Business and econ news was once again relegated to footnote status on the airwaves last night, as regional politics continues to dominate the start to the new year.

The state of talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam took center stage on the talk shows last night. Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal and Hossam Hadad repeated a statement from the Foreign Ministry accusing the Ethiopian government for making inaccurate statements and telling us that it’s all their fault that talks are still at an impasse. Hadad spoke to former assistant foreign minister for African affairs Mona Omar who said that no common ground has been reached and that Ethiopia will keep stalling and bringing negotiations to a standstill. (watch, runtime: 12:17). El Hekaya’s Amr Adib unsurprisingly heaped praise on the Egyptian negotiating team and delved into the technicalities of how much water Egypt is seeking (watch, runtime: 7:27).

The death of Sultan Qaboos got considerable airtime: Lobna Assal mentioned President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s announcement of three days of mourning to mark the death of Omani Sultan Qaboos (watch, runtime: 4:51). Others also took note, including Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 6:47), Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 5:05), and Min Masr’s Amr Khalil (watch, runtime: 0:48).

Impetus builds for Libyan political solution: Min Masr’s Amr Khalil noted the joint press conference held yesterday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the situation in Libya and the upcoming Berlin meetings (watch, runtime: 3:23). El Hekaya’s Amr Adib also covered the developments (watch, runtime: 3:54).

We’ll soon be using plastic money: Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary phoned economist Mohsen Adel to discuss a decision by the Central Bank of Egypt to start issuing polymer banknotes this year. Adel said that the CBE will phase in the new material starting with the EGP 10 note, which will help the government crack down on counterfeit currency (watch, runtime: 4:58).