Happy hump day, everyone. It may be a relatively slow news day, but we’re still very happy that the weekend is within arm’s reach.

THE BIG STORY AT HOME: The shipment of 300k Sinopharm vaccines we’ve been waiting on from China landed in Cairo in the wee hours of the morning. We have all the details in this morning’s Covid Watch, below.

THE BIG STORY INTERNATIONALLY: The US just crossed the very grim milestone of having half a mn deaths from covid-19. That’s more deaths than the US sustained in World War I, World War I, and the Vietnam War combined, President Joe Biden said last night. The milestone comes just a little over a year after the US recorded its first covid-19 death in California last year, and means the US now accounts for around 19% of all deaths caused by the disease globally. The story is front-page news pretty much everywhere: The Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg | Reuters.

A CLOSE SECOND- Agent Orange’s financial wrongdoings could finally see the light of day after the US Supreme Court blocked former president Donald Trump’s lawyers’ last ditch attempts to shield his tax returns and related documents from an investigation, the New York Times reports. The scope of the inquiry is still unclear, but could be related to tax and ins. fraud, and to alleged payoffs to women who said they had had affairs with Trump. The story is also getting play in Reuters, CNN, and the Associated Press, among others.

A taste of what’s to come: Dive into the Gray Lady’s investigation from last year looking at two decades worth of Trump’s tax data, which show he avoided paying federal income taxes for 11 years, and paid just USD 750 (no, we’re not missing a mn or bn there) in each of 2016 and 2017.

Expect an SMS if you just used a prepaid mobile scratch card: The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has issued new guidelines for mobile network operators that requires them to send a text message notifying their customers of new activity or changes to their mobile accounts when using prepaid cards. This means you will get a text alert if you just topped up your mobile phone, or if you were charged any service fees or tax.

*** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from yesterday’s edition of EnterprisePM:

• Nassef Sawiris is backing a USD 4.7 bn takeover offer for his 7.41% stake in private jet operator Signature Aviation after a months-long bidding battle.
• MENA startups received capital from 256 active investors, with Egypt making up almost a quarter of the region’s venture capital transactions.

All large taxpayers in the country will be required to log their invoices electronically on the Tax Authority’s new e-invoicing system as of 15 May, the authority said (pdf). This will mark the third phase of the new system, which the authority piloted with 134 companies last November. The second phase went live earlier this month with another 347 companies added to the list.

No idea what e-invoicing system we’re talking about? We’ve got you covered with our primer on the system, its purpose, and the timeline for its implementation here.

Informal laborers will receive the final instalment of their EGP 500 monthly stipend on 7 March, the Planning Ministry announced in a statement. The stipend was introduced last year to support day laborers through the economic fallout from covid-19.

Egyptian students living abroad will be able to register to sit the Thanaweya Amma exam online starting 14 March, the Education Ministry announced.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

HAPPENING TODAY- US ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen is speaking about US-Egypt relations in a webinar hosted by AmCham Egypt today at 3pm CLT. The webinar, titled “The US-Egypt Partnership and Outlook for 2021,” will see Cohen cover bilateral relations between the countries and share his outlook for this year.

Calling all exporters: Learn how to navigate the new Nafeza pre-registration customs system at this webinar hosted by the Food Export Council and the Customs Authority. The event takes place this Wednesday, 24 February, at 12pm CLT. Tap or click here to register.

The Afro Future Summit is taking place this Thursday, 25 February. The summit will be held virtually.

The Egypt International Art Fair also kicks off this Thursday at Dusit Thani Lakeview Cairo, and is set to wrap on Saturday, 28 February.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.