Sarah Khalifa, a well-known Egyptian television presenter, was sentenced to death by hanging alongside 11 co-defendants after a Cairo court found them guilty of manufacturing, promoting and trading synthetic drugs, as well as illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The 39-year-old, who fronts the crime and security programme "Mission Impossible" and has millions of social media followers, wept and protested her innocence in court, insisting she had "never smoked a cigarette" in her life and citing a tumour she is said to be suffering from. The case has drawn attention both for Khalifa's public profile and for wider concerns about the fairness of capital trials in Egypt.

Prosecutors said the group used two apartments as drug laboratories, with more than 750 kilograms of synthetic narcotics and raw materials seized, alongside gold, cash and vehicles reportedly worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Nine further defendants received life sentences and seven were acquitted, while two others remain at large. The verdict, reached after consultation with Egypt's Grand Mufti as required by law, is not final and can be appealed; Khalifa was separately sentenced to five years in prison over an unrelated kidnapping and assault case. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have previously raised concerns about the fairness of trials leading to death sentences in Egypt.