The real drama in Egypt’s presidential elections is not surrounding the candidates, but on the sidelines, Tarek El Tablawy writes for Bloomberg. El Tablawy was commenting on the arrest of former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, who, according to the Associated Press, has been referred to state security prosecutors for questioning. “Officials say prosecutors have documents and video recordings that allegedly show that Aboul Fotouh has been in contact with Brotherhood leaders in exile.” Bel Trew also uses the story to say “Egyptian authorities are widening a crackdown against opposition figures before next month’s elections” in The Times.

The military’s offensive in Sinai is still getting significant ink in the foreign press. Egypt’s military offensive in Sinai “has the whiff of an election-eve publicity stunt,”The Economist says. Meanwhile, the AFP is noting statements by the Armed Forces that the military is pressing on with the offensive after receiving intelligence that the Sinai peninsula could be global jihadists’ new home base after being pushed out of Syria and Iraq.

Also worth a listen this morning: The Financial Times released a podcast of Heba Saleh’s profile of Mada Masr as “one of the few Egyptian media outlets that dares to challenge the status quo.”