Egypt

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyzes the new constitution proposed for Egypt (another constitution was just adopted in 2012). The proposals include:

* The Egyptian military would get enshrined as a branch of government unto itself;

* While it's typically a good thing for the judiciary to have autonomy, the Egyptian judiciary, "which strongly supported the military takeover" from the elected Muslim Brotherhood, won independence in the constitutional draft;

* The Supreme Constitutional Court, which decides constitutional issue, would get the right to appoint its own chief justice.

The new constitution is slated for a referendum in January. In July, the Egyptian military overthrew Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi, the first president to be elected since the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak.

The Washington Post reports on the harsh sentences that 21 Islamist women and girls were given for protesting a court decision "that came a day after police beat and terrorized prominent female activists in a crackdown on secular demonstrators under a tough new anti-protest law." They were protesting to demand the reinstatement of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was ousted by the Egyptian military. The Post further reports Egypt has enacted a law barring public political gatherings of 10 people or more without police consent.