CAIRO: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani, Minister of Civil Aviation Mohammed Manar, and 30 ambassadors of foreign countries in Egypt participated in a bike marathon organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Sharm El-Sheikh to celebrate World Tourism Day.

The marathon began in front of the ministers’ and ambassadors’ residence and lasted for nearly an hour, passing through the beaches, tourist attractions, and streets of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The ambassadors enjoyed the marathon, with the German ambassador in Cairo suggesting that an international bike competition be held in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The ambassador of Cameroon won first place in the marathon, and Al-Anani promised him that he would be the first to see the new archaeological discovery in the Saqqara antiquities area early next month, when it would be announced.

Al-Anani and Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad accompanied the foreign ambassadors on a private cruise during their visit to Sharm El-Sheikh.

During this trip, the ambassadors were able to take in the nature and sunny atmosphere of the city, also experiencing the rich marine life characteristic to the Red Sea waters in a snorkeling excursion. They also toured a number of nature reserves in the city and visited both the Sharm El-Sheikh Museum and Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital.

The ministers and ambassadors also inspected the precautionary measures in place at the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport and the safety controls applied in one of the city’s hotels.

Al-Anani’s visit to Sharm El-Sheikh began on Thursday.

AMMAN: Jordan on Sunday resumed its land border traffic with Syria, following a more than month-long closure, after applying new rules to prevent truck drivers spreading the novel coronavirus into the kingdom, officials and businessmen said.
They said authorities imposed back-to-back handling of goods to ensure Syrian, Lebanese truck drivers and others entering the kingdom maintain a social distance from Jordanian customs officials.
Officials said in mid-August they had to close the crossing, the main gateway for goods from Lebanon and Syria to the Gulf, after dozens of infections among border officials linked to a spike in cases in neighboring Syria.
Before the decade-old conflict in Syria, the Nasib-Jaber crossing was also a transit route for hundreds of trucks a day transporting goods between Europe and Turkey and the Gulf in a multi-billion dollar annual trade.
The closure hit trade that had already shrunk because of the impact of COVID-19 and the Caesar Act — the toughest US sanctions yet that came into force in June and prohibited foreign companies trading with Damascus.
“We have had millions of dollars of losses as a result of the closure,” said Mohammad al Daoud, the president of the Jordanian Truck Owners’ Association that represents over 17,000 trucks.
The country’s other land crossings with Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories have been only open for commercial goods since a lockdown in March to stem the pandemic.
Syrian authorities said 70 trailers carrying, mostly fresh produce, entered Jordan on Sunday, including transit cargo heading to Gulf markets and Iraq.
While the crossing was closed, Syria’s only normally operating frontier crossing had been with Lebanon, which itself has no other functioning land borders.
Lebanon was also hit hard by the closure. It relies on the crossing for overland connections to all other countries because its only other frontier is with Israel, with which it has no ties.
“This crossing is an economic lifeline for all our land exports,” said Ibrahim al Tarshishi, the head of the Lebanese farmers’ association. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Barbara Lewis)

DUBAI: UAE on Sunday recorded 851 new cases of COVID-19 and one death, bringing the total to 91,469 and 412 respectively.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention said 868 cases had recovered in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 80,544 since the pandemic emerged.
The ministry also said it had conducted 106,034 new coronavirus tests during the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, during its daily inspections, Dubai Economy said it issued 22 fines and two warnings to commercial establishments for not adhering to anti COVID-19 measures.

Dubai Economy emphasizes on the importance of following the precautionary measures and report any violation through the Dubai Consumer app.#Dubai #DubaiEconomy #DubaiDED#We_Are_All_Responsible

— اقتصادية دبي (@Dubai_DED) September 27, 2020

Dubai Economy, in cooperation with Dubai Sports Council, said it also issued six fines and 10 warnings to sports facilities and sporting events in various regions of the emirate. The council had earlier issued detailed and precise instructions for each sporting facility and stadium.
The council said that the number of violations have decreased since previous weeks after it increased its efforts and renewed its call to training and fitness centers, academies and event organizers to fully adhere to instructions and apply preventive measures during their operational hours throughout the week.
Dubai Sports Council has been closing facilities and issuing penalties due to COVID-19 violations and last week it closed three facilities, issued nine fines and gave warnings to 35 other facilities
Elsewhere, Kuwait recorded 345 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 103,544, while the death toll stood at 601 after four new deaths were registered.

تعلن #وزارة_الصحة⁩ عن تأكيد إصابة 345 حالة جديدة، وتسجيل 718 حالة شفاء، و 4 حالات وفاة جديدة بـ ⁧#فيروس_كورونا_المستجدّ⁩ COVID-19 ، ليصبح إجمالي عدد الحالات 103,544 حالة pic.twitter.com/2zsE5VcUZm

— وزارة الصحة – الكويت (@KUWAIT_MOH) September 27, 2020

Oman’s health ministry said the the total number of cases recorded in the sultanate has reached 97,450, with 909 death, since the pandemic emerged.

#Statement No. 194
September 27, 2020 pic.twitter.com/xe9nCDPttw

— وزارة الصحة – عُمان (@OmaniMOH) September 27, 2020

CAIRO: Lebanese authorities have handed over three of the accused in the case of the gang rape of a young woman in a hotel in Cairo, known as the Fairmont incident, to the Egyptian authorities.
A statement by Egypt’s public prosecution stated that it had received a message from Interpol to arrest the fugitive suspects for the attack on an 18-year-old woman at the Fairmont Nile City hotel in Cairo in 2014.
The public prosecution confronted the defendants with film evidence of their crimes and a statement from the victim. The public prosecution asked the defendants about how the crime occurred and the role of each of them, as well as interrogating them about the method of their escape to Lebanon.
After Amr Hafez and Amir Zayed were arrested for a similar incident, the public prosecution investigated six other defendants.
Among the defendants was Nazli Karim, daughter of the actress Noha Al-Amrousy, and Ahmed Al-Ganzouri, the organizer of the Fairmont hotel party on the night of the crime.
At the end of last month, the Lebanese National News Agency announced that the Internal Security Forces Directorate received a letter from Egyptian Interpol containing the names of seven Egyptian citizens accused of raping a woman who were in Lebanon.
After investigation, it was found that five of the accused had visited Lebanese territory, two of them had left, and three were still in Lebanon.
The Lebanese agency added that the defendants left the hotels without their bags in what appeared to be an attempt to escape the Lebanese security forces, who raided their place and arrested them in the town of Fatqa, 30 km northeast of Beirut, on Aug. 28.
Earlier, the Egyptian Public Prosecution ordered the detention of three suspects in pretrial detention for a period of four days pending investigation, and released three others in the event that each of them paid bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($6,338), and another with a guarantee of his place of residence.
The prosecution also brought the defendants to the forensic medicine office to determine the extent of their drug use, in addition to investigating the messages on their phones.
It is reported that one of the accused, A.T., is the son of a famous football coach. Egyptian media sites reported that investigation authorities renewed their contact with Interpol to arrest the son of a famous businessman, who is currently in London, because of information indicating his involvement in the case.
The case dates back to 2014, but became public at the end of July 2020 when social media accounts shared stories about Egyptian youths from wealthy families luring a woman during a party at the Fairmont to a hotel room after they put a narcotic in her drink and filmed the incident.
The prosecution began its investigation into the case at the beginning of August, after receiving a complaint from the National Council for Women, an Egyptian government institution that deals with women’s affairs. The complaint included the woman’s evidence and the testimonies of people who provided information about the incident.

BEIRUT: The Lebanese security forces killed at least two militants during a heavy exchange of fire on Saturday with an armed group in northeast Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, security sources said.
Three members of the Lebanese security forces were also injured in the clash, which began after Lebanese forces raided a house in the Wadi Khaled area, where the group that was suspected of planning attacks was holed up, the sources said.
The group included Syrians and Lebanese, the sources said, adding that the scale of the clash, in which militants fired rocket propelled grenades, prompted the Lebanese army to cordon off the area.
The sources said the group included people linked to the militant Khaled Al-Talawi, who was killed earlier this month in a shootout with security forces. Four Lebanese soldiers were killed in that clash.
Talawi was described as a former member of the Daesh group and leader of a cell behind the killing in August of three people in north Lebanon.