News

Cosmic Rays Map Secret Corridor In Egypt’s Great Pyramid

The nine-meter shaft could reveal more on the construction of the pyramids.

Published

4 years ago

March 3, 2023

cosmic rays map secret corridor in egypt's great pyramid

A recent discovery in Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza could reveal more about the construction of the world-famous landmark, according to a team of scientists from the “Scan Pyramids” project backed by the Egyptian Tourism Ministry of Antiquities.

The team used a non-destructive technique known as cosmic-ray muon radiography to scan a gabled limestone structure, discovering a nine-meter hidden corridor. The shaft is situated above the main entrance to Khufu’s Pyramid, one of the most significant archaeological monuments in the world and a site that still holds countless mysteries.

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The Scan Pyramids team has been working on the project since 2015, using infrared thermography, 3D simulations, and endoscope cameras to probe the ancient burial structure. Scientists reported several discoveries in the Great Pyramid of Giza five years ago, and the ongoing scans are helping to better understand the function and architectural makeup of the 5,000-year-old structure.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

6 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

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The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.