Last night on the airwaves was all about building violations, after fresh amendments to the Unified Building Code designed to crack down on the spread of unlicensed construction were discussed yesterday by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and other senior officials. Rep. Tarek Shoukry, the deputy head of the House Housing Committee, told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 5:22) that the amendments would address cases where people missed the deadline to submit reconciliation requests.

REMINDER- Back in 2020, owners of illegal buildings were offered the chance to pay “reconciliation fees” to the government to legalize their buildings.

The latest tally: The state has received some EGP 22.5 bn through 2.8 mn reconciliation requests since the bill was signed into law in 2020. Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 1:46) and Kelma Akhira had coverage (watch, runtime: 13:03).

“Cancerous lesions”: That’s how Rep. Ahmed El Segni, head of the House Local Administration Committee, chose to describe the nation’s informal settlements in an interview on Ala Mas’ouleety last night (watch, runtime: 4:59).

But what about new controls? The state is currently drafting a bill on new building controls, Shoukry said (watch, runtime: 2:19). The bill will be finalized by the cabinet “within a month” before making its way to the House.

Also getting attention last night: Is the grave of famed Egyptian writer Taha Hussein under threat? Reports that Hussein’s grave could be bulldozed to make way for a new road was picked up by Kelma Akhira last night. El Hadidi spoke to Hussein’s granddaughter, who said that a red X — a mark used to earmark structures for removal — had been placed at the site. She’s urging authorities not to demolish her grandfather’s grave (watch, runtime: 4:13). Cairo governorate spokesman Ibrahim Awad denied plans to remove the grave, telling El Hadidi that the news is unfounded (watch, runtime: 1:05).