New US ambassador JONATHAN Cohen was sworn in as the new US ambassador to Egypt last week, presenting his credentials to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. The post had been vacant since July 2017 after former ambassador Robert Stephen Beecroft left office after completing his three-year tenure. Cohen served as the acting representative of the United States to the UN and served at US embassies in Iraq, France, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. A Foreign Service officer for over three decades, Cohen speaks French, Swedish and Italian, some Hebrew and “is working on his Arabic”, an embassy note said.
Prices reduced THE PRICE of subsidised food staples will be reduced starting 1 December, Supply Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Kamal said on Saturday. This includes the cost of cooking oil, sugar, rice and flour. The decision, according to Kamal, comes as a direct result of a recovery in Egypt's economy. Official statistics said that inflation fell to its lowest level in nearly a decade last month, easing to 2.4 per cent compared with 17.5 per cent a year earlier. Kamal stressed that the measures aimed to make goods available in suitable quantities and prices. The steps come in the wake of September's small-scale protests against the harsh economic reform programme that hit poor and middle class Egyptians. Nearly one in three Egyptians lives below the poverty line, according to official figures released in July.
Five killed in pylon collapse FIVE people were killed and two others injured on Sunday when a 220 kilovolt electricity pylon collapsed at the Seqil power station in Giza, the Health Ministry said in a statement. The incident took place during work on the station's equipment. Seven ambulances rushed to the site and transported the injured to Imbaba and Osim hospitals. The injured suffered fractures, cuts and bruises. The Ministry of Electricity said that parts of the high-pressure electricity tower, already old and unused, fell on workers while it was being dismantled by a contractor. The prosecution formed a technical committee to determine the reasons behind the tower's collapse. Camera footage at the site of the incident was confiscated.
Arrested for bullying SECURITY forces on Monday arrested three Egyptian youths accused of bullying a Sudanese refugee student in a video that went viral on social media, sparking public backlash. The defendants were arrested in Hadayeq Al-Qobba after police identified them and verified the authenticity of the video. Shared on Tik Tok and Facebook applications, the video showed the defendants ridiculing the student, John Manuth, who was on his way to school. They mockingly told him to take “one beautiful photo” with them, preventing him from going to school. One defendant posted an apology on video, claiming that the incident was merely “a joke”. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 November, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
