Leading the conversation on Egypt in the international press this morning: Storied newspaper publisher Hisham Kassem has been detained, Reuters writes, quoting his lawyer as saying Kassem has been remanded to custody in prison while awaiting trial on charges of “slander and verbal assault.” The slander charges appear to relate to a dispute between Kassem and a former activist. Kassem said on his X(formerly Twitter) feed that he would not bail himself out. He has also been a critic of the removal of tombs from the City of the Dead to make way for new roads and bridges

Readers of a certain age will remember Hisham for his dogged support of independent media in Egypt, first as publisher of the high-profile English-language Cairo Times and, later, of Al Masry Al Youm. The newswire says Hisham, a liberal intellectual and organizer, is the founder and chairman of El-Tayar El-Hurr, or Free Current, a left-leaning group formed in June to participate in the upcoming presidential election process.

MEANWHILE- Brief collision in the Suez Canal: Two tankers carrying LNG and oil products collided in the Suez Canal yesterday, disrupting traffic through the water for several hours. (Associated Press | Reuters | Sky News | The National)

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