In an unexpected turn of events, talk shows shifted their attention from Gaza to the new cigarette prices, the upcoming presidential elections, and the Metro.

[Redacted] Israel, [redacted] the IMF, says presidential hopeful Yamama: Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amerhosted presidential candidate Al Wafd’s Abdel Sanad Yamama who gave his two cents on the situation in Israel and the Egyptian economy. “Egypt should not continue to normalize ties with Israel as long as the Gaza issue is still present … I believe that Egypt should withdraw its ambassador to Israel,” he said (watch, runtime: 3:03). On the economy front, Yamama argued that we should cut ties with the IMF and stop all foreign borrowing (watch, runtime: 3:02). The National Elections Authority will announce the final list of presidential candidates later today.

The next phase of Metro Line 3 will start operating no later than January: The third phaseof the Metro Line 3 will be fully operational within a month or two, Transport Minister Kamal El Wazir told Ala Maso’uleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 4:40). The third phase, which runs between Kit Kat and the Ring Road, kicked off trial operations on the sidelines of the TransMEA conference on Sunday.

Good news, bad news. Cigarettes are going to become more widely available but their official prices have increased in wake of the new tobacco VAT, which we have more information on in the news well, above. The cigarette price hike unveiled by the state-owned tobacco giant Eastern Company is “much lower than expected,” Managing Director and CEO Hany Aman told Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 5:32), without elaborating.

Gaza coverage continues: Egypt is working to mediate truce negotiations between Hamas and Israel, which would see Hamas release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire. Masa’a DMC hosted an in-studio discussion about the prospects of a pause and what it would mean for Gaza (watch, runtime: 4:15 | 4:33). We have the details in this morning’s War Watch, above.

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