Egypt’s president appoints first-ever Christian woman as governor

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fatah el-Sisi swore in several new provincial governors on Thursday, including the first-ever Coptic Christian woman to hold such a position. Manal Awad Mikhail was appointed governor of Damietta province, AP reports. She was previously a deputy for the Giza governor. The reshuffle included new governors for Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Aswan and North Sinai. Egypt had appointed the first-ever female governor to the province of Beheira in a reshuffle last year. The Beheira governor was changed in Thursday’s reshuffle. Christians, who constitute about 10 percent of Egypt’s Muslim-majority population of 100 million, have long complained of discrimination and under-representation in top government positions. Christians supported general-turned-president Sisi, who led the ouster of his Islamist predecessor.