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Wednesday, 26 October 2016

International coverage of Egypt: Of sugar and life in exile

International press coverage of Egypt was largely centered around the sugar crisis, with many correspondents using the seizure of sugar at factories and warehouses as a way into stories about Egypt’s economic challenges. The latest — and most significant — to file is Heba Saleh from the Financial Times (paywall), while Bloomberg with follow-up stories and both the BBC and the Guardian have joined the party.

Meanwhile, Egyptian traders in the world’s largest wheat market (that would be us, for the uninitiated) are the subject of Salma Wardany’s lovely, non-Bloombergian lede for Bloomberg: “Bleary eyes and missed dinners are now part of the job description for a wheat trader in the world’s most important market.” The key takeaway: “Discussions to buy wheat are taking longer because Egypt is receiving fewer offers, giving negotiators less room to bargain between sellers, Soliman said. Even though a long-running standoff over how much fungus is permissible in a wheat cargo has largely been resolved, relations between buyers and sellers remain strained.”

Also worth noting this morning:

And last, but not least, ever wonder what a ‘gown holder’ was? “A gown holder is a diamond ring with attachable tweezers, so that a lady may lift her hem off the floor as she dances — arm outstretched, like a Disney Cinderella,” the New York Times helpfully tells us in a piece that briefly mentions a USD 10k gown holder on sale from the estate of King Farouk.

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