Turkey coup fails, purge begins. Plus: Cabinet shuffle in Egypt?

There was an attempted coup in Turkey. The attempt to dump Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan failed, and a crackdown on dissent has begun. We have more in today’s Spotlight section, after Speed Round (below). Or tap here to read the unabridged version of our coverage on our website.

House committee continues to investigate “wheat fraud,” to issue report at the end of the month: The House of Representatives committee investigating allegations of fraud and mismanagement in this year’s wheat harvest will present its findings by the end of the month, MP Magdy Maximos tells Al Borsa. The committee was earlier expected to present its report today, but the investigation appears to be ongoing. The committee alleged last week that as much as 50% of the wheat recorded in ledgers was “missing” at the sites it had visited, Al-Shorouk reported yesterday. The committee found additional discrepancies between stores and silo records at three sites in Cairo over the weekend, and importers are now exchanging recriminations with domestic growers.

The issue could claim its victims ahead of the report: The head of the committee told Al-Mal that members will likely recommend sacking Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy (who is already up on the chopping block for the next reported cabinet shuffle), while Prosecutor General Nabil Sadiq ordered the detention of an undisclosed number of silo owners for their involvement in the manipulation of wheat imports, Al Mal reported on Thursday.

Garhy to brief House on VAT: Finance Minister Amr El Garhy is expected to appear on Monday before the House Planning and Budget Committee to discuss the latest draft of the value-added tax legislation, according to a report we noted late last week.

House to probe relations with Italy: A House committee will discuss on Monday relations with Italy and the investigation into the killing of Italian grad student Giulio Regeni after Rome nixed the sale to Egypt of spare parts for F-16s. Representatives of the ministries of interior and foreign affairs as well as the General Intelligence Directorate and the Prosecutor General’s Office are due to appear.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is due in Washington on Thursday for a ministerial meeting of the anti-Daesh coalition.

Probably not a long weekend: Saturday is a statutory holiday marking the 1952 Revolution. Falling as it does on the private-sector weekend, it’s unlikely the Ismail administration will give a comp day on Sunday. While we’re not aware of anything yet scheduled, we’ll be keeping an eye out for a policy speech of some form from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in the second half of this week.

Our next holiday: Not until the week of 11 September, when we’re due to observe Eid Al-Adha. (That’s c. 8 weeks away, including this week, for those of you keeping track at home…)

Cabinet reshuffle in the offing? There are ongoing negotiations for a cabinet reshuffle that could result in as many as eight ministers retiring from public life, sources told Al Mal. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has received negative performance reports on eight members of the Ismail cabinet, the source explained. Among those said to be preparing to exit stage right are the ministers of ministers of supply and domestic trade, health, and education. The reshuffle could also include six governors, including those of Giza and Minya and the embattled governor of Alexandria.

Egypt has been engaged for several weeks in ‘unofficial talks’ with the International Monetary Fund for a USD 7.1 bn facility, sources in Cairo and Washington DC tell Al Shorouk. That said: The newspaper cites sources close to the talks as suggesting that a facility in the USD 5.8 bn range is more likely and question whether Egypt can implement the preconditions for the facility in time to close it before year’s end. Those conditions include cuts to the subsidy programs for fuel, electricity, drinking water and public transportation. We have also previously reported that the value-added tax is likely among the preconditions. A member of the Cabinet economic group, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in June that Egypt was in talks for a USD 5 bn facility, prompting Central Bank of Egypt Governor Tarek Amer to say Egypt could draw as much as USD 10 bn if it were to seek assistance.

Al Borsa reported last night that IMF mission chief in Egypt Chris Jarvis said any assistance package for Egypt would be a function of both need and the country’s special drawing rights (SDR) under the IMF system. The IMF’s 14th general review of quotas in January saw Egypt’s SDR raised to USD 2.037 bn from USD 943.7 mn the year before.

CBE considers four scenarios for future of the EGP -source: The Central Bank faces four possible scenarios regarding the EGP, according to an unnamed senior official speaking to Daily News Egypt. The CBE may either attempt to carry on as is defending the EGP; “fixing the [EGP] with a commission to provide currency for some sectors that require the [USD]; allowing for partial fluctuation of the exchange rate;” or allowing for a complete float, according to the source. The source also claims that Amer prefers an unmanaged float, but is constrained by lack of FX reserves to provide required liquidity, and is instead awaiting expected inflows of USD 5.5 bn over the coming months, including USD 2 bn each from Saudi and the UAE as well as loans from the World Bank and the African Development Bank. “The CBE might deliberately be sending mixed signals about the exchange rate throughout the upcoming months with the goal of confusing [USD] speculators,” the source added.

SODIC denied on Thursday a report that it is in talks to merge with Medinet Nasr for Housing & Development (MNHD). SODIC CFO Omar El Hamawy deniedreport by Al Mal that the two companies had already concluded preliminary studies on a possible tie-up. The newspaper had also reported the two sites would meet “within a week or two” for talks. Al Mal said it could not reach MNHD for comment, and a senior official at the high-profile real estate developer told us there’s simply nothing to the story.

EgyptAir flight 804 cockpit voice recorder captures word “fire,” but investigation will be a “long slog” -WSJ The Wall Street Journal reports that we need to brace ourselves for a lengthy investigation into the downing in May of EgyptAir flight 804. While the word “‘fire’ is clearly audible on the cockpit voice recording … safety experts and a person involved in the investigation said there are no clear-cut answers so far about the sequence of events that brought down the jetliner.” The comprehensive story is definitely worth a read this morning if you have an interest in the state of the investigation.

The Trade and Industry Ministry decreed that it is the only entity that can authorize companies to place the “Proudly made in Egypt” trademark on their products, Al Masry Al Youm reported. The decree noted that the Ministry will set its own criteria for allowing the logo and statement’s usage, without providing further details.

Egypt is no longer Africa’s second-largest economy thanks to the devaluation of the EGP. South Africa leapfrogged Egypt to become the continent’s second-largest economy in USD terms, according to Bloomberg. Nigeria is still tops the ranking despite a 30% currency devaluation, but the gap between its GDP figure and South Africa’s shrunk to around USD 60 bn, from USD 170 bn at the end of 2015.

CIT Ministry actively courting bids from international mobile operators? The Communications and IT ministry has held talks with Kuwait’s Zain and another regional operator about potentially entering the Egyptian market, Al Borsa reports this morning, citing anonymous sources. The deadline for the three existing mobile network operators (MNOs) to apply for 4G licenses is the first week of August, and NTRA has said it would seek international bids if all three did not bid.

Meanwhile: NTRA committee to talk with operators on 4G license terms, TE’s entry into mobile market? The Communications and IT Ministry has struck a special committee to hash-out with Telecom Egypt and the three existing MNOs issues attendant to the launch of 4G data services and TE’s entry as the nation’s fourth operator. The committee will be headed by National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) head Mostafa Abdel Wahed, Amwal Al Ghad reports this morning, citing unnamed sources. The committee will bring operators to the table to discuss demands Telecom Egypt divest its 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt when the former enters the mobile market and operators’ objections to paying 50% of licensing fees in USD, among other issues. Operators objected last week to the NTRA having been “appointed” by TE as the fixed-line monopoly’s go-between in commercial talks on infrastructure sharing.

Tutoring and child care startup Cairo Sitters announced an investment from Egyptian angel fund Kamelizer, Wamda’s Rachel Williamson writes. The size of the investment has not been disclosed, but Cairo Sitters’ CEO Hossam Taher said Kamelizer CEO Hanan Abdel Meguid would be stepping into the CTO role to help the company build a digital platform. The company will also be changing its name to Orcas as it moves to become a regional online marketplace, matching parents with caregivers who will be ranked on a points system based on factors including experience.

Sharqiya MP Zeinab Salem was allegedly assaulted by a police officer at the Nasr City police station on Friday where she was calling for the release of her nephew, who had been arrested over a fight. Salem was transferred to a Heliopolis hospital for treatment of a facial injury, sources told Parlmany. Both Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar and the head of the Cairo Security Directorate have apologized to Salem and the officer involved has been relieved of his duties; the case is now with the Prosecutor General’s Office for investigation. Rep. Nadia Henry said she intends to question the interior ministry on its treatment of Egyptians at police stations and prisons; she is also looking into the Salem case.

MOVES- Masood Ahmed, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund, indicated to IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde his intention to retire from the Fund in October, according to a statement from the IMF on Friday. Ahmed has occupied his current position since 2008, following his joining the Fund in 2008 as Deputy Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. The search for Ahmed’s successor is underway.

It now appears that almost anything can get an ad yanked off the airwaves. The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has pulled an ad for Labanita following a complaint from the Pharmacist Syndicate that claimed the spot in question was “offensive to pharmacists,” Al Shorouk reports. The (not particularly cool) advertisement (runtime: 0:30) had portrayed two pharmacists as cows unable to provide the customer with the correct medication.

** What follows is an abridged version of our coverage of Friday night’s events and their aftermath. The full version of this story appears here on our website.

Teflon Turk Erdogan bounces back from coup attempt; Egypt accused of using UNSC seat to confound resolution condemning coup.

As the world watched on Friday, a faction within the Turkish military — which appears to have been led by officers from the Air Force, the military police and armored units, according to the AP — attempted to forcibly seize power while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on vacation in the southwest Turkish resort Marmaris. The failed coup led to the deaths of at least 250 and the further cementing of Erdogan’s grip on Turkey, with Erdogan taking the opportunity to dismiss 2,745 judges across the country despite it being unclear what role, if any, they played in the events that transpired. More than 2,900 soldiers who took part in the attempt have also been arrested; footage over the weekend showed many of them being beaten or shot by civilians, in some cases as police watched.

Gulen, domestic opposition, and most world powers speak out against attempted coup as it was unfolding: US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, once one of Erdogan’s closest allies but now his most detested rival, had denounced the attempted coup as it was unfolding on Friday. Despite this, Erdogan has placed blame for the attempt squarely on Gulen’s shoulders, demanding that the United States extradite him, NBC News reported. The Turkish prime minister added that any country that stands by Gulen will be at war with Turkey. Domestic opposition parties CHP and pro-Kurdish party HDP both rejected the coup attempt on Friday, despite having been systematically harassed and marginalized by Erdogan in the past. Constanze Letsch hasan excellent piece in the Guardian explaining why so many non-AKP supporters defied the attempted coup.

Erdogan’s supporters and police beat, whip and in some cases kill surrendered soldiers in the street. The aftermath of the failed takeover has been ugly, to say the least, as numerous images have been released by the international media showing AKP partisans and police beating and whipping coup soldiers in the street who have already surrendered. (See Al Jazeera’s image gallery for multiple photographs of soldiers being attacked). There is also a disturbing video available online showing a dead soldier lying face down in a pool of blood in the street with AKP supporters kicking the dead body.

Turkish Airlines has resumed operations at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, but the US Federal Aviation Administration continues to prohibit US airline carriers to fly to or from Istanbul and Ankara airports as of time of dispatch, according to a notice by the US Embassy in Ankara.

Initial thoughts on the aftermath: A number of political observers were already noting on Friday that Erdogan will likely squander the brief moment of national unity to double down on his quest to not only consolidate power by pushing through his bid to amend Turkey’s constitution to create a presidential system, but also to further crackdown on all opposition. Ayse Kadioglu, a political science professor at Sabanci University, Istanbul, writes of the bombed-out Turkish parliament: ”Many of its major halls and corridors are in ruins. The sight was reminiscent of the Reichstag fire in Germany that took place on February 27, 1933, about a month after Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor.”

Egypt’s reaction: Egypt’s official line on the coup was that it respects the sovereignty of other nations and refuses to interfere in their internal affairs, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zeid in a call-in to Ahmed Moussa’s talk show “‘Ala Mas’oolity” (Arabic, runtime: 5:07). Abou Zaid discussed the issue of Egypt being blamed for the failure of the United Nations Security Council to issue a statement on Saturday condemning the violence and unrest in Turkey. Egypt’s objections reportedly concern a part of the statement which called on all parties to “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey,” diplomats tell Reuters. While Egypt’s Foreign Ministry objected to Egypt receiving blame for the failure, it did confirm through Abou Zaid that Egypt recommended that the wording of the phrase be changed to “respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law.”

That’s it, we’re calling it: A number of state and privately owned Egyptian newspapers on Saturday morning had their own ‘Dewey defeats Truman’ moment, prematurely calling the coup successful, with many running identical headlines, a point which was not lost on the international media, reported on by the AP and AFP, and which have since been reprinted all over the world.

Effect on Egyptian-Turkish economic ties: Egyptian traders with ties to Turkey have stated that the attempted coup will have no adverse impact on trade relations, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Meanwhile, the ministries of Trade and Industry and International Cooperation took the opportunity to reiterate that government-to-government talks on economic relations between the two countries remain nonexistent and joint economic cooperation councils have been frozen for the past three years. The ministry stated that the free trade agreement with Turkey currently stands. A source from the Chambers of Commerce denied a Turkish trade delegation is planning a trip to Cairo, AMAY says, but noted trade relations remained stable.

Back to rapprochement, or will Erdogan further retrench over Egypt’s response to the failed coup? Before the tumultuous events of last weekend, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Thursday afternoon that Turkey would like to normalize ties with Egypt if it spares former President Mohamed Morsi. “We think a statement of will by Egypt to the world in this direction is necessary both for democratization of Egypt and normalizing relations with Turkey … Turkey and Egypt are two key countries in the Middle East and north Africa, and it is natural for them to normalize friendly and brotherly relations,” Kurtulmus added. Kurtulmus’ demands did not stop there: He said Egypt should review the trials of Morsi and other Ikhwan members “by courts that are not impartial” and also called on holding “free, multi-party elections and to carry out democratic reforms.”

…We assume Abdel Aal did not receive the memo: House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdel Aal had told Sputnik before the coup attempt: “Egypt is ready to cooperate with Turkey … provided it does not interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs.”

** The full version of this story appears here on our website.

Driving the agenda: Turkey’s failed coup is the biggest story about Egypt in the international press this morning, starting with coverage of how Cairo blocked a U.N. Security Council call to respect the “democratically elected government of Turkey.” According to Reuters: “We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage,” Egypt’s U.N. Ambassador Amr Aboulatta said.

Erdogan is also said to have “avoided the fate of Egypt’s Morsi” (Wall Street Journal), and an Associated Press piece about state-owned media’s having jumped the gun and declared the coup a success in their print editions is getting wide pickup.

Egyptian author Yasmine El Rashidi went on NPR to talk to Steve Inskeep about her debut novel, Chronicle of a Last Summer. “It follows a young Egyptian whose life and country change over three turbulent summers.”

Egypt held the first centrally-dictated Friday sermon this past weekend following a government move to set Friday sermons through the Ministry of Endowments, reports Middle East Eye. Random attendees of the sermons opposed the idea, claiming a unified sermon fails to tackle different segments of society, while others believe the move is a political one aiming to curb discussion into state policies, the article claims. Last year, after banning unlicensed imams, the government imposed standardized weekly topics to be followed on Friday prayers. The latest move takes that one step further, imposing pre-written sermons that are to be followed verbatim.

Erdogan has nobody to blame for the coup but himself: Michael Rubin writes for Foreign Policy magazine: “Was a coup inevitable? No. But those plotting it presumably believed they were saving Turkey from an increasingly out-of-touch and ideological leadership. Erdogan promised to rule on behalf of all Turks, but increasingly he does not.” (Read)

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry responded to critics of his recent visit to Israel, saying the visit was ultimately in the interests of the Palestinian people, according to state news agency MENA as reported by Egypt Independent on Saturday. “[The visit] was to achieve the ambitions of the Palestinian people. This was the demand of the Egyptian people … that the Egyptian government be supportive of the Palestinian case.”

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the acting head of Egypt’s interest section in Iran to “explain Egyptian officials’ attendance at anti-Iran rally of Paris,” last week Iran’s MEHR news agency reported. The ministry wanted to “register its strong objections to the attendance of some Egyptian parliamentarians in the weekend rally of ‘anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO)’.” The small, Paris-based leftist MKO is a group of Iranian exiles advocating for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, and in recent years have had their terrorist designation dropped by both the European Union and the United States.

The International Cooperation Ministry has entered negotiations with the UAE for an EGP 500 mn grant to the National Authority for Potable Water and Sewage to finance extending sewage infrastructure into 40 villages, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr tells Al Borsa. The grant is part of several agreements signed with UAE to finance sewage projects in poor villages. The authority recently received EGP 1 bn from the UAE for the same purpose at 94 villages, all of which were completed, she said.

Over to the Saudis, the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives approved the USD 2.5 bn Saudi grant to help finance the Egypt’s economic development agenda and signed during King Salman’s visit in April, Amwal Al Ghad reports. This is odd, as we noted back in May that International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr stated that House approval was not required by virtue of not being a burden on the budget. Egypt has already received the first USD 500 mn tranche from the grant and has officially requested the second tranche earlier this month.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for AU member states to seek out alternative financing mechanisms which must be tailor-made to meet the needs of the specific country, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The President’s statements come during his informal sessions with African presidents at the sidelines of the 27 African Union Summit which begins today, according to an Ittihadiya statement.

Circle Oil has gotten a financial lifeline from the International Finance Corporation. The IFC agreed to extend its suspension of a December 2015 redetermination and any repayments due under its Reserve Based Lending facility until August, according to a company statement. Circle Oil was forced to suspend trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company says that USD payments from EGPC “have continued to be unpredictable and to date there has not been a sustained improvement. As a result, the Company continues to explore options for additional funding during the course of July in order to be able to discharge its financial obligations from August 2016.”

Egypt’s natural gas production has risen to 3.95 bcf/d in July compared to 3.90 bcf/d last month, a source at EGAS told Al Borsa. Production will increase again to 4.00 bcf/d by August once wells come onstream to make up for the natural decline in production, the source added.

RWE DEA is now owed USD 400 mn by the state, an EGPC told Al Borsa. RWE DEA’s contracts for Ras Badran, Gabal El Zeit, and Ras Al Fanar concessions are set to expire in July 2017, the official said, but RWE DEA have not requested renewal of the contract as receivables owed by EGPC continue to mount.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy met yesterday to discuss financing options for investors in waste-to-energy projects, with Fahmy indicating that loans and grants from international lenders such as the European Investment Bank are in the cards, Al Borsa reported on Saturday. As we noted back in November, the cabinet had approved a feed-in tariff rate for waste-to-energy projects of EGP 0.92 per KWh, with the electricity ministry set to pay EGP 0.42 of that rate, while the ministries of local development and environment paying EGP 0.50.

Egypt has issued a final rejection for a 33k tonne cargo of US wheat, saying it exceeds the maximum 0.05% level for ergot contamination, Bloomberg reported. Egypt had rejected the shipment initially from Venus International on 13 June, but the company appealed the decision on 10 July. Upon reinspection, the shipment was found to contain an ergot level of 0.096%. “The ministry will continue to preserve its botanical wealth by rejecting imported wheat that has an ergot percentage exceeding the allowed level,” the Agriculture Ministry reportedly said.

The state-owned holding company for food industries issued a tender on Thursday to buy 40k tonnes of soybean oil and 20k tonnes of sunflower oil, traders told Reuters. The deadline for bids is 19 July.

Calculating the exact cost of a national healthcare plan before implementing it is “challenging,” Deputy Finance Minister Mohamed Maeet told Al Shorouk. Maeet says that regardless of the cost, the state will only bear 40% of the cost of the plan and the remainder will be financed through subscriptions. He added that international agencies will help provide Egypt with technical assistance to implement a new health care system domestically.

The Housing Ministry will begin tendering 8,000-feddans this year for the first phase development of the 48,000-feddans New Alamein, sources tell Al Borsa. The first phase will include an exhibition centre, an entertainment area, 12 hotels, a university as well as malls, retail shops and sporting clubs, said Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly. The ministry aims to partner with international firms on the project. The development of New Alamein City will be managed by a joint venture between the Housing Ministry and the Armed Forces.

UAE real estate firm Al Nebras Group plans to build a EGP 1 bn tourist resort town in the governorate of Fayoum that would include resorts with sports and entertainment facilities, Chairman Saeed Al Swidan tells Al Borsa on Saturday. He said that the firm is currently in negotiations with the governorate to obtain 1,000 feddans for the project. Al Nebras most recently announced that it intends to invest AED 1.5 bn in Egypt by 2018 in sectors including real estate, construction, agriculture and tourism.

CIT Minister Yasser El Kady met with the CEO of Chinese mobile phone maker OPPO to discuss establishing a plant in Egypt to assemble smartphones for both domestic consumption and export to the wider MENA region, Al Masry Al Youm reported. The two discussed incentives for both exporters and investors in designated technology zones.

State-backed Ayadi Company for Development and Investment plans to cap the first round of funding for its tourism industry rescue fund to EGP 250 mn from its initially planned EGP 2.3 bn, said Ayadi Chairman (and former investment minister) Osama Saleh. This was due to lower than expected interest among investors on the back of the continued deterioration of the tourism sector and FX shortages, Al Borsa reports. Ayadi, which is only contributing EGP 50 mn to the fund, will close the first round of funding in early 2017.

Judge Mohamed Abdel Mohsen was elected as the new head of the Judge’s Club on Friday, beating out eight other candidates, Ahram Online reported. Mohsen is the deputy head of the Court of Cassation. The Judge’s Club is an official organization that represents 90% of Egypt’s judges. The election of the Club’s board also took place during Friday’s vote, seeing 84 judges compete for 16 spots on the board.

The State Council’s administrative court rejected on Saturday a lawsuit calling for the dismissal of the head of the Lawyers Syndicate Sameh Ashour from its board, following a petition signed by more than 1,000 lawyers in February calling for his dismissal, Daily News Egypt reported. Ashour called for an emergency general assembly on Sunday to vote on “withdrawing confidence in the board as a whole, rather than just himself,” DNE noted. A former contender for syndicate head, Montaser Al Zayat, held a meeting of his own seeking to remove Ashour. Al Zayat has called for judicial supervision of Sunday’s vote.

An Ismailia court dismissed assault charges against Hossam Hassan, one of Egypt’s most well-known football stars, after a photographer Hassan chased and assaulted (Arabic, run time 4:33) withdrew charges, the AP reported on Saturday. The incident took place earlier this month following a league game involving al-Masry club, managed by Hassan, who retired from playing in 2007.

Egypt’s oldest papyrus was put on display last week: A 4,500 year-old document detailing the daily life of the pyramid-builders was displayed at the Egyptian Museum last week. “The items are from the 4th Dynasty of King Khufu, or Cheops as he was also known, for whom the Great Pyramid of Giza was built as a tomb… the papyruses were discovered in 2013 in the port of Wadi el-Jarf.”

El Battal hopes to become the latest player in the ride-hailing app services space when it launches its app on Android and IOS in August. The company, which Al Mal reports will be competing with Uber, Careem, and Ousta, follows the model of Easy Taxi, as it recruits career taxi drivers as opposed to regular drivers. The company will set a cab fare rate of EGP 0.14 per km through its app. So basically, a cab-hailing service without the hassle of a post-ride argument.

The last leg of Solar Impulse’s round-the-world tour, which will run from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, was postponed yesterday after pilot Betrand Piccard fell ill, he tweeted. “I’m sick. Stomach upset. I prefer to postponed the take-off @solarimpulse. I cannot go flying for 48 hours in that shape. Sorry,” Piccard tweeted. Watch Piccard delivering a heart-warming goodbye speech probably back when he thought he was about to board that flight. Solar Impulse 2 landed last Wednesday morning in Cairo. Let’s hope Egyptian fuul / tameyya / koshary / hawawshy wasn’t responsible.