All about El Sisi’s time in Baghdad: The nation’s talking heads had a lot of coverage for President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s participation in the Arab Summit hosted in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Saturday. El Sisi’s speech during the summit focused on Egypt’s positions on several regional issues — Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan. Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 11:17) described the president’s remarks as “the most important at the summit,” adding that he made it clear there can be no peace in the region without a just and comprehensive resolution to the Palestinian cause – even if Israel normalizes ties with all Arab countries.

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Arab Summits under the spotlight: El Hadidi questioned the point of holding summits like the Arab Summit, pointing out that only a handful of heads of state showed up. She criticized the final summit statement as “highly traditional” and ineffective. Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa also had coverage the summit (watch, runtime: 3:16 | 1:37).

ALSO ON THE AIRWAVES- The BRT trial operations kick off: The bus rapid transit (BRT) is now in its pilot phase ahead of opening to the public. The first 35-km stretch runs from the Police Academy in New Cairo to the Alexandria Agricultural Road. Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir joined Moussa (watch, runtime: 44:00) to share the ins and outs of the trial phase. Trial runs for the first phase have already started without passengers and the first phase should officially launch operations on 1 June, he said, adding that the second phase will kick off trial operations in August.

No more microbuses on the Ring Road? El Wazir said microbuses will be banned from the Ring Road starting 1 June as part of the BRT rollout. Some 300k people are expected to use the BRT daily, with tickets priced at EGP 5 for every four stops. The company operating the system will eventually be listed on the EGX, according to El Wazir.

REMEMBER- The EGP 10 bn BRT project aims to replace microbuses and other forms of public transport on the Ring Road.

AND- Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk spoke to El Hadidi to debunk reports that 30% of the nation’s poultry has perished due to outbreaks and vaccine shortages (watch, runtime: 19:04). “The reports are completely untrue,” he said, adding that the mortality rate remains within the normal 3-6% range, driven by seasonal weather changes. He also appeared on El Hekaya’s Amr Adub to discuss the issue (watch, runtime: 12:25).

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