Last night got us all nostalgic for September 2020 when building code violations were all anybody wanted to talk about on the airwaves. The government’s decision to approve settlement requests for people in rural areas without verifying their information first was headline news on the nation’s talk shows last night. As many as 1.6 mn building code violations in rural areas are already on track to be settled with the government, which their application had been filed by their owners by the end-of-March deadline set earlier, Cabinet spokesperson Nader Saad told Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 5:07). Local Development Ministry spokesperson Khaled Kassem shared a similar estimate on Ala Masouleety (watch, runtime: 3:50), and recapped the news with Amer (watch: 4:15). The government had earlier moved to reduce fines in rural areas to EGP 50 per sqm to ease the burden on owners there, whose income barely meets their necessities, Saad said.

Madbouly’s target to vaccinate 40% of the population by 2022 also got coverage. Madbouly’s national target comes as the country aims to manufacture two vaccines here at home, including China’s Sinovac vaccine — the first batch of which is expected to be produced by the end of this month, according to the health minister. Abiding by the current preventive measures remains paramount, even by those who received the vaccine, presidential health advisor Mohamed Awad Tag Eldin said in a phone-in to Yahduth Fi Masr (watch, runtime: 5:34).

And there was still time for GERD: News of Ethiopia’s plans to set up a military base in the Red Sea was covered on Ala Masouleety, which questioned whether there would be a movement against Addis Ababa’s unfriendly intentions, especially given its recent announcement of planning to build more than 100 dams across the country (watch, runtime: 10:51 | 3:51).