15 « February « 2010 « Royalty in the News

Queen Rania Encourages CEOs to Support Education Campaign

The Queen of Jordan is on a working visit to Barcelona, Spain this week. For Monday, she aimed to rally the CEOs of cellphone companies to support her 1Goal education campaign.

The Jordan Times/Nasser Ayoub

“Your world, the mobile phone industry, and my world, global education, might not be, at first glance, an obvious partnership, but I’m here because our worlds overlap and intersect more than you may realise,” Queen Rania told the executives at a reception hosted by the GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide cellphone industry.

“Not going to school or receiving a poor education means fewer customers and fewer talented recruits. It costs businesses around the world billions of dollars in lost trade revenue, innovations and efficiencies,” she added.

“That’s why,” the Queen said, “the mobile industry has a vested interest in making sure as many children as possible receive an education.”

The 1GOAL campaign, which aims to make education available to everyone worldwide, was co-founded by Queen Rania last August, in partnership with FIFA, the 2010 World Cup and the Global Campaign for Education. It aims to put the 72 million children who are not receiving an education for various reasons, to be put in a classroom.

To sign-up for the campaign, go to www.join1goal.org to petition governments to stand by their current education pledges.

Belgian King Visits Train Collision Site

REUTERS/Thierry Roge

Monday saw one of the worst train collisions in Belgian history. Two commuter trains collided head-on south-west of Brussels during rush hour, leaving nearly one hundred injured and death toll currently at 18.

King Albert II promptly left his vacation spot in the south of France to come to the crash site at Buizingen, near Halle. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Yves Leterme, who ended a trip to Kosovo early to get to the site. Leterme said he was stunned by what he saw, which many described as a carnage.

World leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, sent their condolences to the King.

This train collision comes less than a month after a gas explosion in Liege killed 14 people. The King also came to the site to see for himself the damage, and talk to the firefighters involved.

Hillary Clinton Dines With Saudi King

U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met with the King of Saudi Arabia Monday, after spending the weekend in the Persian Gulf. The two held talks and had a luxurious lunch together at the King’s desert retreat outside of Riyadh.

REUTERS/Saudi Press Agency/Handout

Upon arriving in the desert Kingdom, Clinton was welcomed by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who took her to the camp 35 miles northeast of the Saudi capital. On the way over, the Prince joked with the Secretary about the country’s capital. This might have helped ease Clinton’s meeting with King Abdullah.

“I want you to know, Your Majesty, that His Highness thinks camels are ugly,” Mrs. Clinton said, according to the New York Times.

“I think His Highness was not being fair to camels,” the King reportedly replied.

After sitting for some talks and allowing photographers to snap away from them, King Abdullah escorted the former First Lady to her lunch inside the air-conditioned tent, which is about the size of a circus tent. The meal included lamb, rice, hummus and other foods. The King played a wide-screen TV of a soccer game to perhaps entertain the guests. But some suspected it was to keep them from overhearing his conversation with Clinton.

One of the topics the two likely discussed was Iran and its controversial nuclear program. Clinton was hoping Saudi Arabia would use its influence with China to secure sanctions against Iran because of the program.

But what was probably on the mind of King Abdullah was the Mideast peace process, which has been stalling.

“The peace process is the main issue, of course,” said Saudi foreign ministry spokesman Osama Nugali. “Our position is still the same… that we need to revive the peace process.”

“I’m hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations,” Clinton said while in Qatar.

Princess Haya Opens Family Gathering Village

On Sunday, the wife of the Sheikh of Dubai, Princess Haya, inaugurated the Family Gathering Village in Dubai’s Al Khawaneej area. The village is a family oriented project which includes theaters, poetry cafe, houses of crafts and other forms of entertainment and culture. It will run until March 27th.

Emirates News Agency

As patron of the Family Gathering Village, Haya visited various areas of the village, starting with the traditional area. She commended the creativity and energy the different locations gave off and admired the products on display.

After touring the traditional part, the Princess then visited the Village’s Souq. Many items at the Souq, like perfumes, clothing, accessories, were created by young children as part of the Souq’s efforts to encourage children’s projects.

Colonel Ahmed Al Mansoori, spokesman of the Family Gathering Village, explained that the event is a new addition to the family development strategy recently adopted by the government. Holding such events, he claims, will have positive results on the entire community.

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