Press freedom is still dominating headlines on Egypt in the international media after the editor of the Ikhwan-friendly website Masr Al Arabia was arrested late on Tuesday for allegedly operating the site without a permit, according an Interior Ministry statement. The Supreme Media Council had fined the website EGP 50,000 for publishing a translation of a New York Times article on the state’s handling of the presidential election. The New York Times is says it stands by the accuracy of its reporting and the  Associated Press writes that the arrest of the Masr Al Arabia editor is “the latest episode in a widening crackdown on independent media.” The Committee for the Protection of Journalists issued a scathing statement on the flap.

Elsewhere this morning: Saudi Arabia is funneling investments into Egypt’s sports industry as part of a soft diplomacy campaign, says Al Monitor’s Amr Eltohamy. In addition to pumping mns into a number of sports projects in Egypt, Saudi has offered Egyptian athletes large sums to join Saudi teams, organized sports championships for young Egyptians, and is even working on assisting Egypt to be able to host the World Cup in the future.

Other headlines worth noting in brief include:

• Prosecutors have charged 72 archaeologists and security officials with stealing antiquities and trying to turn a historical site into a parking lot, Al Arabiya reports.
• Egyptian women in tech are trying to break through cultural barriers to gain a foothold, Fatma Lotfy writes for Al Monitor.
• Acting spy’s chief Abbas Kamel reportedly met with the head of Israeli security agency Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, in Tel Aviv yesterday, Anadolu Agency reports, citing Israeli radio.
• Foreign obsession with events of 2011 continues: The 25 January uprising is proof that youth-led protests can be “powerful catalysts for change” but can crumble without adequate organization, Maria J. Stephan and Tabatha P. Thompson write for the Washington Post.