It’s a slow morning in the foreign press: The Economist is out with a piece on the recent move by authorities to prosecute 54 mn people who didn’t vote in last month’s Senate elections. The piece mulls whether the decision is an empty threat to spur people to vote or if the state will actually go through with the prosecution and collect the EGP 27 bn in fines. But as anyone who has lived through the 2.5 mn or so elections and referenda we’ve had since 2000 can tell you: This story is evergreen — it appears after every election, and then quietly fades away.

Meanwhile, Egypt has walk-on parts in two FT stories this morning, including a look at how China’s Mideast strategy is winning at the expense of the United States (courtesy of the Opinion section) and then a bigger role in an explainer headlined What is at stake in the eastern Mediterranean crisis?