressive archaeological museum in the nearest city, Sanliurfa, which is itself so ancient that Abraham is believed to have been born there.
Indeed its new museum built in 2015 boasts "the most extensive collection of the neolithic era in the world," according to its director Celal Uludag. "All of the portable artifacts from Gobekli Tepe are exhibited here."
"This is a journey to civilisation, (to the) zero point in time," said Aydin Aslan, head of Sanliurfa Culture and Tourism Directorate.
"Gobekli Tepe sheds light on pre-history, that's why it's a common heritage of humanity," he said proudly.
- 'Go deeper' -
Last year Turkey's culture ministry boosted funding for furher excavations in the region as a part of its "Stone Hills" project, including cash for the Karahan Tepe hilltop site -- around 35 kilometres from Gobekli Tepe -- which some suspect is even older.
"We will now go deeper because Gobekli Tepe is not the one and only," Culture Minister Nuri Ersoy said last year.
The extra funding "gives us a fantastic opportunity to compare our results from Gobekli Tepe with new sites in the Sanliurfa region of the same age," Clare said.
Gobekli Tepe has also breathed life back into a poor and long neglected region, which has been further hit by the civil war just across the border. Syrian refugees now make up a quarter of Sanliurfa's population.
Over one million tourists visited Sanliurfa in 2019 and the city expects to reach pre-pandemic levels this year.
"Today Gobekli Tepe has started directly touching the economy of the city," Aslan said, who hopes that its glorious past could be a key part of the city's future.
D.Cunningha--AMWN