Water Issues

This general view shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on Feb. 19, 2022.

Analysis

Against Ethiopia, Egypt courts East African states over Nile dam dispute

Tensions over a wide range of issues, including Ethiopia’s ambitions for Red Sea access, are likely to worsen the dispute with Egypt over Addis Ababa’s controversial dam on the Nile River.

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

By Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received President of the Sovereign Council of the Republic of the Sudan General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan at Cairo International Airport.

Egypt's Sisi hosts Burhan, eyes reconstruction in Sudan: What to know

Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Sudanese army head Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met in Cairo for talks on the latest developments in Sudan as Cairo seeks lucrative reconstruction deals in the war-torn country.

A Taliban security personnel walks along the roadside during the inauguration ceremony of Bakhshabad Dam in Bala Buluk district of Farah province on May 20, 2023.

Analysis

How climate change, dams are fueling Iran-Afghanistan water disputes

The Pashdan Dam is the latest flashpoint in the long-standing water disputes between the two nations.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

A car drives past a road signal indicating the Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge crossing point to Jordan (background), Jericho, West Bank, Jan. 28, 2021.

Analysis

First in 30 years: How Allenby Bridge attack could upend Jordan-Israel ties

Despite the strained relationship between Jordan's King Abdullah and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, neither of the governments wishes to see the breakout of violence on the border or the Temple Mount.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

Tensions surge in Horn of Africa as Ethiopia’s ambitions clash with Somalia, Egypt

A Somali National Army soldier stands at attention during the morning briefing for trainee officers at the General Dhagabadan Training Centre in Mogadishu on March 19, 2024.

In managing water crisis, can Turkey and Iraq bridge gap without Syria?

The Euphrates river near Dura Europos (Tell Salhiye), Syria. Iraq is just several miles downstream.

Dubai's record rainfall spotlights Gulf’s troubled relation with water

A man walks past a stranded car on a flooded street in Dubai following heavy rains on April 18, 2024.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Why Israel is likely to accept Jordan’s request for more water

The Wadi Mujib river in Jordan.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images

Negev Forum convenes in UAE with Jordan absent from Arab-Israeli meeting

Senior officials from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, the United States and Israel have convened in Abu Dhabi for the third Negev Forum steering committee meeting.

A displaced Syrian child carries a jug of water.

Water crisis worsens in Syria's Idlib as support dries up

The "Goal" organization, which has been active in Syria since 2012, has stopped pumping water in villages and towns as support for it ends

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during a press conference with his Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts, on the sidelines of meetings to announce they had reached an agreement on the sharing of Nile waters and Ethiopia's dam project, Khartoum, Sudan, March 6, 2015.

Egypt’s trade with Nile Basin countries jumps amid Ethiopia dam crisis

Cairo’s exports and imports with the region increased substantially in 2021, but they still represent a small portion of the total and growth remains uneven.

A trailer truck filled with sand waits near a dock at the construction site of new residential towers on the Nile island of Warraq in Giza province, opposite the northern shore of Cairo, the slums of which are planned for development by the Egyptian government, Egypt, Aug. 31, 2022.

Egypt embarks on new plans to develop river transport on Nile River

Cairo has recently passed legal reforms to reorganize the river sector, which still remains marginal, in hopes this will catalyze much-needed private investments

A fisherman tries to catch a freshly caught tilapia fish in a boat on the Nile River in the village of Gabal al-Tayr, north of the southern city of Minya, Egypt, Nov. 13, 2019.

Egypt to increase fish production at Lake Bardawil

Egypt is to develop one of the most important lakes in the north to ramp up its fish production and improve the economy in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

A picture shows the UAE's al-Badia Farms in Dubai, an indoor vertical farm using innovative hydroponic technology.

Another vertical farm comes to Saudi Arabia

Vertical farming has great potential to help alleviate rising desertification in the Middle East, which could threaten the region’s food supply in the future.

Delegates gather at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center in Egypt.

Egypt, Israel seek to boost trade exchange following COP27

Israel offered Egypt to develop rice cultivation using the latest technologies and curb the water shortage crisis in Cairo, within the framework of the two countries’ efforts to increase trade exchange.

Bradley D’coutho

Israel, Jordan sign first environmental agreement at COP27

The environmental agreement signed yesterday between Israel and Jordan is the first such development ever between the two countries.

Israel's Ministry for Environmental Protection

Israeli environment minister strives for regional cooperation at COP27

Outgoing Minister for Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg calls on the new Israeli government not to give in to small politics, but continue engagement to battling climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing plastic pollution.

Ahmad lies in his hospital bed on his sixth day of treatment at Halba's government hospital in Akkar.

Lebanon begins vaccination campaign as cholera cases soar

The crisis-hit country’s collapsing water and sewage infrastructure has opened a breeding ground for waterborne illness.

C0P27

Israel, Jordan, UAE press ahead on deal for water, solar energy

Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have inked a memorandum of understanding to speed progress on a deal to exchange solar energy for desalinated water.

A worker carries a bale of wheat during the harvest in the village of Bamha near al-Ayyat in Egypt's Giza province.

Egypt to plant wheat in Congo amid water shortage

Egypt plans to cultivate 20,000 hectares of land in Mossendjo city in the Republic of Congo with strategic crops such as wheat.