Signs that many of you have started hibernating: A slow news day both domestically and abroad, along with the significant influx of automatic replies leads us to indicate that many of you have begun your winter breaks.

Want us to buy you breakfast in 2022? Spare a couple of minutes of your time and take our annual Enterprise Reader Poll. We’ll be inviting eight readers who take the poll to have breakfast with us early in the new year and another dozen of you will get spiffy Enterprise mugs to help you mainline your morning java.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-

#1 CHG board approves CI Capital’s offer price: The Cleopatra Hospitals board has green-lit CI Capital’s offer to acquire a 26% stake for EGP 5 per share, it said today in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX. Shareholders have until next Sunday to subscribe to the Banque Misr-owned financial services company’s voluntary tender offer.

#2 eXtra is doubling down on Egypt: Saudi consumer electronics retailer eXtra setting up an Egypt subsidiary and plans to invest EGP 1 bn to expand its footprint in the country, the company said in a filing to the Saudi stock exchange today.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from this morning’s EnterpriseAM:

• CBE leaves rates on hold in final meeting of 2021: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) left interest rates on hold for the ninth consecutive meeting on Thursday, as policymakers weighed the possibility of sooner-than-expected US rate hikes and the economic impact of the Omicron covid variant.
• Omicron lands in Egypt: Three Omicron cases were detected over the weekend, marking the variant’s first appearance in the country.

Sawiris exits Euronews: The Sawiris family is selling its majority 88% stake in the loss-making broadcaster to Portuguese investment firm Alpac Capital for an undisclosed sum.

PSA- Rainfall expected in Cairo tonight or early morning tomorrow: Parts of Greater Cairo, northern Upper Egypt, the Suez Canal region, and the Delta are going to be hit by gusting winds today and tomorrow that could develop into sandstorms, the national weather service predicts. Look for the mercury to plunge in tandem. Showers could begin later tonight and continue Monday and into Tuesday, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority’s Iman Shaker told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 5:06).

Alexandria appears to be the only governorate confirmed to be extending school closures for public and private schools until tomorrow, according to El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 8:07). Matrouh, Kafr El Sheikh and Beheira are all shuttering classes for today, but have yet to confirm if they’re closing schools tomorrow.

PSA- Property owners have until Friday, 31 December to pay the second installment of their annual real estate taxes without incurring a late fee, Tax Authority boss Anwar Fawzy said in a statement yesterday. The first installment was due between 1 January and 30 June. Homeowners whose primary residence is valued at less than EGP 2 mn are exempt from paying the tax, Fawzy noted.

What have Egyptians been Googling this year? Our love of football has put Al Ahly to the top of general searches this year, Google said in a press release (pdf) rounding up the top searches in Egypt. Top general interest searches also included high school results, corona vaccine registration (thankfully), Sherihan, Summer Olympics, our personal favorite ‘plural of milk’, Palestine flag, Chinese rocket, the Grand Renaissance Dam, and finally, Samir Ghanem — in that order.

Investment banker-turned actress Passant Shawky topped the personalities search category, with Percy Tao, Dina Dash, and Omar Marmoush rounding out the top four personalities searched this year.

Nasl Al Aghrab was the most searched TV show, followed by Al Ikhtiyar 2, Mlook Al Gadana, and Musa. Squid Game was the only non-Arabic language TV show in this category, coming in at #6.

Mangoes was a trending word in 2021, which Google attributed to the heat waves that destroyed some of the fruit’s crops this year. You can read more about how climate change impacted mango and olive crops this year in our Going Green story.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- It’s all Omicron, all the time in the global press this afternoon. The front pages have got the deteriorating global situation covered from all angles, whether that’s hard lockdown in the Netherlands (Reuters | FT), record cases and Christmas cancellations in the US (WSJ | Washington Post), triangulation in Westminster (Bloomberg | Reuters) and expectations for market volatility to close out 2021 (CNBC).

Heading to Hong Kong? Not anymore: Hong Kong will close its borders to non-resident travelers from Egypt, Morocco, New Zealand and Qatar as of this Tuesday, the HK government announced in a statement. The four countries all detected their first cases of the Omicron variant in recent days, leading to their inclusion in Hong Kong’s list of more than 70 “Group A” countries from which entry is now banned for non-residents. Residents, meanwhile, face a 21-day compulsory quarantine in a designated hotel upon return from any Group A country, and must complete a total of seven (yes, seven) covid tests.

FOR TOMORROW-

Jury deliberations in the Theranos trial kick off tomorrow and things aren’t looking good for Elizabeth Holmes. During closing arguments on Friday, the prosecution pushed the idea that the former Theranos CEO “chose fraud over business failure” when she lied to investors about the technological capabilities of her blood-testing startup, according to NBC News.

She pled ignorance: Meanwhile, Holmes’ defense argued that her actions were in “good faith” and any business failures on her part were out of naivete — also saying that her lack of forthrightness towards investors was a way to protect “trade secrets”. Holmes is charged with nine counts of fraud and two counts of conspiracy which could lead to a conviction of up to 20 years in jail. Expect a decision in the coming days. BBC and The Guardian also have the story.

This is the first of two Theranos trials, with the trial of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her co-defendant and ex-boyfriend and potential fall guy, scheduled to begin in February.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Swvl and Magalix are holding a virtual fireside chat titled Stories of Women in the Tech Field on Tuesday 21 December, at 7pm. Connect to the event here.

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

⛅ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The coldest day of winter so far is tomorrow, with the mercury falling to 15°C during the day before plunging all the way to 7°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.