The New York Times’ Cairo bureau chief Declan Walsh sat down with a group of Cairo-based journalists to chew over press freedoms in Egypt and the region as a whole through a live video session. The play up what they say are restrictions on the press in Egypt, touching on the arrests of reporters such as the so-called Marriott Cell and still-imprisoned photojournalist Mahmoud “Shawkan” Abou Zeid.

The Times has also taken note of the 3,300 or so children who were hit by food poisoning by school-provided meals in Upper Egypt. The usual kicker applies: The incident, the Times says, “revived complaints over the declining quality of Egypt’s public education and health systems.” And in fairness: Revived? When did they die down?

Elsewhere in the Grey Lady this morning, Egyptian handbag designers Okhtein get some love from the New York Times Fashion page, where its occasional Scouting Report on fashion finds in the New York area notes in passing yesterday: “…the British retailer Wolf & Badger will open its first international outpost. There you’ll find an Okhtein mini-studded bag from Egypt (USD 430) and Wires glasses handcrafted in Zimbabwe…”