this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughanjones. 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. a state of emergency is declared in florida after a major reservoir leak at an old phosphate mine. and a pharaoh—ld journey through the streets of cairo — the mummies of 22 ancient egyptian rulers, transported to a new resting place. hello. 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 hamzah 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 hamzah and members of thejordanian society, including prominent tribes, and in his video, prince hamzah 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. earlier, i spoke to associate professor dalia fahmy from long island university, and asked for her reaction to what's been happening in the country. shocking that it got to this extent but not really surprising — there have been rumblings on the ground for a couple of years now. king abdullah has been a king who has undertaken quite a bit of economic reforms but not political reforms, especially since the arab spring. for his half—brother, the former crown prince, former because the king removed

the title four years into his reign, to be meeting with tribal elders and listening to their discontent with this king, comes at a time whenjordan�*s been hurting economically, the king has been touting reform. jordan's foreign debt has reached $35 billion, which is 95% of the country's gdp. this increase is really due to several challenges happening in the region today — a decrease in tourism, increased spending on the military, the pandemic, and of course the decade—long refugee crisis. sorry to jump in, but given the longlist of problems you listed, and clearly criticism among influential people in the country — but do those factors amount to a coup attempt? not a coup attempt but it definitely signals a rift within the government, especially the kingdom itself. again, we just saw a cabinet reshuffle a month ago

due to corruption. so when the former crown prince says, this is a government full of corruption, that there is nepotism, he's indicating a rift that society has been talking about. remember, the late king hussein, the father, was very popular among the people becausejordan was economically stable. today, you have an imf loan that required austerity measures to be met by 2001, so you have pain felt within the country. you are seeing language that this king today is not measuring up to his father. the former crown prince, who the late king hussein wanted to become king eventually, is now appealing to those in the government, the tribal elders and society who see him as the connection to the late father, moving away from the current king. do you think criticism of prince hamzah as someone bitter and passed over

all those years ago, could therefore his criticisms, whether legitimate or not, be cast aside because of that? it could be, but on the other hand he is reflecting what is being said in public, especially among those hurting the most — the shrinking middle—class and tribal elders. he is reflecting things that have been said, but for him to say it and put out a video in english really targeting the international community is really quite telling at this moment. 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.

the authorities in the czech republic have pleaded with people to respect covid restrictions over the easter weekend. the plan is for children to go back to school in a week's time but they say that could be jeopardised if people mingle now in big numbers. until recently, the czech republic had some of the highest per capita cases and deaths in the world. rob cameron has this from the czech capital. prague's famous old town square, usually packed with tourists at this time of year, turned into an impromptu shrine. crosses spray—painted onto the cobblestones to remember more than 25,000 dead. people come day and night, scrawling the names of loved ones on the ground. leah has spent a year reporting on the pandemic for czech television. in november, the story came to her. the last time she spoke to her 86—year—old grandfather, he seemed in good spirits

and good health. two days later, he was dead. translation: when i've come here, i'm with people - who are all in the same boat. they are all suffering the same thing. they are all in mourning, because everyone's constantly talking about the numbers of deaths and infections. but nobody thinks about the families, the value of my grandfather's life. it's irrelevant whether someone is 25 or 95. but these crosses are also a political statement, a protest by a group opposed to the government of andrej babis. the important thing is that the government is responsible. that's a fact. the prime minister said it before. it's something we are able to say out loud, and we want to connect it with the memorial, and the place for mournful people, and i think it's really important thing, and i'm really glad it happened

like it happened. mr babis and his ministers admit there have been mistakes in the past year, but point to a more optimistic few months ahead as the vaccination effort is stepped up. but while there's been a slight improvement in the country's hospitals, the government is not taking any chances. people are still being told not to leave their home districts. the easter weekend is usually a time when czech families get together, and after 12 months of successive lockdowns, that has special significance this year. but the authorities worry that if people defy the restrictions, then the numbers will start rising once again, and all that hard work of the last month could be undone. the governor of georgia has criticised america's professional baseball league for moving the all—star game out of the state.

the decision is in protest at a restrictive new voting law in georgia. critics argue the law makes it harder for black people and other minorities to vote in elections. here's what the governor had to to say. 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 made this decision. 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 world 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. a state of emergency has been declared in florida overfears that as much as 600 million gallons of toxic wastewater could flood into the tampa bay area. there's been a major leak at a large reservoir at a former phosphate mine. the reservoir holds water containing phosphorus and nitrogen. attempts to plug the hole

on friday were unsuccessful. officials have ordered more than 300 homes to be evacuated and have closed a nearby highway. a little earlier, we heard from the manatee county administrator. you've got an immense volume of water. you've got 77 acres, and i think it goes up to 25 feet deep. so when you think about opening the drain in the bottom of your bathtub, where you have a minuscule amount of water, so you can imagine the opening that you see in those films, with that kind of volume and depth of water, putting pressure on that. and so you can imagine, the earlier question was, what are we talking about, a full breach? we are talking about the potential of 600 million gallons, within a matter of seconds and minutes, leaving that retention pool going around the surrounding area. ryan callihan, who is a local reporter covering the story for the bradenton herald in florida, was asked how bad

the situation could become. they are working as quickly as possible to plug that leak, filling it with soil, rocks, any other material that can plug the leak. it's not going well. at this point, they are just trying to avoid that full breach from happening. it's very much in danger of collapsing any minute. 0fficials collapsing any minute. officials and engineers have said so and that's why they have got the evacuation of a mile radius around the site. there is a few ponds on the site, and this one is holding about 400 million gallons of water. depending on which way that water, if it breaches, runs, it could also affect the other ponds on the site and some of those as well. 0fficials don't really expect that to be a storm type flood.

it would be more of a sheet flooding. that eventually drains back out tampa bay. 0vernight we expect another update from governess desantis at 11 o'clock in the morning to let us know what's going on. the situation is pretty dire. the situation is pretty dire. the water could go rushing at any moment. —— governor desantis. spanish police have arrested 100 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. tim allman reports. 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 is known as monparlet — police describe a powerful infrastructure, supplying

dealers across the continent. the journey begins in morocco, with speed boats crossing the mediterranean then using rivers to move inland towards seville. it appears to be a big operation, officers finding more than 5,000 kilos of cannabis. it wasn't just drugs, they also unearthed a fake rifle and a taser, plus a number of vehicles, including two lorries. 0n the banks of the river guadalquivir, dozens of packages were said to contain drugs. it's 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 drop in the ocean in the drug trade between

north africa and europe. there's been a stunning procession through the streets of cairo. the mummified remains of 22 ancient egyptian rulers were being transferred to a brand new national museum of egyptian civilisation. 18 kings and four queens were carried through the city on gold—coloured custom—made vehicles designed to minimise vibration. sally nabil reports. 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 any 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 bodies 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 carefully 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 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 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. and easter has come early for the littlest member of one family in the uk. elizabeth, the four—year—old elephant, has enjoyed some easter treats, laid out by her zoo keepers in the small english village of whipsnade. she is the youngest of the zoo's herd of endangered asian elephants. zoos in the uk have been closed to visitors due to lockdown restrictions.

you can reach me on twitter — @lvaughanjones. 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.