Egypt part way with Cuper. News on the Pharaoh’s national football team is still topping coverage of Egypt this morning as they land in Cairo following their three defeats. It’s official, Egypt’s coach Hector Cuper’s contract will not be renewed, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced yesterday, adding that they will be holding a presser today at EFA headquarters to respond to questions regarding Egypt’s World Cup participation. Talks were reportedly initiated with Moroccan coach Herve Renard for the position after his encouraging World Cup performance, ESPN reports . Mahmoud Hassan (a.k.a Trezeguet) also made headlines as Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers entered the race for his signature, offering him £20,000 a week.

FIFA “intends to clarify” why Mo Salah was absent from Egypt’s post-match press conference after its 2-0 loss to Saudi Arabia on Monday, according to RT. Salah, who was expected to attend the conference to receive the Man of the Match award, reportedly cited health issues for his absence.

It’s amateur hour at Bloomberg. (Or: Oh, stuff it, Timothy): It’s not just our domestic press (or the talkshow set) that’s full of nutters: The western press has its share, too. To wit: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld yesterday Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen “handing him one of the biggest victories of his presidency,” Reuters reports. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE were not included in the ban even though they’re “from the same region,” as Bloomberg’s Timothy L. O’Brien oh so astutely points out. Why? Because these countries “do business with Trump. … If the president was as dedicated to national security as he suggests, it would be logical for his list of banned countries to look a little different.”

Gov’t holds high hopes for e-visas: The government is expecting the already improving fortunes of the tourism industry to take a turn for the better following the implementation of an e-visa system, according to travel magazine TTG. “We want travel to Egypt to be as seamless as possible and in the digital age, this new e-visa system is an important step towards simplifying the process,” said the UK and Ireland director at the Tourism Promotion Authority Amr El Ezaby. “Latest tourism figures have shown a significant rise in arrivals and we hope that this trend continues as more people are encouraged to visit our diverse nation,” he added.

The US should be more wary of Cairo and Moscow’s warming ties. Stronger relations between Egypt and Russia recently are often dismissed by US policymakers as “mere posturing, an attempt to get a better [agreement] out of the US but nothing more,” Washington Institute fellow Anna Borshchevskaya tells the National Review. “This would be a mistake,” she adds, pointing out that Russia’s growing influence in the region poses a threat to US interests because “Moscow provides a lot that Washington can’t,” such as arms agreements free of human rights-related preconditions. “Egypt is the cornerstone of American regional security in the Middle East, and if it turns to [Vladimir] Putin we would lose one of our key regional allies,” Borshchevskaya notes.