Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to an unusually busy Monday morning on the news front, where the big story of the day is the upcoming visit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Moon is due in town from Wednesday to Friday, the first visit to Egypt by a South Korean president in 16 years. Moon will meet with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during a regional tour that will also see him swing through the UAE and Saudi Arabia. South Korea is a major player in our economy, with companies working on everything from infrastructure to heavy industry and renewables — to say nothing of giving many of us daily hits of dopamine through Samsung-made handsets. We have more in this morning’s news well, below.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

The Senate is holding a second and final day of plenary sessions to finish discussing a bill that would create a new Labor Act regulating the private sector, to which it gave a preliminary thumbs up earlier this month, Al Borsa reports. The Senate will then pass the legislation back to the House of Representatives for final approval. If passed, the bill could change how private sector employees can be dismissed, making it harder for employers to fire staff for illnesses but allowing workers to lose their jobs if convicted of a felony. The bill would also set a minimum annual raise requirement equal to 3% of the employee’s wage amount covered by social ins, according to local media. Public sector employment is governed by a separate law.

NO COMMENT- The Senate has voted down a proposal by an MP that would have seen the draft Labor Act allow fathers to take a week’s paternity leave during the six months after a baby’s birth.

The World Future Energy Summit kicks off today in Abu Dhabi. The three-day summit will bring together leaders in the renewable energy industry as part of the Masdar-hosted Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The World Art Forum is ongoing at Cairo’s National Museum of Egyptian Civilization until Wednesday, 19 January. The inaugural edition of the forum, which kicked off yesterday, will see artists from around the world participating.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- The US media is awash with stories on the different ways that omicron is hitting the country. Here’s a snapshot:

• The omicron outbreak shows no signs of peaking, leaving the country with “a tough few weeks ahead,” the US surgeon general has said. (Bloomberg)
• Small businesses are feeling the pinch as the variant prolongs supply chain problems, fuels labor shortages, and hits footfall. (Reuters)
• Lobbyists are calling for more covid support: Businesses are calling on lawmakers to provide bns of USD in fresh relief to help them through the omicron wave. (Wall Street Journal)
• Adding to supply chain disruption: New lockdowns in China and unrest among dockworkers on the US West Coast has analysts fearing the worst for supply chains and inflation. (Washington Post | New York Times)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Applications are open until 31 March to join the Femtech Accelerator Program run by Flat6Labs and women’s healthcare firm Organon. The four-month-long virtual accelerator will support female-led digital healthcare start-ups operating in MENA to build products, test market fit and improve business models. You can register at this link.

Consoleya will kick off its Startup Meet-up series tomorrow with a talk from Ayman Ashour, founder and principal at Newton International Management. The talk, titled Exits and Reset Dilemmas, will see Ashour discuss how to plan for your startup’s exit and the connections you’ll need along the way. Our friend Hossam Allam from Cairo Angels will moderate the discussion. The event will take place from 6-9pm — you can register using this link.

National flag carrier EgyptAir will operate a flight from Casablanca to Cairo this Wednesday, 19 January, to bring home Egyptian expats stranded in Morocco following border closures.

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

*** 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: What’s standing in the way of Egyptian researchers reaching their full academic potential? A lack of funding, problems sourcing equipment, and the absence of private sector firms to help plug the gaps, researchers tell us.