Two Jordanian ministers fired for attending dinner party

AMMAN — Jordan's interior and justice ministers were fired Sunday for attending a dinner party at a restaurant that violated the coronavirus restrictions that their own ministries are supposed to enforce.

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Samir Mobeideen and Justice Minister Bassam Talhouni, days after the announcement of new rules intended to stem a month-old surge of infections driven by a more contagious variant of the virus.

Their appearance in a public banqueting room, disregarding social distancing rules, added to widespread outrage at the hefty fines slapped on people while officials go unpunished for attending functions with far more than the 20 guests allowed. Police have arrested dozens of people and shut hundreds of shops and businesses in one of the toughest crackdowns in a year of lockdowns and restrictions.

All season long it was felt like the Toronto Raptors were simply avoiding the inevitable.

The inevitable happened Sunday morning as the Raptors joined 26 other NBA teams to have their first game postponed in accordance with the league’s health and safety protocols.

The scheduled game with the Chicago Bulls, who were already in Florida when the game was postponed, will now become part of an already jam-packed second half schedule.

Officially the postponement is “because of positive test results and ongoing contact tracing within the Raptors, the team will not have the league-required eight available players to proceed.”

The league went ahead with Friday’s game versus Houston with Pascal Siakam, head coach Nick Nurse and five of his assistants all held out with the all-encompassing health and safety protocols reason given.

Siakam, it was reported by ESPN’S Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday, would miss at least the remaining three games on the Raptors’ schedule before the league would shut down for it’s All-star break and festivities.

The Raptors were fortunate to have assistant Sergio Scariolo available for duty on Friday after returning from his coaching duties in Europe with FIBA. Scariolo was in quarantine when the coronavirus took aim at the Raptors’ roster and coaching staff.

No word as this was published was available on whether the Raptors’ two remaining games of the first half — a home game in Tampa versus Detroit and a road game Thursday in Boston versus the Celtics — would be affected.

The Raptors are the 27th of 30 teams to have a game postponed so far this season.