GERD once again dominated proceedings on the nation’s talk shows last night after the Arab League asked the UN Security Council to step in and pressure Ethiopia to reach an agreement with Egypt and Sudan on filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 2:53), Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 6:34), Yahduth fi Masr (watch, runtime: 5:02 | 3:53), Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:37), Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 10:20) and Al Qahera Wel Nas (watch, runtime: 6:22) all had coverage last night. We have more on the story in this morning’s news well, above.

Don’t expect the UN Security Council to adopt a tough line on Ethiopia and immediately force it to shelve its plans for GERD, the Arab League’s Permanent Observer at the UN Maged Abdel Fattah said in a phone-in to Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 3:41). The council can, however, oblige Ethiopia to reach an agreement with Egypt and Sudan before time runs out and Addis Ababa proceeds unilaterally with the dam’s second filling next month, Abdel Fattah said. In all cases, appealing to the Security Council to issue a resolution on the GERD impasse will spark progress on three-way talks with Ethiopia, he suggested (watch, runtime: 2:30).

On the covid front: The Health Ministry reported a 50% drop in daily infections nationwide from the last two weeks, while covid-linked deaths declined 15%, thanks to a boost in the local vaccination campaign, Masaa DMC’s Ramy Radwan said (watch, runtime: 1:28) last night. Radwan also phoned Higher Education Ministry covid-19 committee member Adel Khattab, who said that the ministry will set up in the coming weeks dozens of post-covid care clinics at university hospitals nationwide, which will be specialized to treat covid-19 survivors struggling with post-covid symptoms (watch, runtime: 10:13).