Coverage of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s New York visit and Mo Salah falling short of winning the FIFA Best Player Award were among the most popular topics of discussion on the airwaves last night.

Talking heads and pundits all jumped on the Mo Salah bandwagon to congratulate the national star for winning the Puskas Award and console him for missing out on the top award. El Hekaya’s Amr Adib extolled the virtues of the Liverpool striker, saying that making it to the top three alongside Croatia’s Luka Modric and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is an achievement in itself (watch, runtime: 4:22). The Puskas Award relies mainly on a popular vote, which shows the magnitude of Salah’s fanbase, said sports critic Ihab Al Khatib (watch: runtime: 9:47). Egyptian Football Association member Karam Kordy suggested that Salah’s infamous injury at the hands of Sergio Ramos may have put a damper on his bid for the award, but maintained that Salah still has a bright career ahead of him and more chances to win the award down the road (watch, runtime: 5:18). Al Hayah fi Masr also covered the awards (watch, runtime: 0:13).

Ittihadiya spokesman Bassam Rady gave Masaa DMC a rundown of El Sisi’s agenda in New York yesterday (the details of which are in Speed Round, below), noting that our economic reform program was praised at nearly all of the president’s meetings (watch, runtime: 3:46).

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s address at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit was significant to fellow African countries, particularly as it highlighted the importance of the peaceful resolution of conflicts, journalist Heba El Qodsy said on Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 5:56). Political science professor Ashraf Singer said much the same, adding that the speech effectively addressed Egypt’s role in the continent (watch, runtime: 4:35).

El Moselhy talks commodity prices, subsidy program maintenance: Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy had a chat with Masaa DMC’s Eman Al Hosary about the effect of the economic reform program on the production and consumption of basic commodities. The EGP float doubled the state’s subsidy bill, but the government has not cut back on these subsidies or raised prices of basic commodities, El Moselhy stressed. He also noted that the country has sufficient reserves of everything from wheat and poultry to sugar and oil (watch, runtime: 1:50).

El Moselhy also touched on the ministry’s internal trade strategy, which he told El Hosary entails establishing logistics areas for storage, sorting, and packaging goods, as well as setting up wholesale distribution outlets across the country (watch, runtime: 3:17).

The Health Ministry will offer health insurance to construction and quarry workers, General Authority for Health Insurance head Soheir Abdel Hameed told Hona Al Asema. The ministry has so far tallied some 264k workers that will be provided with insurance, which workers can apply for through offices in their respective districts. The move comes as part of the state’s preparations for the rollout of the Universal Healthcare Act, according to Social Insurance Fund head Samy Abdel Hady (watch, runtime: 7:29). (We note here that Abdel Hameed is talking about day labourers, not full-time employees of registered builders and quarrying companies.)

Meanwhile, the Personal Status Act was a topic of debate between Al Azhar’s Islamic research academy member Abdullah Al Naggar and lawyer Nehad Abu Qomsan on Hona Al Asema. Civil society organizations have been calling for the law to be amended (watch, runtime: 16:00 and runtime: 15:00).