A tripartite scientific committee began meetings on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Saturday in Khartoum, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The meeting will address observations of Egypt and Sudan on a proposal submitted by Ethiopia on filling the dam’s reservoir, the newspaper says. The committee came about following the breakthrough in talks between the three countries last month.

The Arab Union of Arbitration for Investment and Economic Disputes held its opening session in Cairo yesterday, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The union, which currently includes 14 Arab countries, will oversee the establishment of an Arab arbitration court to help mediate disputes between businessmen and other foreign investors and entities.

Egypt has “welcomed” Portugal’s offer to resettle 400 refugees currently living in Egypt until the end of 2019, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The move comes as part of the EU’s cooperation framework with Egypt on the issue of refugees and migration, which has seen the UK, Sweden, Germany, and Netherlands resettle “hundreds” of refugees, according to the ministry. The EU had allocated EUR 500 mn last year to help resettle refugees from North African countries.

The US is gearing up to announce the details of its Middle East peace plan soon, and will “press on with or without Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas,” White House adviser Jared Kushner said during a tour of the Middle East that included a sit down with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday, Reuters reports.