Is it too much to hope Inflation levels are cooling? The central bank announced that annual headline inflation in August dropped to 31.9% from 33.0% a month before, while core inflation dipped to 34.86% from 35.26% in July, leading analysts to think Egypt’s inflation has peaked. The elephant in the room, so far as we’re concerned? One of the guys we know has crunched the numbers and is convinced that inflation for the nation’s middle class is running at something like 85%. We have full coverage of the central bank’s inflation announcement in in the Speed Round, below.

The annual Bright Star military exercises between US and Egyptian armed forces kickedoff yesterday for the first time in eight years amid an awkward time in US-Egyptian relations. North Korea still looks to be a sticking point (more in the Speed Round).

If you’re in energy and think we could become a regional hub, keep your eye on Israel, where an expanding corruption probe has dragged down shares of Delek Group (which controls the Leviathan and Tamar field from which we hope to import gas by reversing the Arish-Ashkelon pipeline) and which threatens energy minister Yuval Steinitz. Bloomberg has the story.

It’s Patriot Day in America in observance of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks. It is not a federal holiday, but the US flag will fly at half-staff at government buildings and at American embassies around the world, and a moment of silence will be observed at 8:46 EDT, the time at which American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Tom Junod’s wrenching “The Falling Man” for Esquire remains the best piece we have read about that day.

Two of the best stories we’ve read in recent weeks are New York Times pieces we picked up on the weekend, but left out of yesterday’s issue on space considerations. “What the Rich Won’t Tell You” should resonate with, well, a good many of us. In it, a researcher outlines her work on how — and why — workers in finance and other privileged folk downplay their wealth.

Then go read “Finding God in a Hot Slice of Pizza,” wherein memoirist Tova Mirvis struggles with three midlife crises that should resonate with many here in Egypt: Her break with the orthodox strictures of her religion, her divorce, and what it means to be a supportive parent — all told through a decidedly non-kosher piece of pizza.