Ethiopia’s massive Nile dam explained

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is the source of an almost decade-long diplomatic standoff in the region.

Ethiopia has built a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile and started holding back the water flow to fill the reservoir behind it for a second year. Egypt is worried the dam will affect the overall flow of the Nile River and together with fellow downriver country Sudan brought the issue to the UN Security Council in a bid to get a binding deal on the dam’s operation. Here is what to know about the diplomatic standoff: