Abeer Suleiman, central committee member and campaign coordinator of the People’s Alliance, called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to start a new page and release imprisoned youth bearing light charges.

POLITICS

Political actors call on Sisi to release revolutionary youth for Eid
Abeer Suleiman, central committee member and campaign coordinator of the People’s Alliance, called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to start a new page and release imprisoned youth bearing light charges. The alliance’s statement pointed out the amnesty for young prisoners will confirm that the president can give opportunities to build Egypt after the opposition’s practices, stressing that the occasion of Eid is the best time for a presidential pardon. In addition, Dostour party issued a statement to ask President Sisi to respond urgently to the repeated calls for the immediate release of revolutionary youth who are unjustly detained in prisons. [EGYNews (Arabic), 10/3/2014]

Egyptian women’s council offers sex harassment hotline for Eid
Egypt’s state council for women said Thursday it will specify a hotline for females to report cases of sexual assault during the Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha, which starts on Saturday. Mervat al-Talawy, head of the National Council for Women, said the council would collaborate with the police department to combat violence against women to intervene quickly to arrest harassers. Egypt has long suffered from sexual harassment, a problem that has gone unreported and has not been tackled for years. Eid celebrations usually witness the worst cases of sexual violence, with large numbers of young men on the streets. [Ahram Online, EGYNews (Arabic), 10/2/2014]

Also of Interest:
NCW prepares to support women in parliamentary elections | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Cairo governor says government polices will focus on education | EGYNews (Arabic)
Anti-coup alliance calls on supporters to rally on October 6 anniversary | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)

COURTS

Alaa Abdel-Fattah appeals jail sentence for “insulting” police
Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has appealed his month-long prison verdict for “insulting the interior ministry,” legal sources said. Sources said that an Egyptian misdemeanor court set 16 October as the date to decide on the appeal. Abdel-Fattah was sentenced in absentia to a month in prison and fine of EGP200 after a dispute with a police officer while he was detained pending a trial on charges of illegal protesting. [Ahram Online, 10/2/2014]

Egypt judge in mass death sentence cases removed
The Egyptian judge who oversaw mass death sentence cases against Islamist supporters of the country’s ousted president, drawing strong international criticism, has been removed from his criminal court, officials and the judge himself said on Thursday. The removal of Judge Said Youssef, taken by a top appeals court, signals a possible shift in Egypt after an extensive crackdown on backers of toppled President Mohammed Morsi and an attempt by judges to begin to repair the damage done by judge’s heavy-handed rulings. [AP, 10/3/2014]

ECONOMY

Gallup: Egyptians’ views on life, economy starting to rebound
After a tumultuous year of political turmoil, violence, and at times international isolation, Egyptians seem to be turning a corner. The percentage of Egyptians who rate their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering” has been cut in half, dropping to 16 percent this June, one year after hitting a record high of 34 percent. At the same time, the percentage who rate their lives highly enough to be considered “thriving” has nearly doubled over the same period, rising from 9 percent to 17 percent. [Gallup, 10/3/2014]

Also of Interest:
CAPMAS reports production surge in early 2014, but actual growth unclear | Mada Masr
Minister says new Suez Canal project costs EGP 30 billion | SIS
Smart card system for fuel goes into effect this January, says finance minister | Mada Masr
Bank deposit EGP23 billion higher than last July | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Per capita subsidy on goods EGP465 per year | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)

SOCIETY & MEDIA

Life of jailed Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma in danger, says Doctors Syndicate
Egypt’s Doctors Syndicate said Thursday that the life of prominent activist Ahmed Douma, on a hunger strike for a month now, was “in danger for his life.” The syndicate called on judicial authorities to act fast and bypass normal procedures to refer Douma to the intensive care unit in a hospital outside the prison or else “there is a grave threat to the life of the patient.” On Wednesday, Douma suspended his hunger strike due to stomach and duodenum ulcers. His situation has not improved, however. The syndicate said Douma’s wife asked for its help after she visited her husband in prison and found out he’s suffering from continuous vomiting. She said Douma was brought to her unconscious by others who had to carry him. [Ahram Online, 10/2/2014]

Egypt should respect convention of children rights, says Human Rights Monitor
Human Rights Monitor submitted an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention calling for their urgent intervention in the case of the detained minor Mohamed Abdellatif in Egypt, the group said in a Friday statement. Thirteen year-old Mohame Abdellatif’s health is severely deteriorating as he continues into the third week of his hunger strike. The prosecutor renewed his detention another seven days on October 2. Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities arrested and detained five other fourteen year-old boys from Shubra, Cairo on Thursday, according to Freedom for the Brave, an initiative that provides support for detainees and their families. The boys were arrested for wearing t-shirts with signs of Raba’a al-Adaweya. [DNE, 10/3/2014]

Also of Interest:
Mufti calls to renounce terrorism and extremism | EGYNews (Arabic)
Egypt: LGBT rights campaign launched against persecution of homosexuals | IBT Times
Minister of supply: intensify oversight of markets during Eid | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Schools affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood still closed two weeks after start of school | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)

SECURITY

Military says twelve terrorists including commander killed in security campaigns
Mohamed Samir, spokesman of the armed forces, said in a statement on Friday that the army’s extensive security campaigns in several governorates during the past few days have killed twelve and arrested sixty-eight “terrorists.” In addition, sources said that Egypt’s army killed a field commander in Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis during clashes on Thursday in the north of Sinai. Mohamed Abu Shatiya, among militants behind the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai last year, died during fighting with the army south of Rafah, on the border with Gaza. Two tons of explosives were confiscated from a nearby tunnel connecting Sinai to Gaza during the incident, they said. [Reuters, Aswat Masriya (Arabic)

Bombs explode in Gharbiyya, two injured
An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded Thursday evening in front of Mahalla Police club in Gharbiyya governorate causing no casualties, a security source said. The vicinity has been cordoned off, and civil protection forces and explosives experts began combing it in search for foreign bodies, the source told Aswat Masriya. Another bomb detonated earlier on Thursday in front of Gharbiya’s municipal governor’s office, leaving two security personnel injured. Anonymous assailants placed an IED inside a bag, which they threw at the governorate’s office prior to the arrival of Gharbiyya governor. [Aswat Masriya, DNE, Egypt Independent, 10/3/2014]

Also of Interest:
Security tightened near Suez Canal on Eid al-Adha eve | Egypt Independent, EGYNews (Arabic)
Four hundred and one prisoners pardoned on occasion of Eidul Adha | SIS
Two jihadists killed, eighteen terrorist hotbeds destroyed in North Sinai | SIS

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt-Turkey spat continues, as Cairo calls Erdogan’s latest attack ‘desperate’
The diplomatic war of words between Egypt and Turkey continues as the Egyptian ‎foreign ministry issued a statement early Thursday describing the Turkish prime ‎minister’s statements about Egypt as “desperate.” In a speech to Turkish parliament on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country stands against all forms of discrimination and has adopted a “totally humane, consistent attitude towards countries like Egypt, where the democratic demands of citizens are oppressed with methods supported by a military coup.” Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it has “monitored” Erdogan’s “latest insulting comments,” which it called a sign of Turkey’s “desperation” over Egypt’s achievements in domestic stability and openness to the world, as well as its contributions to regional stability. [Ahram Online, 10/2/2014]

Egypt to co-host ‘Gaza reconstruction’ conference
Representatives of international organizations, ministers of various countries, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are due to attend an international conference on Palestine co-hosted by the Egypt and Norway in Cairo on October 12, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced on Friday. The international conference is to address specifically “the reconstruction of Gaza” and aims to “strengthen the United Nations’ list of import and export of goods and materials into and out of the Gaza Strip,” the ministry statement said. The Palestinian unity government will coordinate with the international community to address the needs of private sector projects. The conference will be under the chair of the secretary generals of the United Nations and the Arab League. [DNE, SIS, Aswat Masriya (Arabic), 10/3/2014]

Also of Interest:
US envoy Allen arrives in Iraq, to visit Jordan, Egypt, Turkey | Reuters
Ghannouchi: Bouteflika rejected Sisi’s request to consider the Brotherhood a terrorist group | Egypt Independent
Egypt condemns terrorist attack in Homs | SIS
Ethiopian president says 40 percent of Renaissance Dam completed, no war if talks fail | Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Egypt condemns Israeli blueprint for the construction of settlements in east Jerusalem | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
SCAF meeting led by Sisi explores improving bilateral relations with South Sudan | Ahram (Arabic)
Interior ministry: telecommunication company arrested for sending Egypt information to Qatar | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)