https://english.almayadeen.net/news/economics/sri-lanka-to-join-russias-mir-system-resumes-flights-to-russ

Sri Lanka to join Russia's Mir system, resumes flights to Russia

The Sri Lankan government is discussing with Russia the possibility of joining its MIR payment system, with the discussion being underway between the Central banks as revealed by Sri Lankan Minister of Transport and Highways, and Minister of Mass Media Bandula Gunawardena, to Sputnik.

"Yes, yes, our embassy tried to do that because you want to [have] easy payment system… We will try to do that, we can get Central Bank's approval. After that it will be a success," Gunawardena said, upon being asked whether the payment system will be launched in Sri Lanka.

In addition, discussions are underway between the Central Banks of Moscow and Colombo, he announced, adding that Colombo must obtain the approval of the central banks, noting that the Sri Lankan authorities would be pleased to know that Russian tourists could pay by card while visiting the country.

Last February, Russian banks were excluded from the SWIFT interbank payment system by the decision of the European Commission and its allies. The maneuver was intended to hit the country's banking network and its access to funds via SWIFT, which is pivotal for the smooth transaction of money worldwide. Visa and Mastercard bank cards issued in Russia are no longer in effect and don't allow users to pay for goods and services outside Russia.

Read more: Russia moves from SWIFT to more secure mechanisms: Official

Mir cards are currently in function in 10 foreign countries: Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. The card can be used to deposit and withdraw cash and pay for purchases.

Attempts to isolate Russia have driven the economic power to seek alternative deals and agreements with countries particularly suffering from the US- and West-led sanctions.

Furthermore, Colombo plans to restore flights with Moscow by mid-October, announced Gunawardena.

"First, we will try to restart [flights from] Moscow to Colombo [and back]. After that - St. Petersburg," Gunawardena said, adding that the flights are expected to resume by mid-October this year.

Gunawardena added that flights between other cities may also appear later.

An airplane from Sri Lanka to Russia which was expected to leave on June 2 was canceled due to lack of authorization from Sri Lankan aviation authorities. Russia, in response, handed a note of protest to the Sri Lankan ambassador in Moscow.

IMF playing 'economic hitman'

While Sri Lanka has been overpowered with months of lack of food, fuel, and medicine, extended power cuts, and inflation following a foreign exchange crisis that left importers unable to pay for vital goods, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes to the 'rescue' with a disastrous condition which would leave the country further bankrupt.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board will need to agree on a staff agreement, which depends on Sri Lanka finalizing a deal to restructure its $51 billion in foreign debt with creditors. The IMF has set a $2.9 billion bailout amount for the revival of the country's economy.

In early 2022, Sri Lanka stopped paying its foreign bondholders, along with a crippling inflation problem that has raised the cost of food and fuel, sending the country into political chaos.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/art-culture/ancient-mayan-site-discovered-in-mexico-delays-train-constru

Ancient Mayan site discovered in Mexico, delays train construction

Upon the discovery of the ancient Maya archaeological site in Mexico, efforts to construct an $8 billion Maya Train have again been thwarted. The site comprises over 300 buildings, according to Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and the construction of the train in the Yucatan peninsula has been in effect since 2020.

The director of the institute, Diego Prieto, confirmed that an archaeological survey on section 5 of the project between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, led to the discovery of a significant site that compromises over 300 buildings, some of which stood over 8 meters tall. The briefing in which Prieto was speaking was held by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The train is designed to connect Yucatan's historical sites to encourage touristic activity and bring forward the region's ancient cultures - however, environmentalists, archaeologists, and indigenous communities stress that constructing a train would backfire.

“Engineering adjustments are being made to the southern part of section 5 [of the railroad] in order to protect an impressive archaeological site that we’ve recognized as Paamul II,” said Prieto during the conference.

Presenting information and schematic maps of what they believe the settlement may have resembled, Prieto showed that over 25,000 immovable assets have been discovered in all sections of the railroad, in addition to ancient roads, 431 ceramic pots, and 423 bones from human burials. Only 11% of the review has been completed thus far. However, divers are looking into caverns and cenotes in the area for more uncovered sites.

The site, upon the uncovering of these premises, will be protected as an ecological and archaeological corridor, whereas the artifacts that come with it - though unearthed - will be on display at Mexican museums.

The Maya Train was said to open in December 2023, alongside Tulum Airport - however, the delays may change this trajectory.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/art-culture/mummy-of-historical-egyptian-queen-nefertiti-soon-to-be-iden

Mummy of historical Egyptian Queen Nefertiti soon to be identified

As modern Egypt continues to emerge and ancient Egypt continues to be studied since the 1800s by archaeologists, it is suspected that a mere 30% of artifacts underground have been discovered and most haven't been found yet - but the climate crisis and tourism pose a risk to finding those artifacts.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass believes he is near proving that the mummy first discovered in the 1800s is the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten and mother of Tutankhamun or King Tut - Queen Nefertiti, who lived between circa 1,370 and 1,330 BC, and is believed by many Egyptologists to have ruled Egypt for a short time after the death of her husband, and if proven true, that would mean that she would have taken the throne roughly 1,300 years before Cleopatra.

Although Hawass says his theory would be confirmed in October, he also suspects that another mummy explored in the same tomb is the wife of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, as part of Hawass' preparation of an exhibition called “Daughters of the Nile” that centers on the women of ancient Egypt during the pharaonic period. Both mummies were found in a position with their left arm over their chest, a pose classified for queens during that time.

According to Hawass, the mummy of a ten-year-old boy found in a different tomb (KV35) could be the brother of Tutankhamun and the son of Akhenaten, which if determined to be correct, may solve the mystery of Nefertiti. In the procedure of his research exploration, Hawass began resorting to CT scanning and DNA analysis to identify the mummies although initially, they were not wholly put together.

Just last month, the Egyptologist launched an initiative to bring the Rosetta Stone back to Egypt from the British Museum, as the latest move against museums that have looted artifacts away from their homeland and relocated them to their imperial captors' countries.

In 1817, prolific Italian explorer and early Egyptian archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni came across the female mummies of Ankhesenamun and Nefertiti and were later located again by another well-known Egyptologist James Burton eight years later, who noted that their condition was well preserved and suffered no water damage.

When the tomb KV21 with both mummies in it was reinvestigated in 1989 during Pacific Lutheran University's The Valley of the Kings project, water damage was observed on the walls, which implied flooding took place, as well as bat feces and graffiti were also found in the tombs alongside pieces of the damaged mummies and some parts thrown across the room.

This led to the tomb being secured with a steel gate with attempts for the mummies to be reassembled, and the valuables inside were put into protective coverings - which was all in vain, as five years later in 1994, water flooded the tomb again, the damage did not reach the objects that time.

During a wealthy period in Egypt’s history that experienced a religious revolution led by both Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Egypt switched from polytheism to monotheism, but the changes were stopped shortly after Akhenaten’s death, and either during Nefertiti’s to-be-proven reign or early in Tutankhamun’s reign as a child king.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/zelenskys-armed-guard-spotted-with-wwii-nazi-insignia

Zelensky's armed guard spotted with WWII Nazi insignia

An armed guard who works for the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been spotted with a Nazi insignia; a symbol that dates back to Nazi Germany during World War II.

The image in which the insignia is visible was shared, either purposely or in complete naivety, by the office of the Ukrainian president. The image was taken during his visit to the reclaimed town on Izyum on Wednesday.

The skull-and-bones image, which was spotted on the back of a heavily armed Ukrainian soldier, is attributed to the SS-Totenkopfverbande units of Nazi Germany's paramilitary Schutzstaffel, which was responsible for maintaining security at the concentration camps in which Jews were burned alive.

The symbol was also adopted by the Panzer Division – the ‘Totenkopf’ – of the Waffen-SS, which emerged from concentration camp guards initially, going on to fight on the Eastern front, committing serious war crimes.

Numerous far-right and nationalist parties in Ukraine adopted the symbol, which was dubbed a hate symbol by experts, in recent times, inspired by Ukrainian far-right groups which collaborated with Nazi Germany in World War II against the Soviet Union.

Zelensky’s office, in addition to the Ukrainian defense ministry, released a photo of a Ukrainian troop in May, heavily armed, wearing a ‘death head’ patch on his chest. Russia, in response, highlighted the influence that extremist groups have on Ukraine.

Kiev’s army has openly neo-Nazi battalions operating on the battlefronts against Russia, holding neo-Nazi symbols out in the open, raising questions about Europe’s commitment and claims of combatting Nazism.

The Aidar Battalion’s motto is inspired by the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler's dictatorship state from the 1930s through the 1940s. In 2014, Amnesty International released a report exposing the human rights abuses of the Aidar Battalion, whose actions amount to war crimes, particularly in the Luhansk region where the group has carried out abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions.

In March, the National Guard of Ukraine's Twitter account released a video, boasting about Azov fighters greasing their bullets with lard to be used against Muslim Chechens on the Russian side. The Azov battalion is a part of the Ukrainian National Guard - a wing of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, which flaunts its Nazism very openly.

The video came as a direct threat to Muslims who hold the Islamic beliefs that pig is prohibited for their consumption, and that it's impure substance.

The tweet captioned, "Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs," referring to Ramzan Kadyrov, who is the president of the Chechen republic.

The United States and Canada over the years have aided the neo-Nazi units with weapons and training, strengthening their presence in Ukraine.

15 Sep 13:03

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-warns-israel-that-hezbollah-is-preparing-for-military-act

US warns 'Israel' that Hezbollah is preparing for 'military action'

US intelligence informed the Israeli occupation that the Lebanese resistance faction Hezbollah is "planning for military action", Israeli media said on Monday.

Former Israeli consul in Los Angeles Jacob-Shaul Dayan said the Israeli occupation did not need any intelligence from the United States, "but it is always a good thing because there is exceptional cooperation between Israel and the Americans."

"I believe that all of that depends on the gas agreement that is about to be signed, and they want to ensure that the deal is actually signed," Dayan added.

"Of course, there is US pressure. In the talks between Prime Minister Yair Lapid and [US] President [Joe] Biden, they also talked about that, and not the Iranian nuclear program in particular," Israeli Channel 13 political commentator Haim Ramon said.

"The American side eagerly wants the agreement, and I believe that this agreement is vital for Israel," he added.

Tensions rose to a whole new level between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation after the latter announced that it was exploring and drilling for gas in the disputed Karish field, as well as "Israel's" recruitment of a Greek oil drilling ship from Energean in June.

The tensions culminated in Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's threats that the Israelis' extraction of gas was prohibited without a demarcation agreement guaranteeing Lebanon's rights to extracting its gas from the Mediterranean Sea.

The Israeli Channel 14 website reported, earlier, that the ongoing indirect negotiations between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation regarding the demarcation of the maritime borders indicate the possibility of reaching a "permanent settlement," although "several parties in Israel believe that there will be painful concessions, particularly regarding details in the agreement."

Israeli media quoted last week a senior Israeli official in the gas sector as saying that the maritime border demarcation agreement that is taking shape with Lebanon is a complete surrender by "Israel", noting that "Israel's" submission is a great victory for Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

On August 19, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah rejected any link between the Lebanese border demarcation file and other files and noted that "If Lebanon does not obtain the rights demanded by the Lebanese state, we are heading toward an escalation whether or not the nuclear agreement is signed."

Last month, Sayyed Nasrallah threatened the Israeli occupation over its attempts to forcibly extract gas from the contested region, warning, "If Lebanon does not obtain the rights demanded by the Lebanese state, we are heading toward an escalation whether or not the nuclear agreement is signed."

He called on the Lebanese state "to benefit from the strength of the resistance and not to delay in obtaining Lebanon's rights to gas in the Mediterranean."

On July 31, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon military media published a video that displayed the coordinates of the Israeli occupation's gas rigs off the coasts of occupied Palestine in a clear message to "Tel Aviv".

12 Sep 21:53

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/kiev-using-its-soldiers-bodies-to-claim-russian-massacre—o

Kiev using its soldiers' bodies to claim Russian massacre - Official

Member of the Russian Civic Chamber, Alexander Malkevich, told TASS on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers killed in the Kharkov Region were portrayed as victims of alleged repressions by Russia.

This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recorded a video address in English on Thursday claiming that a mass grave had been allegedly discovered in Izyum, where representatives of foreign media outlets were brought to the following day. Another shock came as an armed guard who works for Zelensky was spotted with a Nazi insignia and taken during his visit to Izyum last Wednesday.

According to Malkevich, the presence of foreign media at the location was critical to showcase this issue in the press and stain Russia's name with accusations of mass slaughter, adding: "We are being shown multiple graves, they begin to dig them up, show the bodies. Actually, Russian troops and frequently the officials from military-civilian administrations were burying those killed Ukrainian soldiers that were abandoned on a battlefield by their so-called comrades. Now they are being passed off as the victims of Russian repressions while actually, those are the Ukrainians whom their so-called comrades-in-arms didn’t care about".

Last Sunday, Russian military sources told Al Mayadeen's correspondent: "The Ukrainian forces took over abandoned or nearly abandoned towns in the Kharkov region on the outskirts of Balakliya, Izyum, and the Russian forces did not have any notable presence in the towns, except for a small number of detachments dedicated to carrying out reconnaissance missions".

The withdrawal from Kharkov to Donetsk, Moscow explained, was carried out over the course of a three-day operation conducted to minimize Russian losses.

The Russian official further relayed Kiev's disinterest in the fate of the bodies of the Ukrainian troops: "The same is happening on the border of the Kherson and Nikolayev Regions where endless staged attacks are underway for the sake of promoting Zelensky. We know that [head of the Nikolayev regional state administration Vitaly] Kim refuses to take the bodies of those killed. That is, essentially, in any location where the Ukrainian Army is sacrificing its soldiers by dozens and hundreds, it is possible to set up many of such Bucha-like staged events following a known technology".

Back on April 3, Bucha was the center of Kiev's accusations of an alleged Russian massacre of civilians, which the Russian Defense Ministry rejected, stating through its military agency that its Armed Forces had left Bucha on March 30, and surprisingly "the evidence of crimes" came to light four days later, after Ukrainian Security Service officers arrived to the region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned the Bucha allegation and labeled it as a "fake attack." Even Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented that the Bucha incident is a criminal act, not only committed by those who killed the residents, but by the string-pullers in the West who used their information tools.

Per the ministry, the town’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk addressed the matter in a video on March 31, confirming the absence of Russian troops in Bucha but did not comment on the civilians who were shot dead in the street with their hands tied behind their backs.