Middle East Today: Israel Extends Detention Orders For Security Suspects

Iraq: 26 Die in Monday Bombings

Five car bombs have exploded in public areas in central and southern Iraq, killing 26 civilians and wounding dozens.

Two parked car bombs went off simultaneously in the city of Amarah near a gathering of construction workers and a market, killing 13 civilians and wounding 42, according to police.

A parked car bomb exploded near a restaurant in the city of Diwaniyah, killing eight civilians and wounding 25 others.

Amarah and Diwaniyah are predominantly Shia areas.

Hours later, another parked car bomb went off in the Shia hold city of Karbala, killing two civilians and wounding 12 others.

A parked car bomb ripped through a Shiite neighborhood in the otherwise predominantly Sunni town of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing three and wounding 16.

Egypt: President and Judiciary Reconciling?

President Morsi and top judges, after weeks of heated conflict, have issued optimistic statements after a Sunday meeting at the Presidential offices.

Morsi's office said he would accept recommendations from an upcoming conference about new judicial authority laws.

Judges have been angered by a proposed law reducing the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 60, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood --- to which Morsi is affiliated --- of an attempt to pack the judiciary with its preferred jurists.

Supreme Judicial Council head Mohamed Momtaz Metwally said after the meeting, "The President has expressed his full appreciation for Egypt's judicial authority and has commended the idea of convening a 'justice conference'."

Egypt: Negotiating the Qatar Aid

Cairo is negotiating the interest rate on $3 billion worth of Egyptian treasury bonds that Qatar committed to buying earlier this month, Minister of Planning Ashraf El-Araby has said.

The interest rate for the bonds, which the oil-rich nation announced it would acquire on 10 April, will be between 4% and 7%, El-Araby added.

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Qatar has already granted cash-strapped Egypt $5 billion, including a $1 billion grant and $4 billion worth of deposits at the Central Bank, since the 2011 revolution.

The aid has been vital amid Egypt's growing economic problems, declining foreign reserves, and failure to obtain a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Israel: Detention Orders Extended

The Knesset's Constitution Law and Justice Committee has approved further readings for an extension of a temporary order that permits the detention of suspects accused of security offenses for 96 hours without judicial oversight, compared with 24 hours for other detainees.

The temporary order has been in effect since 2006.

The law permits the authorities --- under certain conditions --- to delay bringing a detainee suspected of security offenses before a judge for four days, to prolong his remand for longer periods compared with other detainees, to hold remand extension hearings in the detainee's absence, and to limit applications for review and appeal over detention.

It is not clear under the law if detainees will have access to lawyers during the 96 hours.

In addition, the law requires the security services file a half-yearly report to the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on their application of this law. The head of the Israel Security Service's Interrogation Department said the law is only used in cases where to do so would save lives.