Egypt court convicts 43 NGO employees

A court in Cairo yesterday convicted 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of non-governmental (NGO) organisations for working illegally in Egypt.
The court sentenced the defendants - most of them in absentia - to jail terms of up to five years. It also ordered the closure of offices and the seizure of assets in Egypt belonging to several US NGOs.
The case - which began in 2012 - has strained relations between Cairo and Washington.
US officials had threatened to cut off the roughly $1.5bn (£980m) in aid paid to Egypt every year.
On Tuesday, the Cairo court sentenced 27 defendants to five years in prison. Another five received two years and 11 were given one-year terms.