Good morning, friends, and welcome to the last day of November. We hope the penultimate month of the year has been kind to you — and that you’re looking forward to the end of 2021 as much as we are. The past eleven months (heck, the past 91 weeks…) have, in news terms, been like drinking from a firehose.

Because there is often no justice in the world: Liverpool icon Mohamed Salah came in seventh in voting for France Football’s 2021 Ballon d’Or. The closely watched vote on the best men’s football player in the world saw Lionel Messi take the top spot, while Salah (with 121 votes) came in behind Cristiano Ronaldo (178) and ahead of #8 Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City (73 votes). The France Football poll is voted on by sports journalists from around the world; Salah is the top goal-scorer this season in the English Premier League.

PSA #1- It looks like we’re starting the final day of this heat wave, with the mercury due to ease to 29°C today. Let’s hope the falling temperature takes with it the pollution that has blanketed our fair city since the start of the week. Look for daytime highs of 22°C from Wednesday through to the end of next week, our favourite weather app tells us.

PSA #2- A reminder that you won’t be able to get into a bank, post office branch or government facility from Wednesday onward without proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test. Unvaccinated students will also be prevented from accessing university campuses.

OMICRON WATCH- Biden is trying to un-break the glass: The US president yesterday tried to temper fears of the new covid variant, telling the country that the mutation is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.” (Politico | NYT | AP)

A new warning from the WHO might make his job harder: The World Health Organization is warning that the threat posed by the Omicron covid variant is “very high” and that the mutation could have “severe consequences” if it spreads. (AP | Reuters | Washington Post)

As is Fed chief Jerome Powell, who will today warn US lawmakers that the new variant poses a major threat to the American economy. “The recent rise in covid-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant pose downside risks to employment and economic activity and increased uncertainty for inflation,” he will tell the Senate banking committee. (Bloomberg | CNN | WSJ)

TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, but … the doc who first alerted authorities to Omicron thinks the bug may be a “mild” strain based on the symptoms she is seeing her patients.

That emergency G7 meeting yesterday doesn’t seem to have achieved much: No new vaccine commitments to the developing world, no containment strategy. There are some words in the joint statement.

You can’t say the same thing about China, which yesterday pledged to donate another 1 bn vaccines to Africa to help it fight the virus. (AFP)

Still: Volatility in global markets eased yesterday as investor concerns about the economic consequences of Omicron seemed to ease. Stocks in Europe, the US and the Middle East all rebounded following last week’s sell-off, while oil prices steadied from the 11% plunge on Friday.

Asian markets are continuing where the US left off this morning, with stocks across the region in the green. Shares in the US and Europe will see early gains when the markets open later today, according to the futures markets.

ALSO MAKING NEWS ABROAD- Jack Dorsey has stepped down as the head of Twitter and is being replaced by CTO Parag Agrawal. Jack is complicated, and the share has underperformed relative to its tech peers. But still: Investors booting out a founder feels an awful lot like the state taking away your kid. The global press is all over this: Bloomberg | CNBC | FT | BBC.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

You won’t need to quarantine before Umrah if your jab is Saudi-approved: Travelers from Egypt who are fully vaccinated with a Saudi-approved vaccine can begin their pilgrimage right away without needing to quarantine, the Saudi Embassy in Cairo said. The kingdom-approved vaccines are the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and J&J jabs. Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines — which are cleared by the WHO — are only approved for entry into Saudi if you’ve had a booster shot. Travelers who haven’t received boosters for Sinopharm or Sinovac will need to quarantine for three days and present a negative PCR test after 48 hours.

Germany’s KfW Development Bank is launching today its open call for (largely green) project proposals in Egypt as part of their investing for employment facility (pdf), which will give grants to projects that drive job creation. You can learn how to apply here.

The Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX) continues today and runs until this Thursday, 2 December. Some 400 international manufacturers and suppliers are showcasing military equipment and defense technologies at New Cairo’s International Exhibition Center.

TOMORROW- It’s a new month. The key news triggers to keep your eye on at the start of December:

• PMI: Purchasing managers’ index figures for November for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will be released on Sunday, 5 December. Figures for the UAE, which normally come out on the same day as Egypt and Saudi, will be released two days later on Tuesday, 7 December.
• Foreign reserves: November’s foreign reserves figures will be released during the first week of the month.
• Inflation: Inflation figures for November will be released on Thursday, 9 December. Data for inflation typically appears on the 10th of every month, but is moved up one day if that falls on a Friday.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its final meeting for the year to review interest rates on Thursday, 16 December.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Young professionals can now apply for the recently-launched McKinsey Forward program which focuses on leadership, business, and the transition to digital, McKinsey announced in a press release (pdf). The six-month program aims to teach participants how their business can combat challenges and use them to their advantage, integrate tech, and be adaptable and resilient during times of change. Forward will be available without charge to those eligible to apply, and one of the requirements is having less than five years of work experience. You can apply via this link before the 12 December deadline.

The new round of Silicon Waha’s Startup Factory will kick off on 10 December at the Assiut Technology Zone. The program will offer marketing tips and tricks for startup founders, who can apply here.

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

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: There’s a massive data gap when it comes to reporting global emissions, which could severely undermine efforts to address climate change by reducing net emissions, a Washington Post investigation has found. In addition to only a fraction of the world’s nations reporting their emissions to COP, many of the measurements and figures that are being reported are less than accurate.