The fraught state of the GERD negotiations and the latest on covid-19 held the attention of the nation’s talking heads for the second night running.

Foreign Minister holds fast against Ethiopia: Al Kahera Alaan’s Lamees El Hadidi spoke by phone with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who discussed Ethiopia’s absence from the latest round of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Washington, DC (watch, runtime: 6:28). Shoukry said that if Ethiopia continued to fill the dam’s reservoir, — and it had signaled its intention to do so repeatedly this year — it would be in breach of the 2015 Declaration of Principles. He said that extensions are being discussed to allow for a final agreement on the dam’s filling.

Former irrigation minister lauds Egypt, berates Ethiopia: El Hadidi also spoke by phone with former Water Resources Minister Mohamed Nasr Eddin Allam, who said that Egypt had achieved “remarkable progress in internationalizing” the GERD talks (watch, runtime: 4:28). He added that “it showed the extent of Ethiopian intransigence that Egypt has suffered since 2011,” and that Ethiopia's absence from the latest round of talks showed a disrespect for their sponsors, the US and the World Bank. Allam said that Ethiopia was “wasting time” to leave Egypt with few options, but that wasn't in its favor as Egypt has “many tools” to pressure Ethiopia.

Ethiopia urged to sign draft pact: El Hekaya’s Amr Adib read out the Foreign Ministry's Sunday statement which voiced dissatisfaction with Ethiopia’s position. He then phoned Shoukry (watch, runtime: 2:09) who said that Egypt signed the draft agreement because it was “fair for all parties” and encouraged Ethiopia to sign on to it (watch, runtime: 2:05).

Call for punitive measures against Ethiopia: Masaa DMC's Eman El Hosary phoned Amany Al Tawil, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, who said that Egypt's signing of the draft GERD agreement was a “professional measure” to indicate that Ethiopia had already previously agreed to its principles (watch, runtime: 9:56). Al Tawil said that Ethiopia is hoping to fill the dam’s reservoir before a final agreement is reached, “presenting Egypt with a fait accompli, which Cairo rejects.” She called for punitive measures against Ethiopia, which she said had shown “disrespect to the other parties” and “lost credibility.” We have more on GERD in this morning’s Speed Round, below.

Adib offers assurances on China, Kuwait: El Hekaya’s Amr Adib went over viewer’s criticisms of Health Ministry’s Hala Zayed visit to China and urged calm (watch, runtime: 3:15). He said it was “clearly a measure by the state to demonstrate solidarity” and showed images of the Chinese flag projected onto historical buildings such as the Citadel. (watch, runtime: 1:49). Adib also noted that his show had contacted the Kuwaiti embassy in Egypt and that they were assured that there were no instructions to stop issuing visas to Egyptians (watch, runtime: 4:07).

Qatar rebuked for banning Egyptians: Min Masr's Amr Khalil and Reham Ibrahim criticized Qatar for banning Egyptians from entering the country (watch, runtime: 6:35). Khalil noted that while Qatar had imposed the restrictions on Egyptians it was still welcoming flights from countries that have announced positive cases like France and Italy.