Mohamed Elmeshad

US presidential election campaigning always starts way too early, and many of the electoral storylines that emerge almost a year before the vote may have become completely irrelevant by November 2020. But tonight, the stage is set for the fifth Democratic debate, this time in Atlanta, Georgia, and it's a good opportunity for Democrats to find a narrative that will still serve them in a year's time.

The WhatsApp tax turned out to be the last straw for many residents in a country that seemed to be in economic freefall. Hariri's government had hoped to appease the protesters in promising to remedy the "waste and corruption", by offering to decrease wasteful government spending and submitting a "near zero-deficit" budget in 2020. This would entail halving government salaries and would require nearly $3.3 billion in contributions from the private banks.

No matter how much of a football fan you are, there is very little anyone could have done to get you excited about this match. That's only natural, perhaps, for a game played at the early stages in a mid-level league, between two teams that are not exactly fan favourites, in an empty stadium. It was a forgone conclusion that the match would generate close to no commercial or social interest. Nothing to see there, right? The post-match analysis however was an exercise in media surrealism.