Trump offers to help broker Russia-Ukraine talks ahead of Nato summit

Good afternoon, friends. We hope you enjoyed the long weekend — we’re in for a full week this time around. It’s an unusually quiet day on the news front — both at home and abroad, and we’ve got a brisk issue for you this afternoon.

Egypt are in the round of 16 — and Egyptians all over the world are making it clear just how happy they are two days later. A full recap of everything that happened over the break is below, along with tonight’s World Cup fixtures. Elsewhere in today’s issue, we sit down with Amall Askar, founder of the AI-driven media firm Arise, and we have a podcast recommendation for anyone easing back into the week.

First up, the news…

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

🌐 It’s an unusually quiet Sunday on the wires, with no single story dominating the global front pages. Still getting plenty of ink are the Fourth of July celebrations and the six-day funeral for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war in February. Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, remains absent from the funeral.

^^Read more on: CNN, BBC, and Reuters.

MEANWHILE- US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his readiness to help broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday, with Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov describing the discussion as “businesslike and highly constructive.” The call comes ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara on 7-8 July, where Ukraine is expected to be a central agenda item alongside Iran.

^^Read more on: CNN, Bloomberg, and NBC News.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• We are returning to the quarterly automatic fuel-pricing mechanism this quarter. The fuel pricing committee will resume reviewing prices every three months, after the government temporarily switched to a cost-recovery model during the subsidy unwind;
• The Central Bank of Egypt is tightening the rules on bank investments in corporate and securitization bonds, after a recent rise in lenders’ exposure to the instruments. Banks have six months to bring their internal policies in line with the new framework, which requires board-approved rules for bond investments to be filed with the regulator;
• The CBE is expected to hold interest rates steady for the third consecutive time when its Monetary Policy Committee meets this Thursday. Policymakers are expected to stick to a “wait-and-see” approach, anchoring inflation expectations as the market braces for potential domestic subsidy cuts and global monetary constraints.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The heat isn’t going anywhere, folks. In C-town, the mercury is set to peak at 39°C, with a low of 24°C. Up north, expect a high of 31°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app. Stay hydrated.