Business could take a back seat to foreign policy over the next couple of weeks. Look for plenty of discussion of Cairo-Washington ties in from now through early April, when President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is apparently now set to visit the White House. In parallel, speculation is mounting that US President Donald Trump may have played a role in the rapprochement between Cairo and Riyadh, where Aramco has already made its first deliveries under an until-now suspended supply contract. We have chapter and verse in Speed Round, below.

With so much attention on matters political, look for any one of “Egypt’s latest outrages” (to borrow from the New York Times’ editorial writers) to similarly dominate coverage of Omm El Donia in the Western press in the weeks ahead. It is, to quote James Hetfield, “Sad But True.” (Watch, runtime: 5:27)

World Bank-backed Upper Egypt development program to launch today: Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr and Trade Minister Tarek Kabil will hold a joint press conference today in Cairo with World Bank Group’s Egypt Executive Director Mezra Hassan to officially launch the Upper Egypt development program in Sohag and Qena. The WB providing some USD 500 mn in funding for the program, Youm7 reports.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is arriving in Cairo today to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and other regional issues with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ahead of the Arab Summit scheduled for 29 March, according to an emailed statement from Ittihadiya.

Goodnight, Johnny B. Goode: The real King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is dead at 90. Chuck Berry, groundbreaking rocker who more than Elvis Presley was the King of Rock and Roll and helped both popularize and define the genre, has died at age 90. As the New York Times puts it in their obit of the great man: “While Elvis Presley was rock’s first pop star and teenage heartthrob, Mr. Berry was its master theorist and conceptual genius, the songwriter who understood what the kids wanted before they knew themselves. With songs like ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven,’ he gave his listeners more than they knew they were getting from jukebox entertainment.” Listen to Berry’s Johnny B. Goode, catch a cover by Judas Priest, or watch the tribute scene in the original Back to the Future.

** Weather warning: Picking up where we left off yesterday, look for high winds across much of mainland Egypt this morning accompanied by rain along parts of the North Coast as well as sand storms and blowing dust south of Cairo. The capital city will see cooler temperatures, a chance of fog early this morning and some blowing sand later in the morning.