By Alexander Dziadosz

CAIRO (Reuters) -Prime ministers, presidents and royalty descended on Cairo on Saturday to attend the spectacle-laden inauguration of a sprawling new museum built near the Pyramids to house one of the world's richest collections of antiquities.

The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, marks the end of a two-decade construction effort hampered by the Arab Spring uprisings, pandemic and wars in neighbouring countries.

MANAMA (Reuters) -United States Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Saturday that Syrian President Ahmed Sharaa was expected to visit Washington.

During the visit, Syria would "hopefully" join the U.S.-led coalition to defeat Islamic State, Barrack told reporters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, an annual global security and geopolitical conference.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Survivors fleeing the Sudanese city of El-Fasher told AFP on Saturday that paramilitary fighters separated families and killed children in front of their parents, with tens of thousands still trapped following the city's fall.

Germany's top diplomat Johann Wadephul described on Saturday the situation in Sudan as "apocalyptic" while fresh satellite images suggested mass killings were likely ongoing, five days after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized El-Fasher.

(Reuters) -The partial remains of three bodies in Gaza handed over to Israel overnight did not belong to any of the hostages held in the Palestinian territory, Israeli media reported on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government on the reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross said late on Friday that it had facilitated the transfer of three deceased individuals from the Gaza Strip to Israeli authorities for identification.

Egypt officially opened on Saturday the Grand Egyptian Museum, a long-awaited, billion-dollar showcase of pharaonic grandeur that Cairo hopes will revive tourism and boost its battered economy.

"Today, as we celebrate together the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, we are writing a new chapter in the history of the present and the future," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a gathering of dignitaries, sitting in the museum's square.

Two machines resembling robotic vacuum cleaners sped around a ring colliding, shooting sparks and catching fire, as Iranian engineering students watched from behind plexiglass.

The dramatic clash was just one of many opportunities for competitors to go head-to-head at the country's Tech Olympics, to determine the future of its engineering talents.

Iran aspires to become a key regional player in emerging technologies, despite decades of international sanctions that have stifled its development.

Bangladesh's dock workers escalated a strike on Saturday at the country's biggest port, Chattogram, protesting plans by the interim government to lease operating licences to a foreign company.

The walkout, which began in small numbers in October, has now grown to around 200 workers at the port -- Bangladesh's main trade gateway and a vital hub in the global garment supply chain.

"Foreign expert operators would increase the foreign investment and enhance the efficiency," Chattogram Port Authority chairman S. M. Moniruzzaman told AFP.

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's military said on Saturday it monitored and tracked a joint patrol organised by the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea on October 30 and October 31.

Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the People's Liberation Army's Southern Theater Command, said the joint patrol, with unnamed partners, "seriously undermined regional peace and stability". He called the Philippines "a troublemaker" in the region.

By Timour Azhari

DOHA (Reuters) -Major Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in Syria as part of the kingdom's business-forward approach to the country's recovery, but U.S. sanctions and a fractured Syrian state apparatus pose formidable obstacles.

(Reuters) -A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the Trump administration supports repealing the Caesar Act sanctions on Syria through the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is being discussed by U.S. lawmakers at the moment.

"The United States is in regular communication with regional partners and welcomes any investment or engagement in Syria that supports the chance for all Syrians to have a peaceful and prosperous country," the spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari;Editing by Alison Williams)