I wanted to write 150 blog posts this year, but clearly that was way too optimistic. This is the 52nd post of the year and probably the last one for 2024. Not bad honestly. Next month this blog will be 20 years old!

• Alaa's mother Dr. Laila Soueif is entering her 81st day of her hunger strike to free her son. Her protest seems to be ignored by the Egyptian and UK governments. She lost 22Kg which is very worrying given her age. She is receiving lots of support from human rights groups, mathematicians and civil society around the world. #FreeAlaa

• Ashraf Omar is still in pretrial detention with no end in sight to his ordeal.

• Egypt will introduce a new law regulating medical liability and enhance patient protection. Something a late friend of mine would have loved to see. My understanding that there are conceptually three broad types of medical errors:

  1. Errors of Planning: use of a wrong plan to achieve a goal. Example, wrong diagnosis or wrong management plan.
  2. Errors of Execution: actions or inaction that contribute to medical complications.
  3. Falsifying medical records or lying: example, writing down that a procedure took place when it didn't or a false examination.

All three can lead to severe consequences or death of a patient but the first two are done in good faith and can be avoided by better training. The third one should lead to adminstrative consequences and review of license. Unfortunately, the law includes prison sentences which human rights groups like EIPR and the medical syndicate are objecting to.

• Egypt is passing a law that will replace UNHCR with a government agency. This is a cause for concern for refugees in Egypt.

• This interview with Arab Barghouthi (Marwan's son) on BBC HardTalk is worth listening to (23 mins).