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 Ragnar Singsaas/Getty Images Europe The Queen of Norway spent some time with her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mette-Marit on Wednesday night. The two saw the musical, “Mamma Mia!” at the People’s Theater in Oslo.
But this outing wasn’t only for fun and laughs. The performance raised money for breast cancer research. All proceeds went to the Pink Ribbon campaign.
“This is about raising awareness,” Queen Sonja said. “There are very, very many who are affected, and we all know someone who is affected. Who knows when it’s our turn? I think Pink Ribbon action is a great and very great way to meet a challenge on.”
The Queen also revealed that she had already seen “Mamma Mia!” 3 times already – and two of them were in London when Lisa Stokke performed.
“It’s like some of that generation, the dance and the great thing about this. So “Dancing Queen” is not so bad, “she said about the musical.
Belgian Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde are currently in the United Arab Emirates. They arrived separately yesterday, with Philippe coming from Saudi Arabia and Mathilde arriving from Belgium. Both have different agendas in the UAE, but the main purpose of their trip is to strengthen ties between their country and this Gulf nation.
 WAM.ae First stop was Abu Dhabi, where Mathilde met with the Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation and Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak at her palace. The two discussed women’s issues and how women in the UAE are working on the development of their country. Mathilde praised the Sheikha for her works.
Afterward, the Crown Princess stopped by Abu Dhabi Women’s College, where she met with students and educators. Mathilde lauded the college for its high standards and the students’ love of learning.
While that was happening, Crown Prince Philippe was meeting with Health Minister Dr. Hanif Hassan. With him was a Belgian delegation made up of representatives of the investment, trade, public services, business and media sectors, who were there to get an idea of how the UAE is developing its health sectors.
 WAM.ae Philippe also met with Foreign Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, with whom he further discussed Belgian investment with the UAE. Sheikha Lubna encouraged the Belgian delegation to work with her country.
Next, the Crown Princely couple reunited and met with the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. Crown Prince Philippe and the Sheikh talked about tightening bilateral ties.
Thursday, the couple moved on to Dubai, where Philippe was welcomed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is both ruler of Dubai and the Vice President of the UAE. During their meeting, the Crown Prince and the Sheikh discussed economic ties between Belgium and the UAE.
The wife of the Sheikh of Dubai, Princess Haya, opened a school that bears her name Wednesday.
The Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Government Girls School was inaugurated in Rashidiya, Dubai as part of the Haya’s goal to expand educational resources throughout the emirate.
Later on, she visited the pilot project of the Indimaj Foundation in Hatta, Dubai.
 wam.ae
It was a big day for Dutch Princess Laurentien yesterday. She was in Rotterdam to launch her children’s book, Mr Finney and the World on its Head, which is about how to be more environmentally aware. 
“The candid questions from children about how we treat our earth are the starting point of the book. Mr. Finney suggests these questions and go on world tour to find answers, “says the book’s publisher, Querido Books.
The Princess arrived at the event with her husband, Prince Constantijn, the youngest son of Queen Beatrix. Also there was Princess Irene, one of the Queen’s sisters, as well as Sieb Posthuma, the illustrator of Mr Finney.
Both Laurentien and Sieb presented their book to the media and even read from it.
The World on its Head is the first in a series of books by Laurentien starring Mr. Finney.
Denmark’s Princess Marie opened an Euro-Asian Classroom Network Conference at Sonderborg’s Hotel Comwell on Tuesday. The conference, which was linked to UNESCO, had about 100 teachers from 30 countries discussing projects on climate change.
 Jesper Sunesen/BILLED-BLADET “It is a great privilege for me to be allowed to attend the opening of this conference,” said Princess Marie in an opening speech. “The common theme for this year’s conference is climate and sustainability. A very relevant topic because of the climate summit in Copenhagen in December. The goal in the coming days is that I must inspire each other in discussions about climate and sustainability.”
What the Princess was referring to was the summit on climate change taking place in Denmark’s capital in December. It will be at this summit that many nations will sign a treaty that would prevent environmental changes from spreading.
Marie went on to say how students from Asia and Europe should make joint projects on climate change, and it should be done via the Internet.
On Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Casablanca for a global forum on the Mideast peace process. He was welcomed by Moroccan King Mohammed VI.
The two leaders discussed a number of issues, but most importantly, the Palestinian territories.
Abbas is in Morocco for the Al Quds International Forum, which King Mohammed is the patron of.
 Maghreb Arab Presse
India’s President, Pratibha Patil, began her state visit to the United Kingdom Tuesday, and Queen Elizabeth II welcomed her with pomp and pageantry.
 AP Photo/Chris Jackson, pool Patil first was welcomed to the country at Heathrow airport by several British dignitaries. But her real greeting came when she arrived at Windsor Castle outside London. There, she met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip who had an entire military guard on hand to welcome the first Indian head of state to visit the UK in 20 years.
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall were also in attendance for the ceremony. They had traveled with Patil from Heathrow to Windsor in a car fleet.
Tonight, there will be a banquet in Patil’s honor. On Wednesday, she will meet with Prime Minister Gordon Brown for talks. They will discuss ways to strengthen ties between the two nations which already have strong relations.
“Apart from the growing trade and economic relations, India and Britain cooperate well in a number of areas including education, research, science and technology,” foreign secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters last week.
Patil is also in the UK for the beginning of the Commonwealth Games baton relay race, which will start at Buckingham Palace and end in India.
She is also only the fourth female head of state to go on a state visit to the UK. The other three were all monarchs: Queens Juliana and Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
On Friday, Sweden’s Queen Silvia was in Washington to meet with an old friend in U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and to forge a relationship with First Lady Michelle Obama. The Queen spent the past week in the United States to celebrate her charity’s, World Childhood Foundation, 10th anniversary.
 REUTERS/Samantha Appleton/The White House/Handout Silvia discussed WCF with Mrs. Clinton, whom she first met with, as well as the Mentor Foundation, which the Queen is the President of. The two women talked about drug prevention through Mentor.
Later in an interview with Swedish Radio, Queen Silvia said she was pleased to meet with Mrs. Clinton once again. “We know each other well from earlier meetings.”
Next was a meeting with Michelle Obama, in the Yellow Oval Room in the White House. The two also discussed World Childhood Foundation, plus drug prevention and nutrition. The meeting was said to have run overtime because of the deep interest the First Lady had in those issues.
“Mrs. Obama is a warm, open and interested person who is very concerned about what is best for children,” the Queen told Swedish Radio.
Crown Prince Philippe was received by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah today as part of the Belgian royal heir’s economic mission to the Middle East. He will be in the region for about a week in hopes of expanding Belgium’s business ties there. 
But first, Philippe met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and they had talks about their countries bilateral ties. The Crown Prince was accompanied by a large Belgian delegation of 250 people that included former Prime Minister Yves Leterme.
One of the things the King and the Crown Prince discussed was interfaith issues. Philippe praised King Abdullah for creating events for interfaith dialogue, as he did last year in Spain. Even Leterme lauded the King for his efforts.
In addition, there were talks of the Mideast peace process, oil and other business ties.
“We discussed precisely the volatility of oil prices and about the diversification of energy supplies in Europe. Several regional issues were also taken up during discussions,” Leterme told reporters at the Belgian embassy.“We also made an assessment of our bilateral relations, which are very good,”
Business deals will be signed during the Crown Prince’s stay, which would last five days.
Then, he is off to the United Arab Emirates, where Philippe will continue to do his Belgian economic mission. He will also meet up with wife Crown Princess Mathilde in Abu Dhabi.
The tiny village of Sobrescobio, Spain was overjoyed today for two reasons. One, it won this year’s Prince of Asturias Award for Exemplary Village. Secondly, the villagers were treated with a royal visit by Spain’s Crown Princely couple, Felipe and Letizia.
 Reuters/Eloy Alonso Ever since Sobrescobio was awarded the prize, it has painstakingly preparing for the visit. Houses were painted, flowers were carefully planted, welcome banners and flags were collected. This small village – population 900 – multiplied in a month as relatives from all over Spain came for Felipe and Letizia’s visit.
When the big day came, large crowds gathered to welcome the Prince and Princess of Asturias, which is the region where Sobrescobio is located. Children and the elderly gave hugs and kisses to their future King and Queen.
During the ceremony where the village mayor received the diploma, Crown Prince Felipe congratulated Sobrescobio “for undertaking social and cultural projects to preserve admirable and so wisely reserve the wonderful life that always keeps your council.” Sobrescobio won the Exemplary Village award for beating depopulation, maintaining the environment, and for industrial gains.
The Crown Prince has also praised this town “by looking to the future from the love of tradition and to understand that without the care of the natural heritage can not move forward.”
 Reuters/Eloy Alonso After the ceremony came the tour of Sobrescobio. Folk dancers preformed for the couple as they met with the villagers. At one point, Felipe and Letizia met a basket weaver, who gave them a rattle and wicker baskets for their two daughters.
Later on, the couple celebrated the town’s commitment to the environment by planting a tree together.
The Award for Exemplary Town of Asturias was established in 1990 to recognize the town, village, population center, landscaped area or population in the Principality of Asturias, which has featured in “the defense and conservation of its natural environment, environmental, of its historical, cultural or artistic, or in the execution of works or other manifestations of communal solidarity outstanding.”
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