Egyptian journalist's retrial adjourned as UN warns of 'assaults on press freedom'

A criminal court in Cairo has postponed the retrial of the prominent Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, whose case has drawn international condemnation.

Wednesday's opening hearing was adjourned until 18 November after defence lawyers representing the editor-in-chief of the news outlet Mada Masr requested a new judge.

The UN has warned of "widening assaults on press freedom by Egyptian authorities, including the targeting, persecution and harassment of independent journalists".

Attalah told the BBC that a recent crackdown was meant to "send a chilling message" to "the very few newsrooms that are left".

She warned: "Everybody should be careful, everybody should be scared, everybody should be wondering if they are next."