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Egypt Warns of Third COVID-19 Wave

Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
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Egypt Warns of Third COVID-19 Wave

Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)

An Egyptian health official said the country is preparing for a third COVID-19 wave, citing a surge in virus infections.

Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tageldin revealed that it is highly probable for Egypt to enter the third wave, stressing the importance of receiving the vaccine to curb the spread of the virus.

In a statement on Saturday, Tageldin affirmed that the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines are “minor.”

He also said that it is not possible to determine if Egypt will start reporting a decline in infections before figures become stable.

The Health Ministry recorded on Friday 794 new cases and 39 deaths, raising the infection tally in the country to 208,876, including 158,454 recoveries and 12,362 deaths.

Meanwhile, the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) said Egypt ranked 68 out of 215 world countries in terms of the number of people infected with the virus. It also ranked seventh in the rate of deaths among the people infected and 178 in the rate of recoveries.

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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday Lebanon will cooperate with an Interpol request to arrest former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, accused by US authorities of war crimes under the toppled Assad government.

Last week, Lebanon received an official notice from Interpol urging judicial and security authorities to detain Hassan, whose whereabouts remain unclear, if he is found on Lebanese soil, three Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

"We are committed to cooperating with the Interpol letter regarding the arrest of the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, as we continue to cooperate on all matters related to the international system," Mikati told Reuters.

The directive also called for Hassan's arrest if he enters Lebanon, with the ultimate aim of extraditing him to the United States, the sources said.

On Dec. 9, a US indictment unsealed charges against Hassan, 72, with war crimes, including the torture of detainees, some of them US citizens, during the Syrian civil war.

Hassan is also one of three senior Syrian officials who were found guilty by a French court in May of war crimes over their involvement in the disappearance and subsequent death of a French-Syrian father and his son.

According to Lebanese judicial sources, the Interpol arrest warrant accuses Hassan of involvement in "crimes of murder, torture, and genocide."

Hassan is also allegedly responsible for overseeing the deployment of thousands of barrel bombs against the Syrian population, leading to the deaths of countless civilians, the sources said.

The Interpol request was circulated among Lebanon’s General Security and border control authorities.

Up to 30 lower-ranking former intelligence and Fourth Division army officers under the Assad administration are now in police custody in Lebanon following their arrest by Lebanese authorities, two security sources told Reuters.