Jordan Bans Coverage of Alleged Plot Involving Prince Hamzah

THE GUARDIAN: Information clampdown to keep investigation into king’s half-brother ‘secret’, says prosecutor general

The prosecutor general in Jordan’s capital, Amman, has banned the publication of any information about an alleged plot said to involve the king’s half-brother, Prince Hamzah, state television said.

“In order to keep the security services’ investigation into Prince Hamzah and the others secret, [it is decided] to ban the publication of anything related to this inquiry at this stage,” the prosecutor Hassan al-Abdallat said.

“The ban on publication involves all audiovisual media and social networks, as well as the publication of all images or video clips relating to this subject on pain of legal action,” he said in a statement shown on television. » | Agence France-Presse in Amman | Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Alexei Navalny 'Seriously Ill' on Prison Sick Ward, Says Lawyer

THE GUARDIAN: Russian opposition figure has fever, cough and has lost weight, according to legal team member who visited him

Alexei Navalny’s lawyer has confirmed that the opposition leader is “seriously ill” after reports emerged that he had been transferred to a prison sick ward for a respiratory illness and had been tested for coronavirus.

The Kremlin critic said in a note published on Monday that he was coughing and had a temperature of 38.1C (100.6F). Several prisoners from his ward had already been treated in hospital for tuberculosis, Navalny wrote. Hours later, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported he had been moved to a sick ward and tested for coronavirus, among other diseases.

On Tuesday, Russian police arrested several Navalny supporters who had travelled to the prison 60 miles east of Moscow to petition for him to receive proper medical care. Anastasia Vasilyeva, the head of the Russian Doctors’ Alliance, along with three other members of the renegade medical union were arrested. Reporters for CNN and for Belsat, a Russian-language television channel based in Poland, were also briefly detained. » | Andrew Roth in Moscow | Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Leaving the Ultra-Orthodox – Jews Seeking a New Life in Germany | DW Documentary

ncreasing numbers of Jews have been leaving ultra-orthodox communities in recent years. Surprisingly, Germany has become a popular refuge for them. Rabbi Akiva Weingarten has been helping them.

More than 1.3 million Jews live in ultra-orthodox communities worldwide. It’s a kind of parallel universe — in which only God’s laws count. Every aspect of everyday life is clearly regulated: The women are responsible for the home and for looking after the children while the men devote their lives to religious study. But some ten percent of ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel go on to quit their communities - and that figure is growing. The majority are young adults and, surprisingly, many come to Germany. Akiva Weingarten was one of them. He grew up in an ultra-orthodox Satmar community in New York State but made a radical break in 2014. He left his wife and children and started a new life in Berlin - without a credit card, a bank account or a job, or any relatives to fall back on. He is now surrounded by a free community of former ultra-orthodox Jews - who turn to the rabbi for practical and religious advice. Moshe Barnett and David Lamberger have only been flat mates in Dresden for a few months now. They are not just seeking a new life, but a new relationship with God.

Jordan’s Prince Hamzah Pledges Loyalty to Half-brother King Abdullah

THE GUARDIAN: Palace turmoil eases as former crown prince vows to remain ‘faithful to the legacy of my ancestors’

Jordan’s Prince Hamzah has pledged loyalty to the king as the monarch accepted mediation over a rift within the royal family that saw the prince placed under house arrest, the palace said.

The government has accused Hamzah, an ex-crown prince and half-brother of King Abdullah II, of a “wicked” plot and involvement in a seditious conspiracy to “destabilise the kingdom’s security”.

Hamzah, detained along with at least 16 others, had earlier struck a defiant tone saying he had been placed under house arrest inside his Amman palace, but insisting he would not obey orders restricting his movement.

But in an apparent easing of the palace turmoil, the 41-year-old prince pledged his backing to King Abdullah. “I will remain … faithful to the legacy of my ancestors, walking on their path, loyal to their path and their message and to His Majesty,” he said in a signed letter, quoted by the palace.

“I will always be ready to help and support His Majesty the King and his Crown Prince,” he is quoted as writing. » | Agence France-Presse | Monday, April 5, 2021

Jordan Accuses Prince Hamzah of 'Malicious Plot' to Destabilize Kingdom | DW News

Jordan says it has foiled a plot by a former crown prince to destabilize the kingdom. The government maintains Hamzah bin Hussein and others were undermining security with the help of foreign powers. As many as twenty high level officials have been arrested. Hamzah denies being part of a conspiracy, and says he is being silenced.

According to Jordan security officials, the King's half-brother had been under investigation for some time. The country's foreign minister said the former crown prince was trying to mobilize tribal leaders against the government - with support from abroad. Sixteen people, including a former adviser to King Abdullah and another member of the royal family were arrested.

The military initially denied arresting Hamzah bin Hussein - but said it had issued him a warning for his actions. But in a video statement sent to media on Saturday Prince Hamzah claimed he had been placed under house arrest for associating with critics of the royal family.

Though he no longer holds an official title, Hamzah remains a popular figure in the country. And many see stability in King Abdullah the second. He has enjoyed widespread popularity during his reign.

Jordan is widely seen as an island of calm in a troubled region - strategically located between Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The US, UK and several Arab nations have all expressed their full support for the reigning monarch.

But COVID-19 has hit the country's economy hard. Unemployment and poverty is on the rise, stoking domestic discontent.

From the 60 Minutes Archive: Steve Jobs

On the 45th anniversary of the founding of Apple, a look back at the 2011 profile of Steve Jobs, which aired just weeks after his death.

Jordan Says Prince Liaised with 'Foreign Parties' over Plot to Destabilize Country

The half-brother and former heir of Jordan's King Abdullah, Prince Hamza, liaised with foreign parties over a plot to destabilize the country and has been under investigation for some time, the deputy prime minister said on Sunday. Video by JORDANIAN PRIME MINISTRY / REUTERS

Jordanien: Wie König Abdullah seine Macht bewahren will

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der jordanische Prinz Hamsa bin Hussein ist in Hausarrest, mehrere seiner Getreuen wurden verhaftet. Planten sie einen Putsch gegen den politisch ohnehin geschwächten König?

Eine Satellitenverbindung war dem Prinzen noch geblieben. Über diese setzte Hamsa Bin Hussein, ein Halbbruder des jordanischen Königs, sein vorerst letztes Handyvideo in die Welt. Darin beschrieb Prinz Hamsa in englischer Sprache einen Besuch des Generalstabschefs, der ihm verboten habe, das Haus zu verlassen. Er sagte, seine Kommunikation werde abgeschnitten und viele seiner Bekannten und Freunde seien verhaftet worden. Der Vorwurf lautete: Er habe an Treffen teilgenommen, an denen König Abdullah II. und die Regierung Jordaniens kritisiert worden seien.

Jordaniens Sicherheitskräfte hatten am Samstag in Amman den Palast von Prinz Hamsa gestürmt. Die Behörden teilten mit, Hamsa sei nicht verhaftet worden. Gleichwohl scheint sich dieser in Hausarrest zu befinden. Nach Angaben der staatlichen Nachrichtenagentur Petra wurden 20 Personen verhaftet, unter ihnen zwei Vertraute des Prinzen. Dass damit Planungen eines Putschversuchs vereitelt worden sein könnten, darauf könnte eine Mitteilung des Generalstabs deuten. In der heißt es, Hamsa sei aufgefordert worden, „Bewegungen und Aktivitäten einzustellen, welche die Sicherheit und die Stabilität Jordaniens treffen sollten“. Hamsa dementierte, dass er Teil einer Verschwörung gegen den König sei. » | Von Jochen Stahnke und Rainer Hermann | Quelle: FAZ.NET | Montag, 5. April 2021

Jordan's Prince Hamzah Defiant after Being Put under House Arrest

THE GUARDIAN: King Abdullah’s half-brother says he will disobey the army’s orders not to communicate with outside world

Jordan’s estranged Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has said in a voice recording that he will disobey orders by the army not to communicate with the outside world after he was put under house arrest.

The half-brother of King Abdullah and the former heir to the throne said in the recording released on Monday by the country’s opposition that he would not comply after being barred from any activities and told to keep quiet.

“I am going to escalate and won’t obey when they tell you you cannot go out or tweet or reach out to people and are only allowed to see the family,” he said in the recording he circulated to friends and contacts. » | Reuters | Monday, April 5, 2021

Breaking Down Judaism | Rabbi Wolpe | Rubin Report

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Rabbi Wolpe (Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple) about Judaism, Orthodoxy, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, the political component to Judaism, the state of Jews in America in 2017, and more.

Happy Easter ! Frohe Ostern! Joyeuses Pâques !

Jordan's Former Crown Prince under House Arrest over Alleged Coup

THE OBSERVER: Authorities also arrested two aides after raiding King Abdullah’s half-brother’s palace in capital Amman

Jordanian authorities raided the palace of the kingdom’s former crown prince on Saturday and arrested two senior aides after uncovering what intelligence officials believe was an attempted coup against the ruling monarch, King Abdullah.

The arrests focused on a network allegedly connected to Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, a half-brother of King Abdullah, who was removed from his post 16 years ago.

Prince Hamzah said in a video recording he was under house arrest and had been told to stay at home and not contact anyone.

Speaking in English in the video, passed by his lawyer to the BBC, he said he was not part of any foreign conspiracy and denounced the ruling system as corrupt.

“(Jordanians’) well[-]being has been put second by a ruling system that has decided that its personal interests, financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and future of the 10 million people who live here,” he said. » | Martin Chulov, Middle East correspondent, and Michael Safi | Saturday, April 3, 2021

Hitler, Nazis, Zweiter Weltkrieg - und wie die Deutschen heute damit umgehen | Meet the Germans

"Don't mention the war"? Hitler und die Nazis ein Tabu in Deutschland? Keinesfalls. Hier begegnet man der Vergangenheit auf sehr vielfältige Weise. Rachel Stewart hat sich 75 Jahre nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs auf Spurensuche begeben - und dabei auch Timur Vermes getroffen, der mit seiner Hitler-Satire "Er ist wieder da" einen internationalen Bestseller gelandet hat.

Die gebürtige Britin Rachel Stewart lebt seit 2016 in Deutschland und lernt noch immer Neues, Überraschendes und Erstaunliches über die Deutschen und ihre Kultur. Für “Meet the Germans” taucht sie in den deutschen Alltag ein - und mit wahren Kulturschätzen wie “Bier”, “Fleisch” oder “Weihnachten” wieder auf. Aber auch kontrovers diskutierte Themen wie “Deutsche Digitalisierung” oder “Voll emanzipiert? Frauen in Deutschland” gehören natürlich zu “Meet the Germans” dazu.

Boris Johnson ‘a Clown’ with No Diplomacy Skills, Says Ex-deputy in Diaries

THE GUARDIAB: Ex-Foreign Office deputy Sir Alan Duncan says PM mistakes regular headlines for political power

Boris Johnson’s former deputy at the Foreign Office has described him as an “embarrassing buffoon” in a new book. Sir Alan Duncan, the MP for Rutland and Melton from 1992 until the last election, said the prime minister was “a clown, a self-centred ego, an embarrassing buffoon, with an untidy mind and sub-zero diplomatic judgment”. “He is an international stain on our reputation,” Duncan added, in diaries which have been serialised in the Daily Mail.

The diaries, made into a book titled The Thick of It, cover his final four years in parliament during Brexit and Johnson’s move to Downing Street. Duncan served on the Conservative frontbenches for 18 years and was a former minister for international development.

In the diaries, Duncan also quotes the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s criticism of Johnson.

In an entry on 29 March 2017, Duncan wrote that he had run into Kwarteng in New Palace Yard in Westminster.

“He says Boris doesn’t appreciate that diplomacy is not about having nice conversations with your friends: it’s about how you engage with those who are awkward,” he wrote. » | Molly Blackall | Saturday, April 3, 2021

‘Raise My Taxes – Now!’: The Millionaires Who Want to Give It All Away

THE GUARDIAN: Abigail Disney has parted with $72m – and thinks the rich need to pay far more tax. As Covid widens the inequality gap, she and an international league of the super-rich are urging governments to take their money

Abigail Disney has always been very, very rich, or, as she describes it, “too rich”. The money came with her name: she is the granddaughter of Roy Disney who, with his brother Walt, founded the Walt Disney Company in 1923. Disney, 61, refuses to say how much she has, but acknowledges she would have been a billionaire in her own right had she not realised in her 20s that it was her fortune that was making her miserable, and decided to start giving it away.

She has been donating to good causes ever since – $72m (£52m) and counting, mostly to groups helping women in prison, women living with HIV, and victims of domestic violence. But giving it away is no longer enough. She wants the tax collector to take more money, not only from her, but from “all of the absurdly rich people across the world”.

“We’ve long known that the world is hugely unequal,” says Disney. “But now the pandemic has really shown it to all of us, and no one in all conscience can continue to ignore it.” Disney is speaking over Zoom from a pristine white sofa in her San Francisco home. Today, she looks more hippy chic than heiress: her light-brown hair falls in long, gentle curls, and there is a discreet peace dove tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

“It is like when your kids have a bath, and you pull the plug out and slowly all the little toys at the bottom are revealed,” says Disney. “That is what has happened here: now we all know what is going on under the surface.” As well as killing more than 2.5 million people, the pandemic and global lockdown response has plunged some 150 million more into “extreme poverty”, according to the World Bank. The Washington-based institution described Covid-19 as “a heat-seeking missile speeding toward the most vulnerable in society”. » | Rupert Neate | Saturday, April 3, 2021

The Patriotic Millionaires »

‘Kill the Bill’ Protesters Rally across England and Wales on Saturday

THE GUARDIAN: Demonstrations against crackdown on right to protest are organised in 25 cities including London

Protesters are rallying in central London and 24 other towns and cities in England and Wales on Saturday against a crime bill that critics say will severely restrict the right to stage demonstrations.

The police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, which passed its second reading in parliament last month, will modify existing public order legislation to make it easier for police to ban or shut down peaceful protests if they are considered too disruptive or likely to lead to disorder.

Opponents of the bill have called it an attack on the right to protest and a step towards authoritarianism. They warn that in conjunction with new laws giving agents of the state licence to commit crimes while undercover and changes to the judicial system, the balance of power is being tipped towards the authorities, eroding individual freedoms. » | Damien Gayle | Saturday, April 3, 2021

Moscheereport: Islam und Homosexualität

Schwul und Muslim - das geht nicht. So sehen es viele Gläubige im Nahen Osten, aber auch in Deutschland. Warum das richtig sei und auch so bleiben solle, berichtet ein Imam im Moscheereport. Constantin Schreiber berichtet im Moscheereport über das Verhältnis zwischen Islam und Homosexualität.

Verbotene Liebe - Homosexualität im NS-Regime

Gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe war in den Augen der Nazis entartete Sexualität. Tausende schwule Männer kamen in den Konzentrationslagern ums Leben. Das schwul-lesbische Filmfestival Pink Apple in Zürich widmete im Mai 2015 diesen verboteten Liebesgeschichten einen Schwerpunkt.

Homosexualität in der Geschichte: Von der Antike bis heute

In der Antike gehört Homosexualität zum Alltag – und ist nicht strafbar. Mehr als ein Jahrtausend später im Mittelalter werden Homosexuelle verbrannt, die Nationalsozialisten unter Adolf Hitler verfolgen, misshandeln und töten homosexuelle Menschen. Wie sich der Umgang mit Homosexualität, vor allem der Kontext homosexueller Handlungen, im Laufe der Geschichte gewandelt hat, erfahrt Ihr in diesem Video mit MrWisssen2Go Mirko Drotschmann. Homosexualität als Begriff für gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe ist natürlich viel jünger als gleichgeschlechtliche sexuelle Handlungen und Liebe. Die gibt es vermutlich seit Beginn der Menschheitsgeschichte. Aus der Antike kennen wir einige Darstellungen solcher Handlungen. Die Praktiken sind weit verbreitet, haben aber eine andere Bedeutung als heute. Mirko erzählt Euch von antiken Vasen mit eindeutigen Bildern, homosexuellen Handlungen im Krieg, von Richard Löwenherz, der mit Philipp II. von Frankreich das Bett teilt, um seinen Vater zu verärgern. Dann geht es im Video über Homosexualität in der Geschichte um das christlich geprägte Mittelalter. Im Mittelalter werden Menschen für homosexuelle Praktiken bestraft. Vom Mittelalter und der Frühen Neuzeit an werden Homosexuelle bis weit ins 20. Jahrhundert kriminalisiert, stigmatisiert und verfolgt. Trauriger Höhepunkt ist die Verfolgung von Homosexuellen im Nationalsozialismus. Die Nazis richten eine eigene Behörde dafür ein, die „Reichszentrale zur Bekämpfung der Homosexualität und Abtreibung“. Auch nach dem sogenannten Dritten Reich werden homosexuelle Handlungen in der Bundesrepublik nach §175 des Strafgesetzbuches jahrzehntelang unter Strafe gestellt. 1994 wird der bereits abgemilderte Paragraph 175 in der Bundesrepublik komplett aufgehoben. In der DDR sind Homosexuelle seit 1988 rechtlich gleichgestellt. Mirko spricht auch über die LGBTQ+-Bewegung, die Stonewall-Aufstände in den USA, und damit einhergehende Veränderungen. In diesem Video versucht Mirko, die Geschichte des Umgangs mit Homosexualität nachzuzeichnen.

Wir danken an dieser Stelle Frau Dr. Jana Kristin Hoffmann für die hilfreichen Anmerkungen!

Die gefälschte Bibel

Glaubt man der Bibel, dann hat Gott zur Zeit des Propheten Mose Völkermorde, die Todesstrafe und Tieropfer befohlen. Gleichzeitig gab Gott durch Mose jedoch das Gebot: „Du sollst nicht töten“. Auch distanziert sich Gott durch einige Propheten des Alten Bundes deutlich von den Ritualen der Tieropfer. Wie kommt das? Hat Gott zwei Meinungen - oder wurde die Bibel gefälscht?

Es erstaunt: Für die Katholische und die Evangelische Kirche sind alle Teile der Bibel, trotz der vielen Ungereimtheiten und offensichtlichen Fälschungen, das wahre „Wort Gottes“. Um die Antwort zu finden, warum es so viele Widersprüche in der Bibel gibt, muss zuerst der Frage nachgegangen werden: Wer hat die Bibel geschrieben? Wer hatte entschieden, welche Schriften in die Bibel aufgenommen wurden und welche nicht - und warum nicht?

Die Antwort ist ernüchternd: Es waren durch alle Zeiten die Pharisäer, Schriftgelehrten und Theologen, die diese Entscheidungen getroffen haben - im übertragenen Sinn die „Priesterkaste“. Doch welche Interessen waren im Spiel? In der TV-Dokumentation „Die gefälschte Bibel“ wird diesen Fragen nachgegangen. Die Ergebnisse überraschen und lassen erstaunen.