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 AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit The King of Thailand made a rare public appearance in Bangkok Wednesday. King Bhumibol Adulyadej left Siriraj Hospital to attend the Thailand Philaharmonic Orchestra, the first time he left the hospital in months. The revered King has been at Siriraj for over a year. He was initially admitted for loss of appetite, fever and inflammation of the lungs. According to the royal family, the 81 year-old monarch remains hospitalized for physical therapy. Source: AP, Reuters  Klaus Holthe/TV 2 Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon stopped by the western city of Bergen Wednesday as part of promoting Global Dignity. He met with many local students and discussed with them ways to treat others with respect. Along the way, Haakon went to Bergen’s Student Red Cross, who were holding a blood drive. The catch was the students were dressed as vampires! Fangs, blood on the lips, pale skin and all. The Crown Prince had a good laugh and praised the youngsters for their clever blood drive campaign. Haakon went on to meet children from the forest nursery at Askøy. He also stopped by Olsvik Hill High School, where he told the students the importance of living a dignified life. “We live in a world of possibilities, and we need that each do what we can to bring it in a positive direction.” Haakon is one of the founders of Global Dignity, which was established in 2006. Source: TV 2 Nyhetene The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, spoke about the Mideast Peace Talks during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Emir, along with his wife, Sheikha Mozah, is on a state visit to Germany which began Wednesday.  JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images “The Israeli side should strive for more wisdom and allow a Palestinian state to be created, which is in the interests of security and stability in the region,” Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told reporters, through a translator. The recently established peace talks, that began earlier this month, might fall apart again because Israel is refusing to extend a ban on settlements in the West Bank. That ban originally ended Sunday. Chancellor Merkel said it is “in everybody’s interest” for the talks to continue. “This requires of course a readiness to compromise. We believe that the Arab side, and of course the Arab peace initiative, has played a role in (the talks) taking place. But they should be continued,” Merkel told reporters. Emir Sheikh Hamad is in Germany to strengthen ties with the country. During the press conference, Merkel praised the “dynamic” relationship between Germany and Qatar. “Qatar as an investment location is very attractive to us, but I will add that Qatar is very welcome (in Germany), with regard to the development of German firms,” she said, adding that the Emirate’s share in German car maker Volkswagen was a prime example. The New York based Human Rights Watch released a report Monday saying that the people of Saudi Arabia have more freedom since King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud came to the throne in 2005. However, that freedom is not institutionalized and may not last long.  JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images “Should his enthusiasm for reform wane, or successors tread more conservative paths, his legacy would be one of a brief respite of fresh air, but not one of institutional reform,” the report said of Abdullah. The King has lightened up on restrictions towards women, such as more freedom for them to move about without being questioned by morality police. King Abdullah even has allowed more freedom to criticize the government of the desert kingdom, which practices an ultra conservative form of Islam. However, non-Muslims still cannot practice their religion openly and Shiite minorities are discriminated against. Women still cannot drive and still need permission from a male relative to travel. “The King is laying down markers but not going the one step further to build institutions for this,” said Christoph Wilcke, the principal author of the report. “There is a growing awareness… that this is a king with a reform agenda,” he told reporters in Riyadh in a conference call. But, he added: “The deeper I dug the less concrete reform I found.” Wilcke also pointed out that King Abdullah’s heir, Crown Prince Sultan, does not have the same reform spirit, just like many other senior royal Princes. Source: AFP This week, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel went to France as part of the celebrations of the House of Bernadotte’s 200th anniversary. Since the royal family originated in France, it was natural for its future Queen and her husband to go to the country to commemorate the milestone.  REUTERS/Benoit Tessier On Sunday evening, the couple arrived in Paris at the Swedish Institute for a reception that included 250 guests. The next day, Victoria and Daniel travelled to Sceaux, which is south of Paris to see the chocolate maker Patrick Rogerin. The couple tested the chocolate and chatted with Rogerin about his products. Afterward, the two went to see the marriage certificate between the founder of the current Swedish royal family, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte and Désirée Clary. Then came the dinner at the Ministry of Culture in Paris, and it was here that Victoria wowed all those in attendance and the media reporting on this visit. She came to the dinner dressed in bright, sparkly blue caftan. Many in the Swedish press have noted that since announcing her engagement in 2009, as well as recently getting married, the Crown Princess has been dressing more and more dazzling.
“There’s been a tremendous interest. Much larger than we had imagined, “says Sinziana Ravini, responsible for the exhibition” Nordic Delight” which Victoria and Daniel went to Sunday night. “He was extremely nice, “says Sinziana Ravini. “When I had the chance to talk to him so I could not miss to praise him for the speech at the wedding.” Tuesday will be a big day for both Victoria and Daniel as they will have dinner at the Elysees Palace with President Nicolas Sarkozy and French First Lady Carla Bruni. During the day, they will be in the town of Pau, where they will visit the the Musée Bernadotte. Wednesday, the last day of their visit, will see the royal couple go to a school for underprivileged children. Then they will hop on a plane for a flight back to Sweden. Sources: Svensk Damtidning, Expressen Denmark’s Crown Princely couple are currently on a two day visit to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany this week. Frederik and Mary arrived in Monday morning and immediately were introduced to the northern German state’s VIPs – including some Antarctic friends!  Sean Gallup/Getty Images The royal couple stopped by the Ozeaneum maritime museum and aquarium, where they met with its penguins. During the photo opportunity, Frederik and Mary fed the tiny birds some fish, making for a delightful news story. But the aquarium was not the only part of this trip. Before going to the Ozeaneum, the Crown Prince and Princess first went to the Alter Markt (old market place) at the Hansestadt Stralsund. They wrote their names into the city’s golden book and received a guided tour of St. Nicolai church. The couple were accompanied by the federal state’s Prime Minister Erwin Sellering and his wife. After the aquarium, Frederik and Mary visited Schwerin Castle, a place where they will have a reception dinner this evening. That was followed by an opening of the exhibition “The Flora Danica Table Service. Botany on the table” which shows elements of Flora Danica porcelain at the State Museum Schwerin. Tomorrow, the royals will walk through the city of Schwerin to its marketplace. They will then go to the college for music, followed by a concert at the Theatre of Rostock. Afterward, the two will go their separate ways. Frederik will go to the the Leibniz-Institut for Baltic Sea research Warnemünde on research in the Baltic Sea ecosystem, while Mary will visit the cancer clinic at Rostock University’s pediatric and youth clinic. By the afternoon, they will reunite to visit the cathedral and palace at Güstrow. There will be a farewell reception then, given by Sellering and his wife. Source: Kongehuset.dk  AP Photo/Mark Lennihan Jordanian Queen Rania is recuperating at a New York City hospital following a procedure to correct a irregular heart rhythm. A Royal Court spokesperson said: “The procedure went very smoothly and Her Majesty is well and in good spirits. She will remain in hospital for two nights while she recuperates.” The Queen is expected to return to Jordan later this week. According to the Jordan News Agency, The surgery included “a catheterization through a vein to the heart. It is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms, or premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), which is a common condition. During the procedure, an electric current is used to stop the disturbance of electrical flow through the heart, thus restoring a healthy heart rhythm.” It is also being reported that Rania also suffers from diabetes. An Arab language newspaper in London plus a Jordanian publication, Aram News, have ran stories about this. But there has never been an confirmation from the Queen or the Jordanian Royal Court. Source: Jordan News Agency, The Royal Forums This past Thursday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II appeared on the late night U.S. comedy news program, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. There, he discussed the Mideast peace talks, which the King said could bring about war in the region if the talks do not come to a quick conclusion.  Petra News Agency “If we fail on the 30th [of September], expect another war by the end of the year. And more wars in the region over the coming years,” Abdullah said. What the King meant was the dispute over the settlements in Israel in the disputed West Bank territory, which is due to expire. “If the issue of settlements are still at the table on 30th, then everybody walks away. If they do, how are we going to get people back in the near future. I don’t see that happening,” King Abdullah told Jon Stewart. “We are at a defining crossroads of whether we are going to go down in the abyss or not.” Abdullah also insisted that all Arab countries, including Syria and Lebanon, are committed to peace in accordance to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Source: CNN, Jordan Times It was revealed over the weekend that Norway’s Queen Sonja spent last week visiting a refugee camp in northern Kenya. She paid a visit to Dadaab, which is considered to be the world’s largest camp, on behalf of the television campaign, “On the Run from the War.”  Erlend Aas/Scanpix Upon her arrival, the Queen was greeted by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Elisabeth Rasmusson and land managers Hassan Khair in their new headquarters in Dadaab. She was then thoroughly briefed on the situation in the camp and the NRC’s projects in the area. Dadaab is believed to be home to nearly 300,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia, and it increases in thousands each month. Queen Sonja even visited two families in the camp. One of the families has been in camp since its establishment in 1991, another family had just arrived. Her Majesty got a chance to hear and see what these families are experiencing at Dadaab. She then went on to visit a school set up by the NRC. Sonja has been involved with the refugee issue since 1974, when she teamed up with “On the Run from the War.” That television campaign is setting up a telethon for October. Source: Kongehuset.no  PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images Denmark’s Prince Joachim made a brief stop in China Saturday – spending only one day in the country. He was there to promote a popular Danish product and open an exhibit, all in the city of Beijing. First the Prince presented 10 Danish bicycles from the Denmark World Expo Pavillion to students as part of a green initiative with Beijing’s Tsinghua University promoting the use of bicycles as a clean mode of transport. Bicycles are a favorite mode of transportation in Danish cities. But bicycles in Denmark are unlike the common bikes. These are shared by the city, which means instead of using a bicycle from home, Danes go to a stand, drop a coin in, and take the bike wherever they need to go. In order to get their coin back, they have drop off the bike at a stand. Such a system prevents vandalism and theft. After introducing the bicycles, Joachim went to the Prince Gong’s Mansion to kick-off an exhibit which is displaying the costumes from the film, Wild Swan. The costumes were designed by his mother, Queen Margrethe II who often designs clothing for ballets. Source: AFP, The Royal Forums, Xinhua |
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