It was a night of miscellany on the airwaves last night as the talking heads shuffled between topics, including updates from the ITB Berlin tourism expo, the presidential elections, and the Russian industrial zone.

Although security is still a significant concern in the minds of tourists when they consider travel to Egypt, there is a general optimism about the situation, Tourism Minister Rania Al Mashat said from ITB Berlin. The tourism industry produced “very satisfactory” results in 2017, she told Kol Youm’s Amr Adib, and hopes are for the market to continue improving in 2018. Al Mashat said she is in talks with German and Chinese officials to draw more of their tourists here (watch, runtime: 41:59).

Egypt’s embassies across the globe are gearing up to receive voters for the upcoming presidential elections from 16-18 March. Masaa DMC’s Osama Kamal spoke to ambassadors in Frankfurt (watch, runtime: 12:00), Kuwait (watch, runtime: 5:45), and DC (watch, runtime: 5:48), who explained to him that travelers as well as expats will be able to vote from abroad. Yahduth fi Misr’s Sherif Amer said that the Arab Summit in Saudi Arabia has been pushed to April from March to accommodate the election schedule (watch, runtime: 1:10). Adib, meanwhile, continued to loudly “encourage” his audiences to participate in the poll (watch, runtime: 9:55).

The 5 mn sqm Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) that will be built in East Port Said will create as much as 35,000 new job opportunities, Cabinet spokesman Ashraf Sultan told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Nahawand Serry. The RIZ, which Cabinet approved yesterday, is expected to draw in around USD 7 bn in investments (watch, runtime: 4:00).

Sultan also discussed new legislation on waste management, which Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy told Serry will solve Egypt’s garbage problem (watch, runtime: 38:21).

Meanwhile, legislation on cybercrimes will not see the state police social media posts expressing opinions, but will target fake news, as well as libel and slander, House ICT Committee chair, Nedal Al Saeed told Adib about the bill currently under discussion (watch, runtime: 2:41)

The EGX has been on an upward trend despite the global slump that followed the US’ decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, Kol Youm’s Amr Adib joyously exclaimed, attributing the rise in market activity to “optimism” triggered by economic improvements (watch, runtime: 4:00).

UN Human Rights Council chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s statements before the Security Council on Egypt’s “pervasive climate of intimidation” were on the receiving end of Kamal’s ire on Masaa DMC (We have more in Egypt in the News). Kamal slammed Al Hussein’s criticism of the Egyptian government, saying that measures such as blocking websites are necessary in the fight against terrorism (watch, runtime: 5:52).