Driving the conversation about Egypt in the international press this morning is that blasted statue from yesterday, with the story being picked up by everyone from the BBC to the Jerusalem Post. On an otherwise slow news morning, you can expect pickup today of the AP’s brief note that “Egypt built a dozen prisons since 2013 ouster of Islamist,” citing a report by Gamal Eid’s Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

Meanwhile, some genius at the Wall Street Journal thinks Egyptian troops have a role to play in a “Balkan” solution to the war in Syria, writing: “As for the rest of Syria, pacification would require a limited but decisive NATO intervention to rout ISIS from its strongholds, equip and aid the Free Syrian Army so that it can lift the siege of Aleppo and march on Damascus, and enjoin Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to deploy a long-term Arab stabilization force.”

Also making the rounds this morning:

• France is apparently warning that Daesh terrorists could “flee Libya” to Egypt, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday;
• Russia’s defence minister said nice things about us after a meeting with Defence Minister Sedki Sobhi, Pravda reports;
• Egypt has formed a committee that will register Jewish artifacts from synagogues to protect them from theft and neglect; Al-Monitor says the decaying state of Jewish heritage sites says more about archaeology in Egypt than it does Egypt’s view on Jewish heritage specifically.