Jordanian prince lashes out, says he is under house arrest
AMMAN, Jordan — The half-brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Saturday he has been placed under house arrest and accused the country’s “ruling system” of incompetence and corruption, exposing a rare rift within the ruling monarchy of a close Western ally.
Prince Hamzah’s videotaped statement came after the country’s official news agency reported that two former senior officials and other suspects had been arrested for “security reasons,” even as authorities denied that Hamzah had been detained or placed under house arrest.
In a video leaked to the BBC, Hamzah — a former crown prince stripped of his title in 2004 — said he was visited early Saturday by the country’s military chief and told he was not allowed to go out, communicate with people or meet with them.
He said his security detail was removed, and his phone and internet service had been cut. He said he was speaking over satellite internet and expected that service to be cut as well. The BBC said it received the statement from Hamzah’s lawyer.
Hamzah said he had been informed he was being punished for taking in part in meetings in which the king had been criticized, though he said he was not accused of joining in the criticism.
He then lashed out at the “ruling system” without mentioning the king by name, saying it had decided “that its personal interests, that its financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and futures of the 10 million people that live here.”
Housing migrant kids: The federal government may house unaccompanied migrant children on a California Army National Guard base in central California, officials said.
The Pentagon on Friday approved the use of Camp Roberts to temporarily house migrant children traveling alone, according to a defense official.
It was not immediately clear if or how many children could be placed at the camp, which is located almost directly between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Saturday that the camp is “under active consideration.” The department has not yet finalized its decision.
“When HHS decides to activate an Emergency Influx Site for unaccompanied migrant children we will notify state and local authorities as well as members of Congress,” the department said in a statement.
Myanmar protests: Security forces in central Myanmar opened fire on anti-coup protesters on Saturday, killing at least two people according to local media. A human rights group said mounting violence since the Feb. 1 military takeover has killed at least 550 civilians.
Of those, 46 were children, according to Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Some 2,751 people have been detained or sentenced, the group said.
Threats of lethal violence and arrests of protesters have failed to suppress daily demonstrations across Myanmar demanding the military step down and reinstate the democratically elected government. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy
in the South Asian country.
After weeks of overnight cutoffs of internet access, Myanmar’s military on Friday shut all links apart from those using fiber-optic cable, which was working at drastically reduced speeds. Access to mobile networks and all wireless — the less costly options used by most people in the developing country — remained blocked Saturday.
UK demonstrations:
Hundreds of people marched Saturday through central London and other cities across England and Wales to protest the British government’s plan to hand the police new powers to tackle demonstrations.
Protesters walked past Buckingham Palace toward Parliament Square, just outside the Houses of Parliament. A ring of officers positioned themselves around the statue of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. The statue had been defaced
during anti-racism protests last year.
Protesters, including many who carried anti-sexism placards and chanted “Women scared everywhere, police and government do not care!” passed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office at 10 Downing Street.
London’s Metropolitan Police said the majority of people “have tried to adhere to social distancing” but that a ”small minority” had blocked the road at Parliament Square.
The protests were taking place over the long Easter holiday weekend, including in the Welsh capital of Cardiff and in the northern England cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
Deadly blasts in Somalia: Simultaneous explosions were heard in and around two Somali army bases on Saturday, with the military confirming that at least nine staffers were killed but asserting the attackers had
“heavy losses” of dozens of dead. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility.
In a separate attack Saturday evening, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive at a tea shop in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people, police spokesman Sadiq Ali Adan told The Associated Press. Four other people were wounded. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
Residents said the attacks at the army bases occurred in Bariirre and Awdhegleh villages of Lower Shabelle region, 46 miles south of Mogadishu.
Speaking to the local media, Gen. Odawa Yusuf Ragheh, the commander of the Somali National Army, confirmed the twin attacks but said al-Shabab had been repulsed with “heavy losses” among the extremists.
Designer released: Fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli has been released from a
California prison and is under home confinement following his imprisonment for his role in a college admissions bribery scheme, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Giannulli, 57, is married to former “Full House” star Lori Loughlin. They pleaded guilty last year to paying $500,000 to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California. Loughlin was released from prison in December after two months behind bars.
The two were among the most high-profile parents charged in the scheme, which authorities say involved hefty bribes to get undeserving teens into schools with rigged test scores or bogus athletic credentials.
Giannulli was released to home confinement Friday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. He is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, the person said.