Camel Racing Storms Back in Sinai After 6 Months of Virus Hiatus

Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
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Camel Racing Storms Back in Sinai After 6 Months of Virus Hiatus

Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP
Camels run on a dirt track during a race in Egypt's South Sinai desert after a hiatus of more than six months due to the coronavirus outbreak. AFP

Spread out at the foot of a vast plateau in the Sinai desert, hundreds of excited Bedouins gathered to race their camels after a six-month break due to coronavirus.

Shrouded in a vast sand cloud kicked up by the hump-backed beasts, more than 500 camels were loudly cheered on by their owners dressed in traditional jalabiyas and headdresses.

Camel racing is a popular traditional event in many Arab countries, and in Egypt, Bedouins of the South Sinai desert have kept up the tradition.

But race events have been suspended since March following the Covid-19 outbreak, and orders only came down at the beginning of the month that they could resume last weekend, AFP reported.

The camels ran around a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) track in the Tih plateau, completing it in a matter of minutes, as they were followed by spectators and owners riding in SUVs to get a close-up glimpse of the action.

The competition "is a training for the international race, which should take place in October in Sharm el-Sheikh," Saleh al-Muzaini, head of the Nuweiba camel club, told AFP.

One group of camels after another, placed in different categories according to age and whether they were male or female, made their debut on the dirt track lined by sand embankments on each side.

On their backs sat mechanical jockeys wearing racing jerseys and brandishing whips, which are lighter than human riders.

In a different race, young boys mount the camels to complete a 10-kilometre course.

Among the audience was 32-year-old Mostapha Abu al-Fadl, a geologist at an oil company in Cairo, who came especially to watch.

"When I heard they were organizing the race again, I told my friends how crazy, how wonderful it is... We had to come and see," he said.

To the Bedouins, the race is a way of keeping a traditional heritage alive.

"There was camel racing in the past, but we revived it" in recent years, Sheikh Hassan, of the Alegat tribe, which organises the event, told AFP.

"Camels will not disappear for us. We can use them for centuries. If the camel goes away, the Bedouins will also go away."

Camel races -- held every two or three months -- often attract large audiences of tourists, visitors and Bedouins to the middle of the Sinai desert.

Sheikh Hassan, however, says the sparsely populated peninsula with its breezy and dry weather had been only mildly affected by the pandemic, and there were no coronavirus measures noticeably in place for the racing.

Suspending the races caused heavy losses for the camel owners, who still had to pay for their animals' training, food and health checkups.

Over the six months alone, the owners lost some 10 and 15 million Egyptian pounds (between $625,000 and $940,000), according to Sheikh Hassan.

For owner Soleiman Hamad, Saturday's race ended on a high note as his animal came first in its category.

There is no prize money, but the winners carry off a prestigious trophy which also helps boost their animal's value.

For Hamad and others, camel racing represents a source of additional income, provided they also have the means to train, feed and care for the animal.

"It's costly, but it's our passion," he told AFP.

Each camel costs up to 2,000 Egyptian pounds monthly to feed.

A well-trained camel can sell for up to two million Egyptian pounds, says Sheikh Hassan.



Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs Returns to Jail as Judge Considers Bail Bid

Family members enter the federal court in Manhattan on the day of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs’s hearing on his request to be released from jail pending trial in New York City, New York, US, November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J. Edwards
Family members enter the federal court in Manhattan on the day of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs’s hearing on his request to be released from jail pending trial in New York City, New York, US, November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J. Edwards
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Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs Returns to Jail as Judge Considers Bail Bid

Family members enter the federal court in Manhattan on the day of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs’s hearing on his request to be released from jail pending trial in New York City, New York, US, November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J. Edwards
Family members enter the federal court in Manhattan on the day of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs’s hearing on his request to be released from jail pending trial in New York City, New York, US, November 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J. Edwards

Sean "Diddy" Combs will remain in custody for at least several more days as a US judge considers his bid to be released on $50-million bail from the Brooklyn jail where the music mogul has been held for 10 weeks.
After a nearly two-hour hearing in Manhattan federal court, US District Judge Arun Subramanian said on Friday he would rule on Combs' bid for home detention "promptly."
Combs' lawyers this month proposed a bail package backed by his $48-million Florida mansion. It also called for Combs to be monitored around the clock by security personnel and to have no contact with alleged victims or witnesses.
Combs has been denied bail three times since his arrest, with multiple judges citing a risk he might tamper with witnesses. The rapper and producer pleaded not guilty on Sept. 17 to charges he used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women.
During the hearing, defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo disputed prosecutors' contention that a 2016 hotel surveillance video of Combs assaulting former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie, showed there was a risk he would act violently if released.
"There's a zero percent chance of that happening," Agnifilo said.
Combs apologized in May after CNN broadcast the video showing him kicking, shoving and dragging Cassie in a hotel hallway. Agnifilo said he had never denied the incident, but said the video was not evidence of sex trafficking.
"It's our defense to these charges that this was a toxic, loving 11-year relationship," Agnifilo told the court.
Earlier, prosecutor Christine Slavik said Combs tried to bribe hotel staff to delete the surveillance footage - demonstrating he was committed to concealing his crimes by illegal means.
Even from behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Combs had communicated with his lawyers through unauthorized channels, and sought to run a social-media campaign to sway potential jurors, Slavik said.
"The defendant here has demonstrated that either he cannot or will not follow rules," Slavik said. "The defendant, simply put, cannot be trusted."
Regarding Combs' attempted social-media campaign, defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro said he had a right to respond to news coverage of the case that could paint him unfavorably for potential jurors.
Upon being led into the hearing by the US Marshals service, Combs, wearing a beige jail-issued outfit, blew kisses toward his family seated in the second row of the courtroom's audience.
COMBS DENIES WRONGDOING
Prosecutors said the abuse included having women take part in recorded sexual performances called "freak offs" with male sex workers who were sometimes transported across state lines. Combs, 55, has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have argued the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.
Combs' lawyers questioned why jail was needed when federal prosecutors in Brooklyn last month allowed the pre-trial release on a $10-million bond of former Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, who has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking.
The US Attorney's office in Manhattan, which brought the charges against Combs, countered that Jeffries is 80 years old with no criminal history, whereas Combs has prior arrests.
They also said federal agents recovered rifles with defaced serial numbers from Combs' residences. This week, Subramanian ordered prosecutors to destroy their copies of handwritten notes that Combs took in jail, pending a decision on whether they were subject to attorney-client privilege.
A government investigator photographed the notes during a sweep of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Combs has been jailed.