Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie made the rounds on the talk shows last night to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the launch of the New Suez Canal. Launched in 2015, the new canal — built in parallel to the old one in a bid to boost traffic and reduce waiting time for ships — has so far seen 130k ships pass, carrying about 8 bn in net tonnage and netting the Suez Canal Authority some 40 USD bn, Rabie told Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 8:56). The new canal managed to increase the daily average number of ships passing through the canal by about 50%, with daily averages now reaching record highs (like the 89-ship all-time high reached yesterday), Rabie told Ala Mas’ouleety show host Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 3:46).

Russia sanctions have been good for business: Western sanctions on Russian oil have increased the number of oil tankers passing through the canal from the Gulf to Europe up around 60%, Rabie told Moussa (watch, runtime: 10:07). LNG shipments have risen 31% over the same period. The Suez Canal Authority is currently discussing potential transit fee hikes for the beginning of next year, but plans to keep rates fixed for the coming two to three months at least, he said. Rabie also phoned into Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: watch, runtime: 23:17).

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s diplomatic stance on various global issues also got attention from the talking heads. El Sisi expressed his support to the “One-China” policy, which asserts that Taiwan is part of China, days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit escalated tensions between China and the US and provoked fears of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 2:44 | 3:54) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 3:23) covered El Sisi’s speech, which also saw him comment on Egypt’s stance towards the violence that has escalated in Gaza over the past couple of days. We have more on Egypt’s role in the conflict in Gaza in this morning’s Diplomacy section, below.