Egypt, a country renowned for its sense of humor, makes headlines for losing it: Topping coverage of Egypt in the international press is pop singer Sherine Abdel Wahab being banned from performing in Egypt — and possible facing trial. Her crime? A joke she made during a performance of the song “Have You Drunk From the Nile?” during which she warned a fan against the health hazards involved in literally drinking from it, AP reports. She was banned by the Egyptian Munchkins …er… Musicians Syndicate, headed by former singer and professional wet mop Hany Shaker, who would give the Consumer Protection Authority’s Atef “Smiley Face” Yakoub a run for his money. Judicial officials announced she was due to stand trial in December on charges of spreading “false or tenacious rumours,” the Guardian reports (we have yet to see environmental data which qualifies her joke as a false rumor). DISCLAIMER: There are exactly zero fans of Sherine at Enterprise.

Also worth a skim this morning:

• French arms sales to Egypt are raising concerns both in Egypt and in France, Albaraa Abdullah writes for Al-Monitor. Er, really?
• The government has temporarily stopped issuing new licenses for outdoor advertisements in an effort to “beautify” Cairo streets, Menna Farouk writes for Al-Monitor, picking up on a story from earlier this month.
• Egypt has the fundamentals and vision to become an export hub, according to a piece of ‘advertorial’ fluff run in the regional edition of Bloomberg’s Businessweek. (We don’t disagree with the sentiment — just don’t take a paid-for supplement as editorial coverage.)
• The four Arab teams in the World Cup are providing a welcome distraction to their citizens from increasing regional problems, Bloomberg reports.
• Islamist Ayat Oraby is taking advantage of US free speech laws and preaching hate against the government and Coptic Christians from New Jersey, according to the Algemeiner.
• The plight of the LGBT community in Egypt is once again being explored in this write up by ABC News.