State-funded infrastructure projects now have local content requirements under new Buy Egyptian act

TL;DR

• Candidates and cabinet to be announced today
• Potential backlash in Mexico over open letter from FM Shoukry
• If your passport was issued before 2008, get it renewed now
• Executive regulations for Domestic Industrial Product Preference in Government Contracts
• On Donald Trump’s chances of winning the GOP nomination
• ** By the Numbers + Are there signs of a cyclical slowdown in real estate? **

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Al Ahram had stated the new cabinet members should be announced today, not Tuesday, as we said in yesterday morning’s edition — our apologies for that. There was relatively little in the press yesterday on who’s in and who’s out. A spokesman for the Electricity Ministry denied Mohamed Shaker had declined to come back to cabinet, and the rumor continued to make the rounds of the capital that the so-called sovereign ministries (defense, interior, foreign affairs) would remain untouched, as would most or all of the members of the economic group. Acting Prime Minister Sherif Ismail continued his efforts to form Cabinet on Tuesday, reports Ahram. Reda Abdelsalam, current governor of Sharqiya, has been selected as local development minister. Ismail, however, has faced challenges appointing a new agriculture minister, as the shortlisted candidates have refused consideration. Meanwhile, the candidates for tourism minister are: Ahmed El Khadim, former advisor to the tourism minister; Mohamed Badr, the current Governor of Luxor; and Amr Sedky, former president of the travel agencies chamber.

The High Elections Committee is set to announce parliamentary candidates today, according to Al Ahram and Ahram Online. A total of 5,936 individuals have submitted their papers to run.

There’s no reason for a run on the pumps at Cairo-area filling stations, the Oil Ministry insists, saying it has boosted by 15% deliveries of 92-octane gasoline to the capital city. Anecdotally, the increase in supply seems not to have taken the edge of motorists’ hoarding instincts: Enterprise staff observed long lineups at gas stations in Six of October and New Cairo last night.

We’re keeping an eye on the widening of a backlash against unfortunately-worded passages of an open letter to the citizens of Mexico by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry published in major Mexican newspapers today. Most of the letter is quite serviceable, until it veers into victimhood rhetoric that rails against criticism, rather than simply accepting full responsibility for the safety of Egyptians and foreign guests within our borders. The letter then goes on a tangent about Mexico’s drug war, in a belabored analogy to Egypt’s struggle against terrorism. The text of the letter is available in English and Spanish. And as we expected, the coverage it’s receiving in major Mexican newspapers this morning, such as El Universal (Read in Spanish), are wholly negative, judging by reader’s comments. One reader asks “Mexicans = Drug dealers?”

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

Three of five analysts expect the CBE to keep rates on hold when it meets Thursday. Both the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will speak to interest rates this Thursday. Three out five economists surveyed by Reuters expect the CBE to keep rates on hold. “Does it really make sense for the central bank of Egypt to cut rates before knowing the outcome of one of the most closely watched Fed meetings later that day?” one economist was quoted as saying, even though Capital Economics believe economic growth concerns could drive a 50 bps rate cut.

Ongoing conferences this week:

• The Cityscape Egypt Exhibition opens today at the Cairo International Convention Centre at 2 pm Cairo local time, and will run until Saturday. Visit the official website here.
• The SPE North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition wraps on Thursday at the Fairmont Heliopolis, Cairo. View the official event page here.
• The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) high-level meeting in Cairo will also run until Thursday.

ON THE HORIZON

If you haven’t renewed your passport since 2008, get it done before 24 November. After that day, passports that are not machine-readable will no longer be valid for international travel, as per regulations from the UN’s International Civil Aviation organisation (pdf), Ahram Online reported. Or in the words of Mallory Ortberg: “When God closes a door he opens a window. You run upstairs but he slams it shut. God locks the door. You’re never getting out of this house.” Something which Nader Bakkar is beginning to realize.

The 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened yesterday afternoon, and is followed by the Sustainable Development Summit from 25-27 September and the Annual general debate from 28 September – 5 October. During the Summit, assembled states are set to adopt the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, as defined here.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Mexican tourists and gasoline shortages were the topics of choice on last night’s television programs.

Host Lamis El Hadidy began her flagship program, Hona El Assema, by providing an overview of the government’s recent efforts to assuage Mexico over the accidental killing of its citizens in the Western Desert by Egyptian security forces.

“President El Sisi offered condolences to the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, over the phone, assuring the latter that he would personally monitor the government’s investigation into the incident,” said El Hadidy. She then informed viewers that Mexico’s Foreign Minister will be arriving in Egypt over the coming days. “She is scheduled to meet with the injured victims of the attack,” as well as Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, added El Hadidy. The host concluded the segment by urging the Egyptian government to send an official delegation to the North American nation.

Youssef El Husseiny, host of El Sada El Mohtaramoon, discussed the ‘reemergence’ of Egypt’s gasoline ‘crisis.’

“As is often the case, the government is denying the existence of the problem. In contrast, citizens are complaining of long lines [at gasoline stations] and shortages of 88-octane and 92-octane gasoline. The last time we saw this phenomenon, Mohamed Morsi was in power,” said El Husseiny. The host then displayed a series of recently taken photos, depicting crowded gasoline stations in Cairo and its surrounding governorates.

“What is the reason behind these shortages and why is this taking place right before parliamentary elections?” asked El Husseiny.

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SPEED ROUND

Made-in-Egypt will now carry weight in bidding for government contracts thanks to a purchasing preference measure that came into effect yesterday as Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour issued executive regulations for the Domestic Industrial Product Preference in Government Contracts Act. The buy-Egyptian regulations explicitly state that products need to have at least 40% domestic content to be classified as local, Al Masry Al Youm reported. The regulations also define a minimum domestic component for all infrastructure and public works projects paid for with state funds. Exceptions to the buy-Egyptian preference will be made in “situations that take public interest or national security into account.” Abdel Nour says the law will spur new investment in domestic industry.

Meanwhile: The accidental killing of 12 people, 8 of whom have now been identified as Mexican tourists, in the Western Desert by Egyptian security forces continues to draw widespread international media attention, with CNN, BBC, ABC and WSJ all reporting on it. The Economist notes that Egypt’s tourist sector could suffer: “[if] foreigners get spooked, the toll on the country’s hard currency flows will be heavy.” The Mexican Foreign Ministry formally announced on Tuesday that eight of its citizens were killed in the attack. Their bodies were identified on Tuesday, the AFP reports, and prosecutors in Egypt have ordered DNA tests to identify the remaining bodies, according to Ahram Online.

Eni wants to use its ties with Libya and Egypt to help create an export hub for its east Mediterranean LNG production, tying together an unprecedented multi-national gas supply network. “It expects Libyan gas to flow into a hub when conflict abates, hopes to attract other producers seeking an export outlet from Israel and accelerate plans to send Cypriot gas owned by other companies into the facility” that, given BG and Eni’s dormant liquefaction plants already present there, will “likely to be located in Egypt,” Reuters reported. Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, sees this as an opportunity to diversify gas supplies to Europe and reduce the dependency on Russia.

… Nicosia is sniffing around for a share of the Zohr pie: Cyprus Mail quotes Cyprus’ Energy Minister in saying that the country will soon know if Eni’s recently discovered gas field off Egypt’s coast extends inside the Cypriot exclusive economic zone or not. “We are already working on the geological data and we’ll have a picture in the next few days,” he said. “If the reservoir does overlap, the unitisation agreement signed between Cyprus and Egypt in December 2013 would presumably kick in,” the Cypriot publication notes.

It seems there’s some liquidity to be found in the parallel market these days: The USD has fallen on the parallel market to EGP 8.00-8.05 as some hoarders have reportedly begun offering FX for sale, says one trader quoted by Al-Mal. Why now? Players in the market point to a mix of factors: Relief that the Mahlab government is out just days after now-interim Investment Minister Ashraf Salman suggested the EGP would have to fall against the USD. More concretely, they also suggest that the CBE’s policy of targeting liquidity to imports of basic commodities and essential goods including school supplies has helped break the logjam for importers as demand for FX rose during the pre-Eid / back-to-school season. Traders are now saying that ‘speculators’ who bought USD at 8.25 in the past week are looking at haircuts, the newspaper notes.

EFSA presented the preliminary outlines of a law governing secured transactions systems and collateral registries to the IMF delegation visiting currently for a review, Al Mal reported. According to an IFC brochure, the programme ultimately aims at increasing “access to credit to firms, especially SMEs, by developing the appropriate legal and institutional framework to allow and facilitate the use of movable assets as collateral for loans.” EFSA’s Sherif Samy also met with Eric Meyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa and the Middle East, US Treasury, to discuss potential cooperation efforts. In other news related to the delegation, Al Mal claims sources told it the IMF is drilling down into how state guarantees to companies building large-scale electricity generation projects will impact Egypt’s finances.

Orascom-Aramex joint venture to build EGP 800 mn logistics zone: Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) and Aramex inked a joint venture agreement to establish Egypt’s first logistics zone in Tanta, El Gharbeya, according to Yasser Ahmed Abbas, deputy head of the Internal Trade Development Authority at the Ministry of Supply speaking to Al Mal, (Read in Arabic). The zone stretches over a 342k sqm area and will involve the inauguration of an EGP 1.5 bn transportation network. We had first noted the possibility of a link-up between OTMT and Aramex in our 9 September issue, reporting on a disclosure OTMT had sent to the EGX (Read in Arabic) in which it had stated it was mulling an alliance with Aramex to build logistics zones. The first zone is pegged as requiring investment of about EGP 800 mn.

The Trade and Industry Ministry is negotiating, on behalf of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, for an additional EGP 500 mn to support the export subsidies. The industrial sector says promoting exports is a priority now in order to secure foreign currency inflows, a source told Al Shorouk. The ministry is also working on refining the export development plan, which is set to include more expansion in African markets. The export development plan is expected to be announced in October.

If bad acting was a sin, we wouldn’t have a domestic film industry. That thought is among the less inflammatory thoughts that passed through our mind when we learned yesterday that Justice Minister Ahmed El Zend issued a decree granting the heads of the Actors Syndicate the power of arrest. The unprecedented move allows the six senior leaders of the Actors Syndicate to “bring an end to those farces committed in the name of art, and will ensure that art is the domain of those who are talented and decent … for those who are aware of the syndicate’s laws and abide by them,” according to the syndicate’s Secretary General Ashraf Tolba, Mada reported. Meanwhile, prominent director Mohamed El Adl denounced the decree as unconstitutional, citing Article 67 that stipulates “It is not permitted to raise or file lawsuits to stop or confiscate literary, intellectual or artistic work, or against its creators, except through the public prosecution.” What El Adl fails to mention is that Article 67 ends, as most of Egypt’s constitutional articles, with the article being defined “in accordance with the law,” leaving the door open for it be further restricted by issued law, or decree in this instance. Track the story back here in Youm7 (Arabic).

New poll shows majority of Syrians prefer political solution to civil war, near-majority oppose US airstrikes, 82% believe Daesh is a U.S. creation -WaPo: The results of a new poll by UK-based firm ORB International and reported on by the Washington Post has found some surprising results, with the majority of those polled generally falling in line with what Egypt has long pushed for in Syria: A political resolution that preserves the Syrian state. Only 1 in 5 Syrians polled prefer life in Syria as it is now as opposed to life under the rule of Bashar Al Assad. 49% oppose US-led airstrikes. ORB conducted the survey of 1,365 Syrians across all its governorates from 10 June to 2 July, and also finds that 79% of those polled say that the influx of foreign fighters have made things worse. Meanwhile, CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus is reportedly pushing for American officials to support Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra, according to the Daily Beast last month.

Damascus is secure and functional: The poll coincides with a report by the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen that, despite the regular deluge of American media and thinktank pieces that have promised that Assad is going to fall “any day now” that we’ve been reading since 2011, says that Damascus is secure and functional, with Bowen actually spending time reporting from within Damascus, meeting with troops and residents. “The government-held areas that I have visited seem calm and functional. The ministry of defence, behind heavy layers of security, moves at a stately pace … The troops I met seemed to have good morale, in cohesive units. Their kit and weapons were well looked after; so were their positions.”

Which should be read in tandem with ‘The Pentagon’s Syria debacle’ by Philip Ewing and Austin Wright for Politico: The United States has spent USD 500 mn over one year to train 54 fighters, “all of whom were killed, captured by terrorists in Syria or scattered when they came under attack this summer.” Their leader is currently being held captive by Al Qaeda.

It’s not shaping up to be a good year in which to be an ‘emerging market’: “FDI collapses across emerging markets amid economic slowdown” blares the FT (paywall), marshaling data from one of its subsidiaries that found 97 out of 154 EM countries have seen capex on greenfield investments plunge in the first six months of the year.

• Where’s Egypt? Down 0.7% at USD 5.7 bn, or about stable year-on-year — not bad considering we’re coming off a high base from all the GCC funds that began pouring into the market last year.
• The winners? Kazakhstan (up 259%), Slovakia (up 231%) and Bosnia Hercegovina (posting a gain of 229%).
• The losers? Chad, Mauritania, Montenegro and Yemen, all of which saw FDI evaporate — as in zero spending on capex for greenfield projects.

Climate chaos in ancient Egypt: Historians and climate change scientists at Yale have started working together to better understand “Why life under the Ptolemies, Egypt’s last pharaohs, was so chaotic? Is there evidence to suggest that interruptions of annual Nile flooding played a role?” The researchers are exploring the possible link between some of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history and their potential effect on Nile flooding, with an eye to see if there was some link to years of Egypt’s greatest hardship. (Read)

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Ancient Egyptian scroll rediscovered at the Egyptian Museum: A leather manuscript dating from around 2000 BCE and which had been misplaced (ahem) in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo for 70 years has been found, reports Discovery News. The 2.5 metre (8.2 feet) long document is the oldest of six other similar finds and “features religious drawings which had not been seen in coffins nor in any other monument until now.” (Or since a museum last lost it.)

Western business media continue their drumbeat of stories on corruption in Egypt, with the latest being in the WSJ’s Risk & Compliance Journal: Corruption Currents: Egypt Scrambles to Form New Government.

‘Egyptian Military Likely Used U.S. Weapons To Kill Tourists, Strengthening Case For More Oversight’: Charles Tiefer at Forbes argues that the aircraft involved in the mistaken killing of Mexican tourists in the Western Desert were likely Apache helicopters, and that “Secretary Kerry should work out, now, while there is public outrage, some steps forward by the Egyptian government.” (Read)

WORTH READING

Wall Street’s latest panic: Trump could win. Ben White writes for Politico that “Wall Street is growing increasingly terrified that Donald Trump — once viewed as an amusing summertime distraction — could actually win the Republican nomination for president … ‘I held four lunches for investors in August and at the first one everyone assumed Trump would implode,’ said Byron Wien, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners and a senior figure on Wall Street. ‘By the fourth one everyone was taking him very seriously. He taps into frustrations that are very real and he is a master manipulator of the media’ … ‘I don’t know anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. They are like this huge mystery group,’ the [unnamed] CEO said.” (Read)

WORTH WATCHING

Meanwhile, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight says that Donald Trump has a 5% chance of winning the nomination, in remarks during his appearance earlier this week on CNN, (Watch, running time: 4:13)

DIPLOMACY

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will be heading to Kuala Lumpur, most likely from 2-5 November 2015, after being invited by the Malaysian PM to attend the World Islamic Economic Forum, Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour says.

MFA spokesperson Counselor Ahmed Abu Zeid denied media reports that 12 Egyptians had been kidnapped by Daesh in Sirte, Libya, Youm7 reports. El Watan cites reports from ANSAMed saying that some of the kidnapped Egyptians included Christians, and that they were all being forced to help build a prison. ANSAMed, in turns, cites the report coming from Alwasat.

President Abdelfattah El Sisi called Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments on Al Aqsa clashes, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Both leaders condemned Israeli attacks on the holy site, according to presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef.

ENERGY

ECHEM considering a petrochemicals plant by the Suez Canal Axis
Al Shorouk | 14 Sep 2015
Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) is considering promoting a project to build a petrochemicals’ complex by the Suez Canal Axis, Chairman Mohamed Saafan said. The complex would require USD 6 bn in investments and is part of ECHEM’s efforts to improve its productivity nationally. Saafan added that ETHYDCO’s USD 1.9 bn ethylene production plant is set begin operating by next December. (Read in Arabic)

Tecnimont in talks with ECHEM to revive the Kima project
Al Borsa | 15 Sep 2015
ECHEM will begin talks today with Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to revive operations at the Egyptian Chemical Industries Company’s (KIMA) fertiliser complex, Al Borsa reported. The project, which aims to build an ammonia production unit with 1,200 ton per day capacity, has been put on hold for over eight months as KIMA failed to secure the necessary letters of credit. This is part of an Engineering-Procurement-Construction-Commissioning (EPCC) contract agreement signed in October 2011 that, at the time of signing, had an overall value of USD 540 mn, according to the project prospectus. The project also includes a urea melt production unit and a urea granulation unit. (Read in Arabic)

Kuwaiti companies looking to inject USD 2 bn in energy investments
Ahram Gate | 15 Sep 2015
Kuwaiti companies are looking to inject USD 2 bn in investments in Egypt’s energy sector, the head of Kuwait’s commercial services office in Egypt told Al Ahram. Two companies are looking to invest up to USD 1 bn in solar and conventional energy projects with a third also willing to invest USD 1 bn and looking into Electricity Ministry projects on offer currently. No details about either project were made available. The commercial services office said it is liaising between the potential investors and the Egyptian government adding that it is also promoting Egypt as an investment destination. The office is also finalising preparations for investment projects in Egypt pledged by Kuwaiti investors. (Read in Arabic)

INFRASTRUCTURE

Development works for the Borg El Arab Airport road to begin after Eid
Al Borsa | 15 Sep 2015
Societe Egyptienne D’entreprises (Moukhtar Ibrahim) is beginning the EGP 300 mn project to develop the Nasriya-Krair Borg El Arab Airport road after Eid, according to the Governor of Alexandria. The road will connect the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway to the Borg El Arab Airport and Sidi Kerir on the North Coast. The three-lane road is set to be delivered in 18 months. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

26 retail outlets jointly operated by Saudi Panda and Carrefour to open across Egypt, says Minister of Supply
Al Shorouk | 15 Sep 2015
Saudi Arabian grocery retailing company Panda United Company, a subsidiary of Savola Group, and Carrefour have begun building 26 outlets in several governorates including Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, and Assiut among others, providing an estimated 40k direct and indirect jobs along the way, according to Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy. The ministry, Panda, and Carrefour have come to an agreement where they will sell produce from the Food Industries Holding Company’s 43 subsidiary companies. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH + EDUCATION

Penta Pharma says it is an acquisition target
Al Borsa | 14 Sep 2015
An American firm has submitted an offer to acquire 100% of local pharmaceuticals producer Penta Pharma’s shares, according to the company Chairman, Ossama El Saady. Penta Pharma is assessing the offer, El Saady said, which this could take up to three months. Al Borsa says Penta Pharma was formed in 2013 and has investments of EGP 100 mn. The company recorded sales of EGP 45 mn last year, a 15% y-o-y increase. (Read in Arabic)

AUTOMOTIVE + TRANSPORTATION

Volvo-LOGIT alliance expresses interest in Cairo’s BRT system
Al Borsa | 14 Sep 2015
A Volvo-LOGIT alliance expressed interest in the proposed Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) that connects the new Cairo capital with Nasr City, a PwC consultant said. The consultant added that PwC has met with investors from the Center of Transportation in Dubai, pointing out that negotiations with a third party to finance the operations of the economic feasibility studies will determine the return of investment for the Volvo-LOGIT alliance. The initial investment cost for the BRT is expected to be nearly USD 350 mn with 39 stations in Nasr City, Al Rehab, and Heliopolis. (Read in Arabic)

Cabinet shuffle threatens new auto industry law
Daily News | 14 Sep 2015
“The new automotive industry law was expected within the next few days, but the resignation of the government may hamper the issuance of the law, said Hamdy Abdel Aziz, Chairman of the Chamber of Engineering Industries in the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI),” the paper says. Auto industry leaders including GB Auto CEO Raouf Ghabbour are angling for new tax breaks that would protect the domestic assembly industry from unfair competition from Turkish, Moroccan and EU imports while rewarding assemblers who go further down the value chain into manufacturing by raising their domestic content. (Read)

BANKING + FINANCE

NIB signs four new asset managers
Al Borsa | 14 Sep 2015
The National Investment Bank (NIB) signed HC Securities and Investment, Alpha Egypt, Naeem Holding and CI Capital to manage its investment portfolio in the wake of a recent board decision. The four join six existing managers of NIB’s portfolio, including: EFG-Hermes, Pharos Holding, Prime Asset Management (PAM), Cairo Financial Holding (CFH), Rasmala Investment Bank and the Arab African International Bank. (Read in Arabic)

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

HEC announces no polling stations for Egyptians in Libya, Syria and Yemen
Ahram Gate | 15 Sep 2015
Egyptians living in conflict zones will not be allowed to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Higher Elections Committee decided. This means that Egyptians in countries including Yemen, Syria, and Libya will not be able to vote, according to Ahram Gate. (Read in Arabic)

Democratic electoral alliance plans to withdraw candidates from single-member constituencies
Al Ahram | 15 Sep 2015
The Democratic Alliance electoral bloc announced on Tuesday that it plans to withdraw its candidates competing for seats as individuals from the upcoming parliamentary elections, expressing its support for Sahwat Masr’s withdrawal last week. Medhat Al Zohd, member of the Democratic Alliance and the Socialist Party, said that the withdrawal stems from the “confusion and chaos” that resulted from the Administrative Court’s decision not to enforce medical checkups for candidates. Furthermore, the electoral bloc sees a “lack of opportunity” between candidates that fosters a lack of competitive spirit in the elections. In a statement on Tuesday, the Alliance announced that it will support candidates who wish to continue in their single-member constituencies, such as the National Front group in Al Dakhleya (competing for 18 seats) and the Democratic Coalition in Alexandria. (Read in Arabic)

NATIONAL SECURITY

The favourite salafist of Western liberals was denied permission to fly yesterday. Cairo Airport security officials refused to allow Al Nour party spokesman Nader Bakkar to depart for the Netherlands yesterday, citing a paperwork snafu. Al Masry Al Youm reports that Bakkar was told he would not be allowed to board an aircraft until he can show an original copy of his conscription status document.

The military killed 55 militants and arrested 31 others on the ninth day of Operation Haq El Shaheed, a military statement announced, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Two military personnel were also killed during the operation.

Eight alleged Muslim Brotherhood members sentenced to death over Minya violence: Eight alleged members of the Brotherhood were sentenced to death by the Minya Criminal Court on Tuesday, charged with the killing of two police officers and the storming of police and government buildings, Daily News Egypt reported. The violence occurred in Samalout following the forced dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in.

REGIONAL

QNB gets nod to become first Qatari bank to operate in Saudi Arabia
QNA | 14 Sep 2015
QNB has received the necessary approvals to open a branch in Saudi Arabia, Qatar News Agency reported. The decision was taken during the Saudi “cabinet’s weekly meeting which was held on Monday and chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,” as reported by QNA. The approval allows QNB to operate according to Saudi banking regulations and in coordination with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. (Read)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

The Assiut Administrative Court will rule whether or not accept a lawsuit, filed by Al Minya Governorate resident Yasser Abdel Wahab, that demands President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s birthday (19 November) be declared Father’s Day in Egypt, El Watan reports. The lawsuit further proposes renaming Sharm El Sheikh to “Arab Peace City.” Ah, the joys of public-interest litigation…

Remember that image of an ISIS flag amidst refugees attacking police in Germany from earlier this week? It’s actually from 2012 in Bonn, the Independent reports, and was actually taken at an anti-Islam rally. How’s them apples?

Tamer Amin, current television host of the “Men el Akher” program on Rotana Masreya, signed a three-year agreement with Al Hayah TV to host its flagship program Al Hayah Today, Al Shorouk reports. Amin will start anchoring the program next November. It’s not clear whether Lobna Assal, the current host of Al Hayah Today, will co-anchor with Amin. Al Hayah is owned by Sayed El Badawi, chair of the sort-of liberal Al Wafd Party. Amin recently made news last week when alleged that a secret Supreme World Council was responsible for causing earthquakes and tsunamis, (Watch in Arabic, running time: 1:28).

When image and sound become one: Madad, Madad, by Thom Yorke of Radiohead, (Watch in Arabic, running time: 2:29)