The controversy over what Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said or didn’t say on the Qatari News Agency’s website yesterday (and the GCC ban on Qatari media that it prompted) were center stage on the airwaves last night. (We’ve got full coverage in this morning’s Speed Round.)

On Al Hayah Al Youm, Lobna Asal spoke to Egyptian war veteran Mahmoud Mansour, who reportedly had helped form Qatar’s intelligence bureau in the ‘80s. Mansour said he has proof that Tamim’s statements were genuine and said in anger after he was ignored at the Arab-American summit in Riyadh earlier this week (watch, runtime: 3: 42).

Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi spent the first half of her episode shooting critical remarks at Qatar, accusing the country “of playing a major role in funding terrorist groups in Egypt” after ousted Ikhwani president Mohammed Morsi was removed from office (watch, runtime: 3:56).

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib marched to the sound of the same drum as his wife, saying that he doesn’t believe Qatar’s claims that the website was hacked or that Sheikh Tamim’s statements are fake. Qatar, he said, is trying to do some damage control after the remarks went viral and someone informed the sheikh that it was wrong of him to say what he did in the first place (watch, runtime: 5: 42).

Away from the Qatari scandal, Adib spoke to Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly on (strangely enough) the increasing number women in Egypt’s debtors prisons. These women — who borrow money to cover family expenses and are then jailed for not repaying due to their poor economic conditions — will be accounted for in the state’s social housing programs and will not be asked to jump through the hoops of paperwork, Madbouly said. Businessman Mohamed El Morshedy rang Adib to announce that he was donating EGP 1 mn to the cause (watch, runtime: 5:33).

Lamees also announced the winner of the first season of the Hona Al Shabab competition last night: psych platform Chaiselong (watch, runtime: 11:18).