in welcome to bbc news. our top stories. the former crown prince ofjordan says he's been placed under house arrest, as part of a crackdown on government critics. in a video passed to the bbc, prince hamzah denies any wrongdoing. i am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, for the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15—20 years. christians celebrate easter, but for the second year running covid means services are scaled back. the governor of the us state of georgia strikes back after major league baseball moves its all—star game out of the state. ten ethnic rebel groups

in myanmar throw their support behind people protesting against the military�*s power grab. and a pharaoh—ld journey through the streets of cairo — the mummies of 22 ancient egyptian rulers transported to a new resting place. there's turmoil in one of britain and america's key middle eastern allies, jordan, where the former crown prince has accused the armed forces of putting him under house arrest. prince hamzah, who was removed as crown prince in 2004, has accused jordan's leaders of incompetence, corruption and harassment. thejordanian military denies he's been detained, but says he was told to stop any action that could undermine the country's

security and stability. this is prince hamzah, the half brother of king abdullah. a statement from the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff confirms that a number of other seniorfigures are under arrest, including a member of the royal family and former envoy to saudi arabia. prince hamzah has denied any wrongdoing in a video passed to the bbc via his lawyer. here's some of what he had to say. i had a visit from the chief of the general staff of thejordanian armed forces this morning, in which he informed me that i was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them. because in the meetings i had been present in, or on social media relating to visits i have made, there has been criticism of the government or the king. i asked him if i was the one criticising, he said no. he said this was a warning from him, from the chief of police, and from the chief

of the security services, the mukhabarat, that i should not leave my house, that i could only visit family, that i could not tweet, and that i could not communicate with people. since then, a number of people i know, my friends, have been arrested. my security has been removed. and the internet and phone lines have been cut. this is my last form of communication — satellite internet — that i have. i've been informed by the company that they are instructed to cut it, so it may be the last time i am able to communicate. earlier the bbc�*s chief international correspondent lyse doucet was asked if these high profile arrests were in response to a coup attempt. a few hours ago when these reports first started emerging, it was the washington post quoting senior intelligence officials in the region, spoke of a thwarted coup

attempt — that has stunned observers, jordan is a close strategic ally of the us and britain, long regarded as this oasis of stability in the middle east, and this has led now to a wave of reports, you have mentioned some of them, we are still trying to get clarity, but the state news agency were the first to say, no, it is not true that the former crown prince hamza has been placed under house arrest, but they did confirm a number of other senior officials had been arrested. it seems a long stretch to talk about this as a reported coup attempt, but it does seem as though the powerful intelligence agencies injordan have been rattled by what seemed to have been meetings between prince hamza and members of thejordanian society, including prominent tribes, and in his video, prince hamza said he wasn't the person expressing criticism but he spoke about corruption,

nepotism, incompetence, he said that even the slightest of criticism in the kingdom was met with arrest and abuse. this is a really, really shocking unveiling of some of the strains in the royal hashemite kingdom, and i think we haven't seen the end of this royal crisis. bernard haykel is professor of near eastern studies at princeton university in newjersey. thank you for coming on the programme. what is your reaction to these arrests? i think there is a lot of opaqueness, we don't really know that much. rumours on social media flying in all directions, claiming there are outside forces involved. some blaming the uae, other saudi arabia, and others israel. what

is clear to me, in the message to the bbc, which was in english, for a western audience, there is a weakening of the monarchy. there are clearly fissures in the hashemite kingdom. but i see this as part of a pattern, where the king, when faced with domestic problems, questions of legitimacy, complaints about the economic situation, the corruption and so on, he has often turned on former prime ministers, governments, and now it is the long fought relationship with his half brother, the former crown prince. what is unusual for people like this, a very important person involved in the saudi relationship, he was

also arrested. that makes it unclear what is going on. given the criticisms, _ unclear what is going on. given the criticisms, about _ unclear what is going on. given the criticisms, about the - the criticisms, about the economy and things like that, rather than confronting those head on, it is trying to clamp down on criticism instead by house arrests and the like? do you think this is a tactical mistake or something they were forced into?— forced into? well, look, jordan is a keystone _ forced into? well, look, jordan is a keystone state _ forced into? well, look, jordan is a keystone state for - forced into? well, look, jordan| is a keystone state for western interests, for israel's security and stability in the region, the stability of the gulf countries. anyone on the outside looking at instability injordan will immediately have their mind concentrated to try to keep the place together. a message i think the king is probably trying to send to the saudis, to the emirates, the americans and the europeans, you need to help me keep this place together. that's a

repeated tactic this regime has adopted in order to garner mainly financial and political support from the outside, to keep it together. interesting. thank you — keep it together. interesting. thank you so _ keep it together. interesting. thank you so much. - new national lockdowns have come into force in parts of europe as countries struggle to contain a surge of coronavirus infections. it means christian worshippers celebrating easter will for a second year be doing so under vastly different circumstances. tanya dendrinos has more. st peter's basilica — one of the most sacred sites in christendom. and this, one of the most significant christian festivals. but for the second easter in a row, commemorations in the vatican have been scaled back. papal services are being attended by around 200 people. instead of a sea of thousands. translation: in these dark

months of the pandemic, - let us listen to the risen lord as he invites us to begin anew, and never lose hope. italy is in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus infections, facing around 20,000 new cases per day. in an attempt to prevent a further surge over easter, the country is under a strict three—day lockdown, with non—essential movement banned and worshippers told to attend church services close to home. there has been a dramatic rise in cases in france too — the country entering its third national lockdown. schools and non—essential shops are closed, and travel is limited to within ten kilometres of a person's home. but citizens were given a window of opportunity — the easter weekend, a chance to relocate and see out the lockdown in a residence away from the city. translation: ten kilometres in paris and ten kilometres - in saint malo or here

in saint brieuc, it's not the same view. business owners are hoping it may be a saving grace. translation: we might do more business if people - are locked down here. that's what we hoped for anyway, so that activity can resume, because we have been through a tough winter. and now the good weather is back. people have come here to lock down, so it might be possible to work again in more—or—less normal conditions. a return to normal is the overriding hope, but, a year in, one that remains elusive. meanwhile, in germany, president frank—walter steinmeier has given a televised address warning of a crisis of trust in politics linked to the pandemic. the president spoke during protests across germany about the government's handling of the crisis. these pictures are from stuttgart. 0ur correspondent damien mcguinness has more.

so he had a couple of messages. 0ne message was to germany's political leaders, effectively bashing heads together and admitting that germany had made numerous mistakes when it comes to the vaccine roll—out, testing. but then his other message was to people themselves, to voters, and really tapping into this mood of frustration that we are seeing here in germany, and the mood is pretty poor, i think, among many people. when it comes to the pandemic, people have had enough after a year of various sorts of restrictions. but his message was quite a stark one, saying, "well, it's no good complaining about other people or about those in charge. it's for all of us to act together, really", that's what he said. and so it was quite a blunt message, saying, "we have to decide what we can do together," effectively, as a country, and just pointing to other people and saying what they should do. and he also tried to point out some of the positives and said that, and really hoped and predicted, that,

over the next few weeks, in april, the vaccine roll—out should speed up. because the main problem here has been the number of doses coming to germany. he pledged that germany would get a lot more doses over the next few weeks. if that does indeed happen, that will really be a boost for the country because it will mean that the whole roll—out will start speeding up because that is one of the main issues that people are unhappy about here. the governor of georgia has hit out at america's professional baseball league over its decision to pull its all—stars game out of the state. the decision is in protest of a restrictive voting law in georgia. critics argue the law makes it harder for black people and other minorities to vote in elections. but here's the governor's reaction. major league baseball caved to fear and lies from liberal activists. they ignored the facts of our new election integrity law and they ignored the consequences of their decision on our local community. in the middle of a pandemic,

major league baseball put the wishes of stacey abrams and joe biden ahead of the economic well—being of hard—working georgians, who were counting on the all—star game for a paycheque. i asked sports analyst eric mitchell why the professional baseball league decided to take a stand. major league baseball, this isn't something new for them to make a statement. they made a statement this past summer, when they spoke out about george floyd and breonna taylor. they said they would not tolerate racial injustice or any racial inequality, so for them to pull this out, this comes after the commissioner had a very long conversation with players current and past, and other organisations at other clubs, to make it very clear that they did not stand behind this. they are just following along what we watched the nba do in 2017 when, in north carolina, they passed laws targeting discrimination of the lgbtq community. so major league baseballjust reacted like the nba did and put their foot in the...

their toe the pond, as i like to say, and touched the waters of socialjustice. their response has been quite welcome when you look around the world. interesting you say that, because other sports are more used to doing this, as you mentioned, in the us. they have been there maybe a year or two ahead of baseball. significant in baseball because it doesn't have the representation of black and minority ethnic populations as, for example, we see in basketball or whatever. so you kind of expect that's one of the reasons why maybe it's a bit behind, but no sign it's going to be swayed by the comments of the governor. one thing to remember, civil rights is the heart of this issue. that's why this bill made a lot of people, no matter what race they are, very, very angry. at the end of the day, this is about money. i want to go back to major league baseball. you touched on something very interesting when you talked about the make—up of major league baseball. latinx is huge when it

comes to baseball. african—americans only make up 10% of the active roster in major league baseball. so for them to stand up and stand out, this is awesome. major league baseball, you played a clip of governor kemp attacking stacey abrams. stacey abrams and the two senators from georgia both spoke out yesterday and said they were disappointed major league baseball did this, but they understood, because they understand the economic impact that it has, notjust on the team but all the people involved in the community around. yes, it does, but at the end of the day stacey abrams and all those involved said they understand why, because this law was very discriminatory. at the end of the day, it all comes down to money and major league baseball is going to make sure they are taking care of their fans and what the players want. this is bbc news — the latest headlines: the former crown prince ofjordan says he's been placed under house arrest as part of a crackdown on critics of the government. christians celebrate easter, but for the second year running covid means services

have to be scaled back. to myanmar now, where ten ethnic rebel groups have thrown their support behind people protesting against the military�*s usurpation of power. this comes as the military launched further airstrikes in myanmar�*s eastern karen state, killing 12 civilians according ot the karen national union which controls large parts of the state. it accused the ruling military junta of pushing myanmar towards all—out civil war. another armed group, the kachin independence army, has urged disaffected soldiers to join them. we spoke to poppy mcpherson, reuter�*s myanmar bureau chief, who gave us an update on the refugee situation there. a lot of them tried to go to thailand, tried to cross the border, have been stopped and are living on the few supplies they managed to take with them when they fled their homes.

the thai leader said that he was going to welcome refugees, but that didn't happen on the border, refugees were not allowed in by and large. some were allowed in but a larger group was told to go back to myanmar and are now living in a very precarious situation on the border, where karen groups, community groups, have been trying to deliver aid or trying to ensure that some humanitarian supplies get through to them. because obviously they are living in the jungle with very little to survive on. and they say that thai authorities have been blocking the delivery of aid. the ethnic armed groups have been fighting the military for many decades, and the army has never managed to get the upper hand over them. despite an unbalanced situation with the military — it has fighterjets,

and the ethnic armed groups are fighting mostly guerrilla warfare. if all the ethnic armed groups were to fight the military, which is a big if, as they have a lot of differences between them and not all of them have come out against the coup, the military would be stretched on the ground, but it still possesses the superiority in the air. the northern ireland secretary and first minister are among those who have appealed for calm after a night of violence in south belfast. petrol bombs, bricks and bottles were thrown at police injuring 15 officers. eight people — including boys aged 13 and 14 — were arrested. tensions have been exacerbated by post—brexit trading arrangements, which it's claimed have created barriers between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. spanish police have arrested a hundred

suspected gang members accused of smuggling drugs from morocco to spain. in raids across southern spain and france, officers found more than five tonnes of cannabis. it's alleged the gang would supply dealers all across europe. racing across open water, these men accused of smuggling thousands of kilos of drugs. spain's civil guard breaking up what appears to be a very lucrative business. the gang are described by police as having a powerful infrastructure, supplying dealers across the continent. the journey begins in morocco with speed boats crossing the mediterranean and using rivers to move inland towards seville. it is a big operation, officers finding more than 5000 kilos of cannabis. it wasn'tjust drugs, they also unearthed a fake rifle and a taser, plus a

number of vehicles. 0n the banks of the river, dozens of packages were said to contain drugs. it is alleged other gang members hid them in fruit lorries and shipped them to france. police raids taking place across both countries, uncovering documents, cash, navigation and communication equipment. the arrested suspects, all 100 of them, will appear in court at a later date. this operation, likely to be just a date. this operation, likely to bejust a drop in date. this operation, likely to be just a drop in the date. this operation, likely to bejust a drop in the ocean in the drug trade between north africa and europe. us rapper dmx is in a serious condition in hospital, following a heart attack. the rapper, whose real name is earl simmons, was taken to hospital in new york late on friday. his lawyer told us media he didn't know

whether the heart attack was brought on by a drug overdose. the father—of—15 has publicly battled substance abuse for years, and spent several periods in rehab. the hip—hop icon has collaborated with artists such as jay—z and jah rule. there's been a stunning procession in the streets of cairo, to honour the mummified remains of 22 ancient egyptian rulers being transferred to a new home hoped to be their final resting place. 18 kings and four queens have been carried for more than four miles through the city on gold—coloured custom—made vehicles designed to minimise vibration, towards the brand new national museum of egyptian civilisation. sally nabil in cairo has been watching. a procession fit for royalty. the mummies of ancient egyptian kings and queens have left their residence in the egyptian museum

in the heart of cairo. they have been moved to a new museum south of the capital, where they will reside for good. watching the royal mummies being moved to their new resting place is an impressive moment, a scene to remember. the monarchs making this journey include queen hatshepsut and king ramses ii, two of the most famous rulers in ancient egypt. it's very energetic here, a very vibrant atmosphere. the mummies parade in custom—made vehicles, fitted with shock absorbers to avoid damage during the journey. the festival—like ceremony is meant to lure tourists back into egypt and was coupled with tight security measures. arriving in their new residence at the national museum of egyptian civilisation, the royal mummies were saluted with gunshots.

they have been received by the egyptian president, who takes pride in such a dazzling event. the mummies will not be put on display straight away. it'll take a team of experts nearly two weeks to further examine them and unpack them. sally nabil, bbc news, cairo. peter der manuelian is a professor of egyptology and director of the harvard museum of the ancient near east. he told me why it's so important to move these mummies now. i think it's high time to get some better conditions and climate control, to display these mummies and treat them with the respect they deserve. the egyptian museum in cairo is a spectacular building and a wonderful place with a

wonderful legacy, but there are just too many objects are there and it's time to spread the wealth a bit. a new museum opening soon and the egyptians have done a greatjob of moving the collections around and taking the best care they can. if this show was anything to go by, pretty spectacular and well organised, what are we expecting from this new display? i hope that tourism will increase, for one thing. no matter what computer technology we can come up with, there's nothing to compare to being in front of the antiquities themselves, seeing the archaeological sites in egypt. if the goal is to bring people back to the country, i hope it will succeed. is there obligation now with new technology, 3d, immersive displays, actually you can no longerjust have the object itself, it's about providing experience and context for visitors?

yes, you could almost call that educational attainment, to educate, inform and delight, and there are ways to do it on the internet, with stereo headsets, you can be there and not be there at the same time, a wonderful way to get the education across. just on the risks, when you move objects as precious as this, you have to be wary? any time with antiquities, ancient egyptian royal mummies, statues, delicate woodwork, you have to pack it carefully and do conservation reports. curators involved. in this case you are moving from one building to another, so the streets had to be repaved, shock absorbers on the vehicles, nitrogen in the display cases. everything done carefully and cautiously and i was pleased to see it came off successfully.

you can reach me on twitter — @ l vaughanjones good evening. it's been another gloriously sunny day for some. let's take a look at where we had the best of the sunshine. much of eastern scotland today saw temperatures climb up just shy of 17 degrees. totally different story, unfortunately, across the north norfolk coast, with quite a lot of cloud, temperatures struggled to peek above seven celsius. and you can see that clearly on the satellite picture. we did have an improvement through the midlands and down towards dorset, but it's this window of clear skies that's going to just drift a little bit further south overnight, and that's where we'll see the lowest temperatures. so starting to see a change into the far north of scotland, as cloud arrives here, and that's going to prevent the temperatures from falling much lower than 5—6 degrees. but maybe across the midlands and parts of wales, we could see temperatures

around freezing, a touch of light frost not out of the question as well. so the high pressure hangs on in across england and wales, but here's our change with this cold front gradually starting to arrive into scotland as we go through easter sunday. so it's a change of fortunes, really. where we've had the best of the sunshine just recently, we're going to see more cloud and rain arriving by the end of the afternoon. by contrast, over england and wales, dry and sunny. and for eastern england, where we've had that miserable, cold, cloudy storyjust recently, 15 degrees with some sunshine through the day. getting cold in scotland as we go into the afternoon, 8—10 degrees the high. colder still once this weather front continues to push its way steadily south. it will clear the uk by the start of easter monday, but it opens the door to this bitterly cold air arriving. and it will be quite windy with it as well. so not only is the wind direction coming from the north, it's going to be pretty gusty at times as well. sunny spells and scattered showers, but any of those showers, particularly

across northern scotland, turning increasingly wintry — hail, sleet and snow mixed in. factor in gusts of wind widely in excess of 14mph. your home thermometer or inside your car, it may well say 6—8 degrees. perhaps it's going to feel well below that because temperatures are going to feel more like freezing in places. so a bitterly cold day for easter monday. as we look further ahead, this cooler feel is set to continue through much of the week. gardeners and growers, take note — as the winds fall light, frost quite widespread. take care.

this is bbc news — the headlines. the half brother of king abdullah ofjordan says he's been placed under house arrest as a number of top officials have been detained in a security operation. prince hamza — who was removed as crown prince in 2004 — has accused jordan's leaders of incompetence, corruption and harassment.

new national lockdowns have come into force in parts of europe — as countries struggle to contain a surge of coronavirus infections. it means christian worshippers celebrating easter will — for a second year — be doing so under vastly different circumstances. france and italy are among the countries entering lockdown. a spectacular parade has been taking place in cairo — to transfer the mummified remains of 22 ancient egyptian royals to a new museum in the south of the city. 18 kings and 4 queens were transported on custom—made vehicles designed to minimise vibration. now on bbc news, dateline london.