To say that the weekend was bland on the news front would be an understatement. We’re hoping things pick up a little bit as the week progresses.

** #7 President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is off to Berlin today for a four-day visit, where he will attend an Africa-focused G20 Investment Summit on Tuesday. El Sisi is expected to deliver a speech on Egypt’s role in African development, Ittihadiya spokesman Bassam Rady said, according to Youm7.

El Sisi will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and German President Frank Steinmeier during his visit, Germany’s deputy government spokesperson Ulrike Demmer said. The President had met in Cairo yesterday with a delegation from the German parliament to discuss cooperation in the fields of investment, health, education, and Egypt’s role in stemming illegal migration to Europe.

The 2018 Narrative PR Summit takes place today at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza.

US stocks are heading for their worst month since the global financial crisis, the Financial Times warns in a long take on the state of markets, “reigniting fears the longest bull market in history has come to an abrupt halt.” We’re not looking at the end of the world just yet, the FT’s editorial board notes, but the risk that a downturn market could be tough to manage is very real. “Markets have had a wretched October…Globally…a broad adjustment is underway,” and a correction in the US market indicates that “investors are finally recognizing the risks not just of the end of QE, but of rising trade protectionism…There is no reason, for now, why the correction should become a rout. If it does, however, the erosion of multilateral co-operation — of which Mr Trump and his tariffs have become symbols — will make it all the more difficult to contain the consequences.”

** #8 But the real doomsday device in a sell-off? That would be exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.That’s the suggestion in a JPMorgan piece picked up by Zero Hedge, which notes that “JPMorgan calculates that some USD 7.4 tn in stocks would be subject to forced selling by passive funds during the next downturn.” Read the full story here.

Oman says it’s time to recognize Israel exists: Sultan Qaboos of Oman met with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in Muscat on Thursday, prompting the sultanate’s foreign minister to declare, “I will say this for the first time: Israel is a state that is present in this region and we all know this. Maybe it is time for Israel to be treated the same and also bear the same obligations as other countries.” The Wall Street Journal has more.

In miscellany this morning:

• %#!$& yes: Ireland has overturned a constitutional ban on blasphemy.
• Africa has exactly one woman head of state this morning after Ethiopia appointed veteran diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde to the largely ceremonial role.
• It was a busy news weekend in America, where a mass shooting at a synagogue and the arrest of a would-be serial bomber who targeted opponents of US President Donald Trump came as voters prepare to head to the polls on 6 November. If this was happening in here, would the US press not be droning on about how “election violence wracks Egypt”? Just sayin’.
• Microsoft is once again the second-most valuable company in the world, overtaking Amazon.
• The Red Socks and Dodgers took 7 hours and 20 minutes to finish game three of baseball’s world series. The Dodgers won 3-2 in 18 innings, leaving the series at 2-1 in Boston’s favor.

A quick read to keep things in perspective as another work week begins: What I learned about life at my 30th college reunion in the Atlantic. You can speed-read or skip the stuff about fair Harvard at the top and get straight to the bullets without missing much.

Which words entered the dictionary the year you were born? Financials, woke, lumpectomy, aspartame, newswire, page-turner and pack journalism all made the cut in the year of our birth. Check out your own here.

PSA #1- Double-check your conference call time — clocks fell back an hour in the UK overnight. London is now two hours behind us. Time will change in most parts of the US and Canada on 4 November. Egypt no longer sets clocks back an hour in fall.

PSA #2- Expect relatively mild weather throughout this week, with temperatures in Cairo set to rise slightly to 29°C today and stay in the 31-32°C range for the rest of the week, according to the meteorological authority. Look for overnight lows in the high teens.