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The King and Queen of Sweden are on a four day tour of the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. 
They arrived in Kiev early this morning and were greeted by President Viktor Yushchenko and his wife, Kateryna. An official ceremony was held welcoming the royal couple.
Then the foursome went to the Horodetsky House for bilateral talks. That was followed by statements to the media by both Yushchenko and King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Then, the four moved on to Mykhaylivska Square, where they laid flowers at the monument to the victims of Holodomor. The monument is in remembrance to the millions of Ukrainians who died during the mass famine in the 1930s.
Later in the day, the King and Yushchenko will hold a Swedish-Ukrainian business forum. After that comes, a tour of the National Museum of History. In the evening, the King and Queen will accompany the Yushchenko’s to the National Opera and Ballet Theater.
There’s a lot of movement with royals these days. Right now, the heir to the Swedish throne is touring Scania, located in the southern most part of Sweden. 
She arrived by boat early this morning, and immediately got down to business.
“She has expressed a desire to experience and learn more about this part of Scania in peace and quiet, and nature is one of her great interests. She wanted to see the Water Nation, “says Caroline Hansson, information manager at the County Administrative Board of Scania.
The first thing on Victoria’s agenda was to take a raft tour through Scania. She was accompanied by Sven-Erik Magnusson, who found the Crown Princess to be very pleasant.
“Egeside is the former hay land that has been growing again, and now is a totally awesome marshland with wild boar and elk,” he said.
“The Crown Princess was fascinated by the existence of such a wilderness-like landscape in such a densely populated area in Scania. She said that the king had been here and that the Water Kingdom had made great impression on him.”
Later, after lunch, Victoria went to an exhibition dedicated to the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii, in Calamba
She then met with 15 young Swedish entrepreneurs at Turning Torso.
Tomorrow, at the completion of her visit, the crown princess will be made an Honorary Member of Alnarp Park Friends.
The Prince and Princess of Asturias are on an official tour of Mexico this week. The visit is being treated as a state visit, but without the celebrations reserved for heads of state, as Crown Prince Felipe is not yet one.
Felipe and Crown Princess Letizia arrived in Mexico City yesterday morning, and were received by Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife Margarita Zavala.
They then went on a tour of the Mexican capital, until they met with the “Children of Morelia.” These are people or descendents of the people who left Spain in 1937 for Mexico during the brutal Spanish civil war.
The main reason why Felipe and Letizia are in Mexico, is to preside over the inauguaration of the Congress of the Latin-American Culture. The Congress has been created as a meeting place for directors, screenwriters and actors who seek to enhance the audiovisual industry Iberoamericana.
Since 1995, Crown Prince Felipe has represented the Spanish state in meeting with Latin American leaders. Several times since he married in May 2004, he has been accompanied by the Princess of Asturias.
This is the couple’s third trip to Mexico. The first came two months after their wedding, and the second was when Calderon was inaugurated in December 2006.
Calderon and his wife will accompany the royal couple throughout their stay until October 2nd, when they return to Spain.
Norway’s Princess Martha Louise gave birth to her third daughter today, at her home in Lommedalen, west of Oslo. 
The new member of the Norwegian royal family is named Emma Tallulah. She weighed 3700 grams and is 53 cm long.
Little Emma joins big sisters, Maud Angelica, born in 2003 and Leah Isadora, born in 2005.
None of Martha’s daughters have royal titles. Martha herself gave up her “royal highness” title when she married husband Ari Behn.
The princess and her husband, known for stirring controversy, made headlines when their second daughter Leah was also born at home. The princess later emerged as an advocate of home births, much to the disagreement of some members of the medical community.
The Danish crown princess is on a tour of Uganda, as the patron of the Danish Refugee Council. 
Crown Princess Mary is meeting with families who have been displaced by war and is witnessing firsthand their living conditions.
Also, Mary will be able to observe how refugees and internally displaced persons strive towards a better life as they return to their villages and farms and see how the Royal Danish Embassy and the Danish Refugee Council support to the efforts of rebuilding Northern Uganda after 20 years of war. The visit of the crown princess comes at a time that holds the promise for a brighter future for the people of Northern Uganda.
“I am greatly impressed with what you are doing to help the people living with HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, am just on a short visit. I would have loved to stay much longer to share more,” she said to The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in Mulago, which she visited today.
Denmark is one of the leading donors to the refugee activities in Uganda.
Turmoil began in Uganda during the days of General Tito Okello and the National Resistance Army. The government waged war on anyone suspected of supporting the NRA.
Britain’s Prince Harry will likely not get a second chance to serve his country in Afghanistan. 
Anonymous sources say top British officials believe it is too risky to allow the prince, who is third in line to the throne, back to the frontline.
“He is being let down gently because the risks would be even greater this time,” the source told The People.
“Everybody in his family and regiment believe he has thoroughly proved himself in every conceivable way as a soldier and he has every reason to be proud.
“Harry does not see things that way and thinks if he misses out on the most dangerous missions he will be seen as a lightweight soldier.”
Last December and into early this year, Harry spent 10 weeks fighting Taliban insurgents in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.
There was an agreement among the media not to reveal Harry’s deployment. But American and Australian media outlets broke that agreement, and Harry had to pull out immediately.
The prince is a lieutenant with the British Blues and Royal regiment. He has made it quite clear that he wants to return to Afghanistan, because he still believes there is work to be done there.
The Crown Princess of Norway was one of thousands of runners in the Glitnir Oslo City Race today.
She ran in the mini-marathon, only 10 kilometers, but her presence was appreciated by organizers.
About 4,000 participants from 37 countries ran in the race.
Upon completing her part in the marathon, Mette-Marit was presented a medal by former marathon queen Grete Waitz, who took part in several New York marathons.
All participants took home a medal and a t-shirt.
There was an entry fee, and half of all fees received for the Glitnir Oslo Mini-marathon go directly to the charity Right To Play.
This is not the first time a Norwegian royal ran in the Glitnir race. Mette-Marit’s husband, Crown Prince Haakon ran in 2000.
The girlfriend of Prince William is working on a charity project which would help thousands of ill children in hospitals have fun Christmas parties this December. 
Kate Middleton is doing this on behalf of Starlight children’s foundation, which was founded by Emma Samms, who played Fallon Carrington Colby in the 1980s TV show Dynasty.
Kate has forged a link between her parents’ gift company Party Pieces and Starlight to give goodie bags, entertainment and decorations for 200 events to be held in hospitals across Britain this December.
Samms told The Mail on Sunday, “I find it terribly exciting that there are going to be 10,000 children who will get party bags and parties this Christmas, thanks to Party Pieces. We are extremely thrilled, as you can imagine.”
“I am looking forward to meeting up with Kate soon to thank her properly for what she has done for Starlight. It is such a huge donation.
“What a great thing they are doing – and what a great change it will make to these kids.”
Kate got the idea to link Party Pieces with Starlight after attending a charity boxing match earlier this year. There, she met Bianca Nichols, a 19 year old with cystic fiborsis, and was moved by her and the work Starlight did for her.
According to Sarah Dawson, the foundation’s director of corporate fundraising, Kate could see an immediate way she could link Starlight with her parents’ company.
“Our relationship is still in the early stages and I will be liaising directly with Kate,” said Dawson. “She will be putting everything together for us, from the pantomime that goes on to the paper cups.
“It’s amazing and fantastic what they are doing to transform the children’s time in hospital. There is no money involved.”
Kate has been working hard to change her image of a woman who parties while waiting for her Prince to propose to her, to someone who actually does something with her life. Last week, Ms Middleton was an organizer for a fundraising event which raised money for a charity set up in a friend’s memory.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway will take part in the 10 kilometer Gitnir Oslo City Race, tomorrow. Her husband ran the same race back in 2000. 
The race’s organizer Nils-Jolstein Helland, is looking forward to see the Crown Princess participate.
“Mette-Marit was invited,” he explained. “And she said yes. This is a private event, nothing official.”
Even so, Helland is looking forward to having the Crown Princess start off the race.
“Anyone can join in the Oslo Marathon,” added Helland. “The oldest is 81, the youngest 1 year old. There are three different distances to choose from: 4 km, 10 km and a half marathon. The latter is 42 km.”
Mette-Marit opened Rullator festival in Grahamstown yesterday, and then applied for the Elderly With Walkers to conduct a competition. She will be representing the Vidar Sports Club.
About 6,500 people are expected to participate in the marathon.
Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko set free 10 ibises into the Japanese wild for the first time since 1981. 
The birds are on the endangered species list, and Japan plans to release 60 more by the year 2015.
Red-faced, with pink-white feathers, a curved black beak and a floppy feathered crown, the crested ibis was once common in rice fields in Japan and across Asia, where it feasted on bugs and frogs.
But the birds - a national Japanese treasure - were nearly wiped out due to hunting, pesticides and development.
But currently, ibises are being bred in Japan after China gave two of the birds to its once sworn enemy.
Some of the 10 birds that were released wore small GPS devices on their backs for tracking.
When the ibises were set free, they headed to rice paddies, with a crowd cheering them on.
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