Ethiopia has started the second phase of filling a controversial mega-dam's reservoir on the upper Blue Nile, Egypt said, raising tensions ahead of an upcoming UN Security Council meeting on the issue.

Sudan's prime minister has invited his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to a closed meeting to discuss the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa's mega-dam on the Blue Nile, his office said.

A massive container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened for a huge backlog of ships.

At least 32 people were killed and 66 injured Friday when two trains collided in southern Egypt, the health ministry said, the latest deadly rail accident to hit the country.

Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein was freed on Saturday after being arbitrarily detained in an Egyptian prison for more than 1,500 days, without formal charges nor trial.

Egypt has released Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein after more than four years in detention on accusations of publishing false news, a security source said Friday.

Flights between Qatar and two Arab countries - Egypt and the UAE - resumed on Monday following the reopening of airspace and borders. Qatar Airways resumed flights to Cairo with a daily service, touching down in the Egyptian capital for the first time since 2017.

The Qatari handball team will leave for Egypt on Thursday to participate in the 27th Men's World Championship which will start later on Wednesday and will run until Jan. 31.

Egypt has officially updated its NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) to remove its airspace ban on Qatar, aviation analyst Alex Macheras tweeted Monday

The UAE said on Tuesday it supports Saudi efforts to end a three-year Gulf dispute, Abu Dhabi's first reaction to recent statements suggesting the rift between four regional countries and Qatar could soon ease.

Negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over a multi-billion dollar dam on the Blue Nile will resume on Tuesday, nearly two months after Egypt left the talks, African Union chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

Ethiopia vowed Saturday not to ‘cave in to aggressions of any kind’ after US President Donald Trump lashed out over the country's Nile River mega-dam and suggested Egypt might destroy it.