JORDAN ACCUSES PRINCE HAMZAH OF PLOT TO DESTABILISE KINGDOM

The former crown prince of Jordan, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein is accused of trying to mobilise tribal leaders against the government, the country's deputy prime minister, Ayman Safadi says.

Prince Hamzah worked with "foreign entities" to destabilise the state, Safadi said.

The prince had earlier released two videos to the BBC, claiming he was being held under house arrest.

He denied conspiracy, but accused Jordan's leaders of corruption and incompetence.

The 59-year-old King Abdullah II has ruled Jordan since 1999, when he succeeded his father, King Hussein, to the throne. Prince Hamzah is the eldest son of the late King Hussain and his fourth wife Queen Noor and was born to a Syrian-American family. Now, although Hamzah was named the crown prince of Jordan back in '99, his half-brother and current king, King Abdullah II, transferred the title of the crown prince to his son, Prince Hussein, in 2004.

Sixteen people, including a former adviser to King Abdullah and another member of the royal family, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly threatening security.

His mother, American-born Queen Noor, has said she is praying for what she called innocent victims of "wicked slander".

Responding to the fallout on Sunday, Mr Safadi said Prince Hamzah had used the videos to distort facts and incite empathy, according to the state news agency, Petra.

He told a news conference that the prince had been liaising with foreign parties about destabilising the country and had been being monitored for some time.

The prince is accused of seeking to mobilise "clan leaders" against the government.

But the plot had been "nipped in the bud", Petra quoted the deputy PM as saying.

Jordan is regarded as a vital ally of the United States in the Middle East and has been a major partner in the US-led campaign against the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, the US state department on Saturday said, “We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials," Ned Price, a state department spokesperson, said in a statement. "King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support."

Saudi Arabia and Egypt too have expressed their support to King Abdullah, news agency AFP reported. Responding to the arrests, Saudi officials said they supported the Jordanian king’s decisions and measures to preserve security and stability and face any attempt to affect them.

NEPALI CONGRESS DECIDES TO FORM GOVT UNDER ITS LEADERSHIP

Nepal's main opposition party Nepali Congress has initiated moves to topple Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and form an alternative government under its leadership with the support of the CPN-Maoist Centre and other parties.

The Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress (NC) on Saturday decided to take initiative to form a new government under its leadership, according to party's senior leader Prakash Man Singh.

The NC will ask Prime Minister Oli to step down and allow formation of a new government, said Singh.

If he does not resign, the NC will move a no-trust motion against him in the House of Representatives and take initiative to form a new government under its leadership to save the democratic achievements of the past, he added.

TERROR FINANCING CASE | PAKISTAN ANTI-TERRORISM COURT JAILS HAFIZ SAEED’S FIVE AIDES

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced five leaders of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) to nine years of imprisonment each in a terror financing case.

Three of them — Umar Bahadar, Nasarullah and Samiullah — have been convicted for the first time since the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore pronounced its verdict some time ago in the terror financing cases registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab police.

The other two — JuD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid and senior leader Prof Zafar Iqbal — had already been convicted for many years in other terror financing cases.

ATC Lahore Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar on April 3 handed down nine-year imprisonment to each five of them. The Judge also ordered a six-month jail term to Saeed’s brother-in-law Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki in the same case.

The CTD of Punjab police had registered 41 FIRs against the JuD leaders, including 70-year-old Saeed, in terror financing cases. The trial courts have so far decided 37 of them.

COVID: TESTS TO BE OFFERED TWICE-WEEKLY TO ALL IN ENGLAND

Everyone in England is to be given access to two rapid coronavirus tests a week from Friday, under an extension of the government's testing programme.

The lateral flow kits, which can provide results in around 30 minutes, will be available for free at testing sites, pharmacies and through the post.

The tests are already offered to school children and their families plus those who have to leave home for work.

The health secretary said the plan would help squash future outbreaks.

But critics of the programme say it risks becoming a "scandalous" waste of money.

It comes as Boris Johnson is due to meet the cabinet to sign off the next stage of lockdown easing in England, which will see non-essential shops reopen and pubs and restaurants start serving outdoors from 12 April.

Later, the prime minister will hold a Downing Street briefing, where he is expected to outline plans for coronavirus passports to enable mass-audience events to take place and confirm a traffic light system will be introduced when international leisure travel resumes.

INDONESIA LANDSLIDES, FLOODS KILL 55 PEOPLE; DOZENS MISSING

Multiple disasters caused by torrential rains in eastern Indonesia have killed at least 55 people and displaced thousands, the country's disaster relief agency said on Monday. More than 40 other people were missing.

Mud tumbled down from surrounding hills onto dozens of homes in Lamenele village shortly after midnight on Adonara island in East Nusa Tenggara province. Rescuers recovered 38 bodies and at least five people were injured, said Lenny Ola, who heads the local disaster agency.

Flash flooding killed at least 17 people elsewhere and at least 42 are missing, according to the national disaster mitigation agency. Relief efforts were hampered by power cuts, blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris as well as the remoteness of the area on an island surrounded by choppy seas and high waves, said the agency's spokesperson, Raditya Jati.

The bodies of three people were recovered after being swept away by floods in Oyang Bayang village, where 40 houses were also destroyed, Ola said. Hundreds of people fled submerged homes, some of which were carried off by the floodwaters.

In another village, Waiburak, three people were killed and seven missing after overnight rains caused rivers to burst their banks, sending muddy water into large areas of East Flores district, Ola said. Four injured people were being treated at a local health clinic.

The death toll reached 55 by Monday morning after the rains caused cold lava to tumble down the slopes of Ili Lewotolok volcano and hit several villages, Jati said.

POPE, IN EASTER MESSAGE, SLAMS WEAPONS SPENDING IN TIME OF PANDEMIC

Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, particularly to the world's poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic "scandalous".

Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year in a row that Easter papal services have been attended by small gatherings at a secondary altar of St. Peter's Basilica, instead of by crowds in the church or in the square outside.

After saying Mass, Francis read his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, in which he traditionally reviews world problems and appeals for peace.

"The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless – and this is scandalous – armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened," he said.

Francis, who would normally have given the address to up to 100,000 people in St. Peter's Square, spoke to fewer than 200 in the church while the message was broadcast to tens of millions around the world.

"I urge the entire international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries," he said.

Francis, who has often called for disarmament and a total ban on the possession of nuclear weapons, said: "There are still too many wars and too much violence in the world! May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war."

JAPAN PM TO TAKE UP CHINA-TAIWAN TENSION ON US VISIT

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Sunday said Taiwan's peace and stability was key to the region and that Japan would cooperate with the United States to calm rising tensions between China and Taiwan.

Suga is set to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington next week, the US leader's first in-person summit since taking office in January.

Tokyo considers its US alliance to be the cornerstone of its diplomatic and security policies, and is eager to develop close relations with the new US administration.

Taiwan is expected to be on the agenda as the leaders seek ways to deal with China's growing security threat in the region. Chinese warplanes are increasingly entering Taiwanese airspace, and China has protested an agreement to bolster cooperation between the US and Taiwanese coast guards that followed Washington's new sales of arms equipment to Taipei.

“It is important for Japan and the United States to cooperate and use deterrence to create an environment where Taiwan and China can find a peaceful solution,” Suga said on a television talk show Sunday.

YOUNG PAKISTANIS RUSH TO PURCHASE RUSSIAN VACCINE AS PRIVATE SALES OPEN

Thousands of Pakistanis rushed to get inoculated in the first round of commercial sales of Covid-19 vaccines that began over the weekend, with vaccination sites in the southern city of Karachi saying on Sunday they had already sold out.

Pakistan is currently offering free vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow, and last month the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the general public.

The first round saw the commercial sale of the two-shot Russian Sputnik V to the general public for about 12,000 Pakistani rupees ($80) for a pack of two doses.

Despite the cost, a number of centres offering the shot reported long queues, with some in Karachi waiting in line for close to three hours. Most in the queue were young Pakistanis still not eligible for government's free vaccination.

While the private sale of vaccines has begun, the government and importers are still locked in a pricing dispute.