Egypt's cabinet has amended a draft law so that journalists would be fined, rather than jailed, for contradicting the authorities' version of any armed attack, the state news agency reported. The bill, which sets up new courts for “terrorism trials,” was proposed after Egypt's top prosecutor died in a car bombing and 17 members of the security forces were killed by insurgents in the Sinai.

It has been condemned by rights groups, with Amnesty International saying it would grant President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “absolute powers” to crush dissent. One provision of the bill would have made it a criminal offence for journalists or others to report on attacks in a way that contradicted the official version of events, with jail terms of at least two years.