The economy is driving coverage of Egypt in the international press this morning. The brewing spat between Cairo and Riyadh (see above) dominates the wires and newspapers alike. Reuters’ “Fuel aid halt suggests deeper Saudi-Egyptian rift” is typical. But the Associated Press owned the weekend with Brian Rohan’s “Egypt inches toward IMF bailout as shortages, prices enrage,” over-the-top verbiage and all.

Compared to the difficulty of balancing Saudi with Russia, our other foreign policy challenge of the moment *looks* like a tempest in a teapot. But when you consider Ethiopia is building a dam that could have massive impact on water use and soil quality in Egypt, you’ll be glad the wires are giving plenty of attention to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s statement that Egypt is not supporting rebels in Ethiopia. (Al Ahram’s breaking news website has more here: “We chose cooperation and peace,” adding that he is personally responsible for peace and cooperation with Ethiopia.)

(And on a somewhat tangential note: Three friends and family members accosted us this weekend, convinced that war between Russia and the US is imminent. It’s not. This story gets to the heart of the fuss: Russia envoy: Tensions with US are probably worst since 1973. The money quote: “even though we have serious frictions, differences like Syria, we continue to work on other issues … and sometimes quite well.”)