Hisham Barakat

Egypt's state prosecutor on Sunday referred 67 people to trial over the assassination of a top prosecutor, a statement said, after authorities accused Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of involvement.

Dozens of people were killed today in a wave of unprecedented attacks by the Islamic State group on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula, in a major challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

A visibly angry Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged tougher laws against militants and suggested fast track executions at the funeral of the state prosecutor assassinated in a car bombing.

Two years after the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt has regressed into "all-out repression", with activists jailed in a bid to crush dissent, Amnesty International warned today.

Egypt's state prosecutor Hisham Barakat had died in hospital hours after a bomb struck his convoy in Cairo earlier today, two government ministers told AFP.

Egypt's defiant strongman Hosni Mubarak, cleared of murder and corruption charges in a retrial, has asserted that he "did nothing wrong" during his nearly 30-year reign.

A senior US official flew into Cairo early today, hours after Egypt's prosecutor ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists.

Egypt's state prosecutor on Sunday referred 67 people to trial over the assassination of a top prosecutor, a statement said, after authorities accused Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of involvement.

Dozens of people were killed today in a wave of unprecedented attacks by the Islamic State group on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula, in a major challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

A visibly angry Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged tougher laws against militants and suggested fast track executions at the funeral of the state prosecutor assassinated in a car bombing.

Two years after the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt has regressed into "all-out repression", with activists jailed in a bid to crush dissent, Amnesty International warned today.

Egypt's state prosecutor Hisham Barakat had died in hospital hours after a bomb struck his convoy in Cairo earlier today, two government ministers told AFP.

Egypt's defiant strongman Hosni Mubarak, cleared of murder and corruption charges in a retrial, has asserted that he "did nothing wrong" during his nearly 30-year reign.

A senior US official flew into Cairo early today, hours after Egypt's prosecutor ordered the freezing of assets belonging to 14 top Islamists.