A new World Bank report sees low growth for emerging markets in general — and for MENA in particular — but the outlook for Egypt isn’t horrible. We have a full summary of the World Bank’s half-year update to its report “Global Economic Prospects: Divergences and Risks” in The Macro Picture, below.

We can’t say for certain the “empty period” has begun, but the slowdown in news yesterday was palpable.

Yes, but is it the “real” Koueider? If we learned nothing else amid yesterday’s news drought, it’s that the tightly-held belief as to which “Koueider” (Koueider or Mandarine Koueider) is the “real Koueider” is entirely a function of the neighborhood in which you / your parents / your grandparents grew up. Still, we’re glad the gang at Uber (sort of) granted us our wish: The ride-hailing app will allow you to summon a basbousa on demand tomorrow (Thursday) from 2-6pm in Cairo and in Alexandria, the company said in an emailed statement heralding Uber 7alaweyat. Why do we say “sort of” granted us our wish? We had asked for Uber kunefa yesterday, but we’ll make do with basbousa.

Meanwhile, across the pond: Hillary Clinton proclaimed herself the Democratic presidential nominee after what the New York Times called a “crushing victory” in the New Jersey primary and a win in New Mexico. Rival Bernie Sanders is reportedly making plans to lay off most of his campaign staff even as he continues to cling to hopes that a commanding win in California could keep his campaign alive until the Democratic party’s convention next month. Polls in California closed at 5am CLT, and with 7% of ballots counted at dispatch time, Clinton had c. 63% of the vote to Sanders’ 37%. The New York Times liveblog and the Los Angeles Times are your go-to sources if you’re not on Ze Tweeter.

When do we eat? Iftar will be at 6:56pm CLT today, while the cut-off for sohour will be at 3:08am CLT, according to Islamic Finder. As we eat, we will continue to call for thinking people everywhere to boycott the so-called “hijinks” of Ramez’s “hidden camera” show, which has sunk to new levels of un-watchability this Ramadan with “Ramez Plays with Fire” after seeming to have hit its nadir last year. Why this ‘gentleman’ deserves coverage in the business press is an eternal mystery.