Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah reached an "understanding" in Cairo on Wednesday to set up a transitional unity government and to hold elections, prompting a swift warning from Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, "choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas."

An explosion rocked a natural gas terminal near Egypt's border with Israel on Wednesday sending flames shooting into the air and forcing the shutdown of the country's export pipeline, said security officials.

It was the second attack in the past month on the al-Sabil terminal near the town of El-Arish just 50 kilometers from the border with Israel. On March 27 gunmen planted explosives at the terminal, that failed to detonate.

Egyptian ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly pleaded not guilty as he went on trial in Cairo Tuesday accused of ordering the shooting of demonstrators during protests that toppled the former regime.

Adly and six former aides made a brief appearance in a packed Cairo courthouse before Judge Adel Abdul Salam Gomaa, who postponed the trial until May 21 to allow more time for defense lawyers as well for legal experts acting for families of victims.

The Passover herbs are bitter, but the symbolism is sweet for Poland's Jews, a community which has emerged from the shadow of Nazi German genocide and communist-era anti-Semitism.

As Jews worldwide commemorate the ancient Exodus from Egypt with traditional fare from dry matzoh crackers to herbs in saltwater recalling their forebears' tears, those in Poland say they are grounded confidently in their faith and culture.

Oil was up in Asian trade as escalating tensions in Libya, Syria, and Yemen heightened fears of supply disruption in the Middle East and North African region Agence France Presse reported on Monday.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, rose 36 cents to $112.65 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for June gained 24 cents to $124.23 in the afternoon.

Egypt's state prosecutor has renewed the detention of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak for another 15 days amid a probe into a deadly crackdown on protesters and corruption, MENA news agency said Friday.

Mubarak, who was forced to resign in February after mass protests, was first remanded into preventive custody for 15 days on April 13 on suspicion of involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters and corruption.

Iran has smuggled more weapons to Hizbullah, Syria, and Palestinian groups in recent months, taking advantage of the wave of unrest in the Middle East, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday.

Because international attention is focused mainly on regime changes and local intelligence services are busy protecting their rulers, the Iranians have been able to act with greater impunity, it said

Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak has been placed in detention for 15 days, prosecutors said Wednesday shortly after state media reported his two sons had also been detained.

In a statement on the public prosecutor's Facebook page, a spokesman said the prosecutor Abdul Maguid Mahmoud authorized the detentions "as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February."

The head of Egypt's former ruling party, Safwat al-Sherif, a longtime stalwart of the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, has been detained on charges of corruption, state TV said on Tuesday.

Sherif was detained late on Monday for 15 days "on charges of misusing public funds", TV said, as footage showed Sherif -- his face covered by a jacket -- being escorted into a police vehicle.

A military court has jailed a blogger for three years for criticizing the armed forces that have ruled Egypt since president Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February, in a decision slammed by rights groups on Monday.

"Regrettably, the Nasr City military court sentenced Maikel Nabil to three years in prison," the blogger's lawyer Gamal Eid told Agence France Presse.