El Sisi expresses frustration with slow pace change: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi appeared “to lose his temper several times” with the governor of Alexandria and other officials at a ceremony yesterday to mark the opening of a housing project in the nation’s second city. Noting that “his comments at such ceremonies often provide policy direction,” Bloomberg reports that El Sisi is frustrated that officials have not collected for the state what it is owed, saying “Give them their due and we take ours” El Sisi said (watch, runtime: 04:56).

The president is pushing a switch to prepaid electricity, gas and water meters and ordered “the interior minister, Alexandria’s governor and the military’s chief for the northern part of the country to devise a strategy to deal with illegal housing across the area.”

El Sisi denies he fat-shamed Egyptians: “How can I shame my own family? Egyptians are my family. How can I watch them [putting on weight] and stay quiet?” President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asked at a conference (watch, runtime: 01:55), defending himself against a wave of social media criticism that followed earlier remarks from him that he was concerned about how overweight Egyptians are. The Associated Press had the story.