Officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan say they have agreed to hold two technical meetings in coming weeks in an effort to resolve a number of issues revolving around a $5 billion dam project on the Nile River.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on a US citizen that Cairo has detained for six years. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus noted that Pompeo pressed Shoukry Monday on “concerns over press freedom, human rights and Americans detained in Egypt, including Moustafa Kassem.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday raised with Egypt the case of a New York taxi driver held for six years by the close US ally.

Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal on Monday said that his country will stand strongly against any threats to its interests, and rejects any interference from foreign countries on its western borders.

The foreign ministries of Egypt and France have agreed on the illegality of the MoUs on maritime borders and security signed between Turkey and Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj as it violates international law, an official statement read.

When Muhammed Mustafa* touched down in Cairo last September, he eagerly looked forward to the holiday he was set to enjoy.

Despite threats of US sanctions, Egypt reportedly will obtain two Russian Su-35 fighter jets in early 2020 as part of a $2 billion deal it signed earlier this year; it will receive more of the planes in batches.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation on Tuesday denied issuing a joint statement by the ministers of water resources and irrigation of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia at the end of their two-day talks over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam(GERD).

Members of the European parliament have expressed solidarity with the Egyptian-Palestinian politician Ramy Shaath and other human rights activists detained in Egypt and are calling for their release.

The irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held talks in Cairo on Monday over Ethiopia’s mega-dam project, which Egypt fears could deprive it of life-giving Nile water.