Good afternoon, friends, and a happy humpday to you all. Today’s slower newscycle comes as a respite in this warmer weather, with today’s issue bringing you coverage of Egypt’s declining non-oil private sector, Netflix’s dropoff at the hands of Trump, and a suggestion of a guilt-free sweet treat to offset it all.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

Egypt’s non-oil private sector continued to decline in April, which non-oil firms’ attribute to declining demand amid weaker consumer spending, according to S&P Global’s latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report (pdf). Egypt’s headline figure fell 0.7 percentage points to 48.5 in April, down from 49.2 in March, marking the lowest PMI reading for the country in 2025 so far.

Businesses reported a drop in customer spending, which led to lower intakes of new business — and this, in turn, led to a reduction in output, with the rates of contraction for both new orders and output reaching their lowest level in four months.

The effect of rising fuel prices is starting to show: Input prices rose at their highest level in four months in April, with panelists indicating that this was down to an increase in fuel prices, as well as higher material and staff costs. However, this did not reflect on output prices, which remained unchanged during the month. “Although input costs rose at a much sharper pace over the month, this was mainly attributed to the roughly 15% uplift in fuel prices, rather than underlying inflationary pressures," S&P Global Senior Economist David Owen said.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Friedrich Merz fails in first round of Chancellorship vote: Leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Friedrich Merz, has failed to secure enough votes in the first round of voting at the Bundestag to become chancellor, despite his party’s coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) holding a majority of seats. This marks the first failure in Germany’s post-war history for a chancellor candidate to secure first-time backing from parliament. (FT I Reuters)

Political uncertainty looms: Merz received only 310 votes when 316 were needed for confirmation, indicating that several coalition members either defected or abstained. This unexpected outcome has triggered market shock and political uncertainty, especially as it comes just before the Christian Democrat was set to take office on Tuesday. A second round of voting will be required, though no date has been announced. The same threshold of 316 votes will apply for the next attempt. In the meantime, Olaf Scholz continues to serve as acting chancellor.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The temperature’s upwards trend is still going strong, with the mercury in the capital tomorrow projected to rise to 35°C throughout the day, followed by a warmer-than-usual 20°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.