Mondays are typically the quietest news day of the week, and today is no exception. So a pro tip for those of you out there with news to break: Liven up our Mondays by feeding us a big, juicy news tip on a Thursday or Sunday, please? Pretty please?

Food for thought as this covid thing continues: “Work can feel tough for everyone right now, but the right thoughtful gestures from the boss can give employees the boost they need,” the Wall Street Journal suggests. Whether you’re a boss working from home, on some kind of hybrid system or just dealing with the covid-in-fall blues, this one is worth reading.

The IMF and World Bank’s (virtual) annual meetings kick off later today and run until Sunday 18 October. The meetings, headlined “supporting a resilient recovery,” will also focus on human capital, digital development, and poverty. Look for a coordinated response to covid-19 to be on the agenda.

World Bank boss David Malpass praised Egypt’s effort to mitigate economic fallout from covid-19, including our EGP 100 bn stimulus package, during an introductory event ahead of the meetings, reports Ahram Online.

The meetings come as the global economy’s recovery from the covid-19 shock is both frail and uneven, with emerging economies faring significantly worse than advanced economies, according to the latest Brookings-FT Tiger index. Economic data from around the world is now weaker than it has been at any previous recession since the index started tracking global economic recovery, says the Financial Times. This “precarious outlook” will likely be the predominant theme of the annual meetings.

Keep an eye out for the October update of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, which is due to be released in full tomorrow.

On a related note: Look for corporate earnings in major western markets to be in the tank as we kick off 3Q earnings season. The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal are putting lipstick on the proverbial pig as they cheer projected earnings declines that are just slightly better than originally forecast.

And it could get worse as we gird for the return of the Zombie apocalypse in a new guise: Axios quite presciently warns that market watches should be prepared for a wave of US bankruptcies and insolvencies when the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve withdraw their covid measures. Zombie firms kept on life support by emergency fiscal and monetary policies are going to come under plenty of pressure.

TRIAL BALLOON- Egyptian citizens may be required to show proof of health insurance when applying for a passport after Financial Regulatory Authority Deputy Chairman Reda Abdel Moaty floated the idea at the Regional Forum for Medical Insurance and Healthcare that kicked off yesterday, according to Hapi Journal. Insurance would have to be proven valid for the entire period a passport is valid, under Abdel Moaty’s proposal.

The foreign ministers of Jordan and Iraq will be in town tomorrow for talks with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on unspecified agreements signed in Amman last August, Iraqi state news agency Assabah reported. The Iraqi delegation will also be sitting down with Egyptian officials to organize a meeting of Egypt and Iraq’s prime ministers in Baghdad soon.

Meanwhile, rival Libyan factions are due to wrap tomorrow political consultations here in Cairo on charting a “constitutional path” towards a political settlement and presidential and parliamentary elections in the civil war-torn country, according to a local press report and a report by the State Information Service. The talks pave the way for UN-led efforts to launch a Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which will feature virtual meetings starting 26 October, and face-to-face talks next month in Tunisia.

Three direct Alexandria-Dubai flights are now on national flag carrier EgyptAir’s weekly flight schedule, Dubai’s airport said in a statement carried by Mubasher.

The Health Ministry reported 129 new covid-19 infections yesterday, up from 125 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 104,516 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 11 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 6,052. We now have a total of 97,688 confirmed cases that have fully recovered.

The virus that causes covid-19 can live for weeks on banknotes, glass, and other common surfaces, according to research by the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness picked up by Bloomberg. The virus remains infectious on these surfaces for 28 days, compared to 17 days for the virus that causes the regular flu. The research also found that warm temperatures kill the virus faster — just in time for the winter season.

Inhaled covid-19 vaccines may prove superior to injections: Researchers in the US, UK, and Hong Kong are developing inhaled vaccines as a potentially more effective covid-19 treatment than conventional jabs, according to Bloomberg. The theory is that by targeting the nose and mouth, inhaled vaccines stand a better chance of preventing infection than injections, which scientists still aren’t sure can protect people from the virus.

The year’s biggest banking M&A just happened in KSA: Saudi’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) agreed to buy out rival Samba Financial Group for USD 15 bn, according to Bloomberg. NCB will now be the Gulf’s third-largest lender with more than USD 220 bn in assets and a market capitalization of USD 46 bn.

iSheep will be looking forward to the unveiling of as many as four new iPhones at Apple’s virtual “Hi, Speed” event tomorrow, which you can stream live here. Expect it to be the “most significant iPhone event in years,” CNBC says. Meanwhile, Nikon and Fujifilm are unveiling mirrorless cameras this week: Nikon’s much-awaited ZG II and Z7 II cameras should make their debut on Wednesday and Fujifilm’s X-S10 midrange mirrorless camera — which was leaked over the weekend — will also be unveiled this week.

And for the squash geeks among you: The CIB Egyptian Squash Open, which kicked off on Saturday, runs until next Saturday at the New Giza Sporting Club and the Pyramids of Giza. It’s the first “platinum” level tournament since the PSA World Tour returned after a six-month break thanks to covid-19. Check out coverage on The Squash Site as well as the Egyptian Squash Federation’s site.

Elsewhere in racket sports: Rafael Nadal won his 20th Grand Slam men’s singles title yesterday, beating Serbian rival Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, reports Reuters. The Spanish star — widely hailed as the king of clay courts — is now tied with Roger Federer for major tennis titles after handing a resounding defeat to Djokovic at the French Open.

Also from planet sports: The LA Lakers beat the Miami Heat yesterday to clinch the 2020 NBA Championship title — their 17th championship to date and their first NBA title since 2010. Yesterday’s win ties the Lakers with the Boston Celtics for the most NBA titles in the league’s history. LeBron James was also named the NBA Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career.

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed. Blackboard appears every Monday in Enterprise in the place of our traditional industry news roundups.

In today’s issue: We look at the regulations and resources that Egypt needs for its push towards fully-online degrees to be successful.