Egypt (and Beyond) Live: The Perpetual Hope of the $4.8 Billion Loan

IMF's Lagarde & Egypt's President Morsi1530 GMT: Egypt.

On Friday, throngs of protesters called for the "purging of the judiciary," as most judges were appointed by the Mubarak regime, and recent decisions have acquitted top-ranked members of the Mubarak regime of any wrongdoing.

Today, Ahram Online reports that current Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has met with the Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdullah and the Supreme Judicial Council today, a day after the Justice Minister resigned.

1335 GMT: Egypt

A Cairo criminal court has accepted the prosecution's appeal against a release order for former President Hosni Mubarak in his trial on graft charges.

Mubarak, who was in court for the hearing, will remain detained for at least a 15-day period pending further investigation into the case.

The judge ruled against the release because the order was issued by the misdemeanor court, which has no jurisdiction over the matter.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live: Protests Build Again Before Grand Prix

Police fear tear gas into a market in Sanabis on Thursday

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Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live: Mubarak Retrial Opens

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1605 GMT: Iraq. Two more Sunni Muslim election candidates have been killed less than a week before local votes.

At least 13 candidates, most of them Sunni, have been slain.

Saturday's election to select provincial council members is seen as a measure pf strength of the largely-Shia national government before the Parliamentary elections in 2014.

No group claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks in Baiji town, 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Baghdad.

Another Sunni candidate escaped a roadside bomb in Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of the capital, on Sunday.

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