President Abdel Fattah El Sisi kicks off a four-country tour of Africa today during which he will visit Tanzania, Rwanda, Gabon, and Chad. Regional security and trade will top the agenda for the trip, according to an Ittihadiya statement picked up by Al Masry Al Youm.

The House of Representatives’ Transportation Committee is holding an “urgent” hearing today to discuss Friday’s fatal train collision, committee chair Saeed Teima said yesterday, Ahram Gate reports. Transport Minister Hisham Arafat Has been asked to attend the session (We have more updates on the story in the Speed Round, below. And as a general note: It can be urgent that a hearing be held, but the hearing itself cannot —semantically— be “urgent.” Same applies to meetings. Just saying.)

The Ikhwan claim they are planning “to stick to peaceful activism” in marking today’s anniversary of the dispersal of the Raba’a sit in. Acting Ikhwan supreme guide Mahmoud Ezzat says maintaining “peaceful struggle” will ensure its members don’t “fall prey to violence and desperation.” The Interior Ministry has nevertheless stepped up security nationwide to secure public areas and tourist hotspots ahead of the anniversary.

<RANT>STOP COMPLAINING about garbage in the streets and do something about it. As a kid growing up, one of us had summer and after-school jobs. Chalk it up to parents who felt it would be character-building and teach us something about business and the world outside our cosseted home. We started at the bottom of the ladder as a lackey to a crusty, lovable old apothecary who owned a small chain of shops. The first thing we had to do each shift? Sweep the sidewalk around the (very long) downtown store that occupied the corner of a city block. And no pushing the trash onto the next guy’s stoop — it was bagged and tossed.

Now imagine if you taught your household staff to do the same. If you taught or otherwise incentivized your bawab / gardener / driver not to drop your trash / lawn clippings / whatever around the corner from your place. If you tipped your parking dude to police the area of trash. If one of your office manager’s KPIs was to keep the area around your building tidy. Or, should you own a shop or a chain of them, if you followed the example of the grumpy old pharmacist and ensured the areas outside your places of business were free of orange peels, empty bottles, rotting garbage, wrappers from everything under the sun, and things we cannot describe in a family-friendly newsletter…

How much better would your day be if you could walk around without traipsing through filth? How much more livable would our amazing city be?

It’s called taking personal responsibility — and taking action to clean things up and change attitudes where government has failed. We don’t think it’s much to suggest, and we’ll be putting our money where our mouths are starting this morning. Join us?</RANT>