All eyes on GERD talks in the foreign press: High-level talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which wrapped up in Cairo yesterday, are continuing to generate coverage in the international press. Technical teams may be heading for a “major breakthrough,” says the East African, indicating that Egypt and Ethiopia may each have ceded some ground, and be moving towards a compromise. An Irrigation Ministry statement out following the meeting was scant on details, saying only that the officials agreed to continue hashing out contentious matters. The three countries’ representatives are next due to sit down in Washington on 9 December to assess the outcome of the first two rounds of talks.

Meanwhile, reminders of how much is at stake for Egypt in these discussions, as we move closer to a state of “absolute water crisis” by 2025, courtesy of AFP and the Guardian.