Egypt to criminalize peddling: Unlicensed vendors who sell goods on trains and in stations would face prison sentences of 1-2 years or fines of EGP 1-10k under a draft law approved by cabinet in its weekly meeting yesterday. The bill will make its way to the House of Representatives for approval.

A new syndicate for tech bros: Cabinet separately greenlit a bill to set up a labor syndicate for ICT professionals, it said following the meeting. The body would take part in developing curricula and training programs to help keep university education up to pace with domestic and global labor market trends, cabinet noted.

Also approved yesterday: A decision to place some healthcare facilities in Ismaila and Luxor under the supervision of the General Authority for Healthcare (GAH), which was also put in charge of renovating state hospitals as Egypt gradually rolls out the universal healthcare scheme. Under the decision, GAH needs to overhaul the facilities within three years of this week’s rollout of the scheme on a trial basis in both governorates. The universal healthcare scheme, first piloted in Port Said in July 2019, will also see the state contract out the delivery of healthcare services to private sector hospitals.