Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to the last full week of May as we continue our post-Ramadan sprint to the end of the first half. We hope you enjoyed the beautiful weekend weather as much as we did — and that you’re looking forward to a pleasantly productive week.

THE BIG STORY of the day is the same at home and abroad, as pundits emphasize that Egypt has again underscored its “relevance” to the “Mideast peace process” by brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, bringing to a standstill the latest conflict between our neighbors to our east. Critically, Egypt’s diplomatic intervention saw President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on the phone with Joe Biden, who had come under pressure from top advisors to distance his administration from Cairo. Everyone from the Washington Post to Bloomberg and the Christian Science Monitor has picked up on the shift.

You can catch the Ittihadiya and White House readouts of the conversation between the two leaders here, and we have chapter and verse in this morning’s news well, below.

FROM THE DEPT. OF REALLY GOOD NEWS- New data suggests that two jabs of Pfizer / BioNTech or of the Oxford / AstraZeneca provide good protection against the B.1.617.2 “Indian” strain of concern, according to new research out of the UK. The story tops front pages from Reuters to the Financial Times. The news comes as AstraZeneca’s chief executive gave his first interview following a “string of setbacks” including the emergence of very rare fatal side-effects from the jab.

On a down note: The country bade farewell this weekend to veteran actor Samir Ghanem and business leader Ahmed Bahgat. We take note of their passing this morning in On Your Way out, below.

***CATCH UP QUICK with the top stories from Thursday’s edition of EnterprisePM:

• IDH comes home: Shares of Integrated Diagnostics Holding have started trading on the EGX in the country’s first-ever technical listing.
• EFG Hermes is well on its way to becoming a universal bank: EFG Hermes and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt have signed an agreement to acquire a 76% stake in the Arab Investment Bank.
• Zabaleen are getting new competition: Four ministries signed contracts with Ertekaa Integrated Services & Waste Recycling and Enviro Master Environmental Services to handle solid waste management in eastern and western Cairo.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

Will a court decision release the Ever Given today? We’re going to hear today from an Ismailia court on whether the Suez Canal Authority will be ordered to release the Ever Given, which it has impounded as it seeks compensation from the vessel’s owners. The mega-vessel paralyzed global shipping for days earlier this year after it ran aground in the Suez Canal. We have the story in this morning’s news well, below.

The House of Representatives has a stacked agenda to start the week. On the general assembly’s docket today:

• A bill to bring a minimum wage increase into effect as of 1 July, after the Madbouly Cabinet signed off on the move last week;
• A bill to set up an investment fund for endowments;
• A bill allowing employers to automatically dismiss civil servants who fail dope tests, eliminating the need to refer the employees to court before sacking them.

Housing Minister Assem El Gazzar will also make an appearance at the House on Tuesday to respond to MPs’ inquiries about his ministry’s sewage and potable water projects.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The third edition of Egypt's Green Economy Forum will be held on 14 June, according to a statement (pdf). Among the speakers: CIB Chief Sustainability Officer Dalia Abdel Kader, CDC Group's Egypt Coverage Director Sherine Shohdy, and Mayada Magdy, chief program officer of Japan International Cooperation Agency in Egypt.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.