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Egypt

October 15, 2026

Cairo 1:12 am

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China's President Xi Jinping (center L) walks along with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi followed by their wives Peng Liyuan and Entissar Amer (R) upon their arrival at the Cairo International Airport on September 1, 2026. President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on September 1, making a rare trip to the Middle East as both countries face the threat of US sanctions over financial links to Iran. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Why renewed Egypt-Ethiopia tensions are a problem for China

For Beijing, the renewed Egypt-Ethiopia standoff is a zero-sum bind that threatens vital strategic interests on both sides of the Nile.

Joyce Karam

A quadrilateral summit was held on Oct. 4, 2026, attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al‑Sisi, Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki, President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan Gen. Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan, in New El Alamein City, Egypt.

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan hold summit amid Ethiopia tensions

All four countries have increasingly tense relations with Ethiopia, driven by disputes over the Nile, Red Sea access and security.

This general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. - Ethiopia's massive hydro-electric dam project on a tributary of the Nile has raised regional tensions notably with Egypt, which depends on the huge river for 97 percent of its water supply. Government officials said the dam would begin producing electricity on Sunday, more than a decade since work first started. (Photo by Amanuel SILESHI / AFP) (Photo by AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty Ima

Explainer

Why are Egypt and Ethiopia clashing over Tigray, Somalia and the Nile?

Egypt expelled an official at the Ethiopian Embassy in Cairo on Thursday following a similar move by Ethiopia that same day, in the latest sign of tensions between the neighboring African countries.

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of withholding information in the hours before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but the former security chief rejected the claim, saying he intends to file a defamation suit.

Latest News

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

Israeli PM

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

Egypt hosts Greece, Cyprus defense ministers: What to know

Cypriot Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas, Egyptian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ashraf Salem Zaher, and Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias meet in Cairo, Sept. 22, 2026.

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

In London, reporting on North Africa and Gulf politics

Mohammed Magdy

In Berlin, reporting on Egyptian politics

Ayah Aman

In Cairo, reporting on politics and culture

Salwa Samir

In Giza, reporting on politics

Nada Shaker

In Cairo, reporting on culture

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi pause during a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of an explosion in a vocational college in Crimea, during their talks in Sochi on Oct. 17, 2018.

Egypt charts middle diplomatic course in Ukraine war

Cairo voted in favor of the US-backed UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion, but is not shutting down ties with Moscow.

ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt explores alternative wheat sources amid Ukraine crisis

Egypt is seeking to secure wheat from alternative sources amid an escalated Ukrainian crisis that warns of global shortages.

Osama Rabie, chairman of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority.

Suez Canal Authority remains neutral in Russian-Ukrainian war

The Suez Canal Authority proclaimed neutrality in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and announced that it will not ban Russian and Ukrainian vessels from traversing the canal.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seen on video screens as he addresses the annual gathering for the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 21, 2021.

Ukraine calls on Egypt to support it, abandon neutrality

Ruslan Nechai, charge d'affairs of Kyiv's embassy in Cairo, calls on Egypt and countries in the region to support it with weapons, fuel and financial and humanitarian aid, and abandon the position of "neutrality" regarding the Russian invasion.

People fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

Egypt extends stay of stranded Ukrainian, Russian tourists

Ukrainian tourists stuck in Egypt talk to Al-Monitor about the pain they feel to watch their loved ones and families suffering back home as a result of the Russian war.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Jailed Egyptian activists on hunger strike to protest pretrial detention

Twelve Egyptian political prisoners who have been in pretrial detention for years are now on hunger strike.

EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

New Sudanese press union takes shape

Sudanese journalism bodies have signed a draft charter to establish a new union in a win for post-coup press freedom.

A woman arriving from Odessa looks out from a carriage window at a train station in Lviv, western Ukraine, as she prepares to continue her journey to Slovakia on March 3, 2022.

Ukrainians in Egypt share dreadful moments of Russian invasion

Ukrainians in Egypt are doing what they can to help or support their families back in Ukraine.

Yemen wheat

Egypt may plant 2 million acres of wheat to compensate for Ukraine war

Starting with an extra 250,000 acres, Egypt plans to cultivate 2 million more acres of wheat within two years, to ensure food security, especially after the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, from which Egypt imports the majority of its wheat.

Luxor

Culture

New archaeological find unearthed in Luxor under historic palace

Egypt announced the discovery of a two-story house and an ancient furnace dating back to the Roman era under the destroyed historic Tawfiq Pasha Andraos Palace in Luxor.

Turki al-Sheikh, the new CEO of Saudi Arabia's General Entertaintment Authority (GEA), speaks during a presentation of the 2019 GEA program at the Four Seasons Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 22, 2019.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia compete over title of regional art pioneer

Egypt’s United Media Services, a production company linked to Egyptian intelligence, decided to contract with veteran Egyptian actor Mohamed Sobhi after his recent clash with Turki al-Sheikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.

A view of part of the Shagarab camp, situated about 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of the Eritrean border, Shagarab, Sudan, Aug. 15, 2021.

Sudan, Ethiopia negotiate over border conflict

Bilateral talks are ongoing between Ethiopia and Sudan aimed at resuming negotiations to solve the border dispute between the two countries and the GERD crisis.