نعتز بالشقيقة مصر التي تفتخر بتاريخها وتستعيد ألق حضارتها عبر احياء موميات “ملوك”،  في حين نبحث نحن عن جنس “الملائكة” متناسين …

King Abdullah and his wife Queen Rania (pictured far right) attend the wedding ceremony of Prince Hamzah and Princess Noor (left) alongside Hamzah's mother Queen Noor (centre)

by bbc.com -- The former crown prince of Jordan says he has been placed under house arrest as part of a crackdown on critics. In a video passed to the BBC by his lawyer, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the half-brother of King Abdullah, accuses the country's leaders of corruption, incompetence and harassment. It comes after a number of high-level arrests said to be linked to an alleged coup plot. The military earlier denied Prince Hamzah was under house arrest. But it said he had been ordered to stop actions that could be used to target the country's "security and stability". The move apparently comes after a visit by the prince to tribal leaders where he is said to have garnered some support. Prince Hamzah has denied any wrongdoing and said he was not part of any conspiracy. Meanwhile, regional powers including Egypt and Saudi Arabia have voiced support for King Abdullah. The United States, which is allied with Jordan in its campaign against the Islamic State group, described the monarch as a key partner who has its full support.

What does the prince say? In the video recorded on Saturday, he says: "I had a visit from the chief of general staff of the Jordanian 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 that I had been present in - or on social media relating to visits that I had made - there had been criticism of the government or the king." He says he was not accused of making the criticisms himself. However, he went on to say: "I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse... And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions. "It has reached a point where no one is able to speak or express opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened." High level political arrests are rare in Jordan, a key US ally in the Middle East. The country has a powerful intelligence agency that has been granted new powers since the coronavirus pandemic, which has drawn criticism from rights groups. Egypt, the US and the Saudi Royal Court have expressed support for King Abdullah.

by Robert Nicholson & Toufic Baaklini -- nationalinterest.org -- There is still hope for Lebanon, but time is running out. Failure to act will create a new forward base for malign powers looking to project the chaos of the Middle East into the Mediterranean, Israel, and Europe.he imminent collapse of Lebanon is certain to give Iran, Turkey, Russia, and China the perfect foothold to project power against Europe’s soft underbelly and Israel’s northern border, but the United States and its allies currently seem too preoccupied to care. Beleaguered friends inside this resource-rich enclave on the Mediterranean Sea are begging for help, but the response from Western powers has been

Far & Wide -- The collapse of a multiethnic and multireligious democracy—what St. John Paul II called a message of pluralism and coexistence—will eradicate that message in the place where it is needed most. It will hand the region over to malevolent forces and send a message to the world that America is an unreliable ally that balks when the going gets tough. President Joe Biden can prevent a foreign takeover in Lebanon, but only if he acts quickly. Given the high stakes, he and his team should do exactly what our friends are asking them to do: lead the way for an international summit that will push for Lebanon’s political reform, recognize its formal neutrality, and open peace talks with its neighbors.

A Crisis at Fever Pitch -- Once upon a time, Lebanon’s robust economy and picturesque landscapes gave it a reputation as the “Switzerland of the East,” but these days rampant corruption and foreign occupation have pushed the country over the edge. Aided by a bevy of crooked oligarchs, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah maintain their stranglehold on the country under the pretext of resisting the Jewish state. Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah recently announced that his stockpile of precision-guided missiles has doubled in just one year, inviting war with Israel even as Lebanese families struggle to make ends meet. That Nasrallah and his cronies hide their missiles in civilian areas only proves his disregard for their well-being.

By Abeer Abu Omar Bloomberg –– Lebanon must be willing to implement some real changes in order to get international funding assistance, …