Talk shows are (mostly) back from their summer hiatus, with a few exceptions and changes. Lamees Al Hadidi is soaking up the sun until September, but has several others filling in for her on Hona Al Asema in the meantime, according to El Watan. Al Hayah Al Youm host Tamer Amin is also vacationing in (of course) Russia until next month, leaving a spot open for a new show, Al Hayah fi Masr, Al Shorouk reports. ONE also seems to still be mulling what to do with Kol Youm, which Amr Adib hosted prior to his sudden on-air resignation.

Now, onto the news: Fuel price hikes and “exceptional raises” and pensions for state bureaucrats were the topic du jour for the talking heads who managed to force themselves to get back to work.

Wage and pensions increases for state bureaucrats will cost state coffers more than EGP 50 bn collectively, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary. The increases, which President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ratified yesterday, came as part of Income Tax amendments that will result in an EGP 8 bn drop in tax collections next year, Maait said (watch, runtime: 14:33).

The government sanctioned an increase in cab fares in tandem with the recent hike in fuel prices to make it harder for cabbies to set their own tariffs, Consumer Protection Agency head Rady Abdel Moty told El Hosary. Abdel Moty also urged citizens to snitch on cab drivers who try to price gouge (watch, runtime: 3:43). Fares for informal buses and microbuses are proving more difficult to control, MP Ahmed El Segini said (watch, runtime: 6:03).

Egypt is unlikely to completely liberalize fuel prices — at least not anytime soon, former oil minister Osama Kamal said. Instead, the government is targeting lower consumption and reduced spending on fuel subsidies. Kamal suggested that the Finance Ministry encourage drivers to switch to CNG-powered motors from gasoline by offering to cover the cost of the switch (watch, runtime: 22:45).

Elsewhere on the airwaves, sports critics and journalists spent their evening dissecting the latest from the World Cup. Egypt’s defeat against Russia was “disappointing” but not surprising considering the Pharaohs’ less-than-stellar performance, Yalla Kora’s Editor-in-Chief Karim Saeed said. National star Mohamed Salah was also not physically ready for the match, Saeed claimed (watch, runtime: 1:34 and here runtime: 1:09). Our next and final match against KSA will be an opportunity to salvage our image, he said (watch, runtime: 1:16).

Hona Al Asema paid tribute to army general Youssef Baki, the man behind the idea of destroying the Bar Lev Line during the 1973 war against Israel, who passed away yesterday (watch, runtime: 5:29).