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Morocco’s Princess Lalla Salma made a formal call for a global fund to be set up in order to prevent and treat cancer during a gala dinner in New York Tuesday. The wife of King Mohammed VI expressed that such a fund should be modeled after the global fight against AIDS.
 Click here to read about the symposium for next year. As she gave a speech, Lalla Salma stressed fighting cancer should be a worldwide priority.
The Princess, who is chairwoman of the Lalla Salma Association for the Fight Against Cancer (ALSC), also talked about how it is necessary for the international community to share experience, technology and training.
She also insisted the ALSC would cooperate with other international cancer organizations, both public and in the private sector.
Lalla Salma also expressed her dismay that tobacco – which behind a large number of cancer cases – is not considered to be an illegal drug because of the damage it causes to one’s body.
In addition, she also voiced her dismay over the gap between the developed and the third world, and how poorer countries are unable to help their citizens who are suffering from cancer. Lalla Salma said this was because of declining international aid to those nations.
She also said in January of next year, Morocco will host a symposium on cancer.
“The association that I have the honor to chair will be pleased to share its experience with renowned institutions from friendly and brotherly countries”, said the Princess.
The Symposium “will lay the foundation for a fruitful cooperation between our countries”
Source: Maghreb Arabe Presse
As the Arab Spring continues, Jordan’s King Abdullah II is being optimistic about the protests and demands for political change. In an interview with the American radio station, NPR, the King expressed his wish for his country to reform.
 Click here for recent King Abdullah II photos “In certain countries, you’re going to see revolution after revolution, until it calms down,” he told Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep. “What we’re trying to do in Jordan is [to] do evolution.”
His Majesty spoke of hope that Jordan would be a model for democracy in the Middle East, and that it is looking to strengthen its middle class and allow more political participation.
“What keeps me up at night is poverty and unemployment,” the King said. ”We have, in the past 10 years, managed to establish a credible middle class. But any shifts in oil prices, economic challenges, that middle class becomes very fragile. … You really need a strong, stable middle class.”
“My job is to put food on the table for people,” King Abdullah went on. “And what I meant by that is, basically, creating a middle class, knowing full well — and looking again at the European model, the United States in particular, also — the stronger you have a middle class, the easier I think political transformation happens.”
The King also discussed during the interview with NPR of the future of the Jordanian monarchy.
“The monarchy that I hand over to my son is not going to be the same one that I have inherited,” he said. “There is a tendency by a lot of officials to hide behind the King. And it’s about time that officials take their responsibility and are responsible in front of the people. Because today, if you’re appointed by the king, they don’t feel that they’re responsible for the people. If you have a government that is elected, they need to do the hard work — because if they don’t, they won’t be around the next time the ballot box is open.”
King Abdullah mentioned that municipal elections are to be held towards the end of the year, while national elections will take place in early 2012. He also explained that there isn’t much of a democratic mindset among Jordanians, saying if someone were to ask a citizen where he or she stood on certain issues, a response would be a blank look.
Unlike Egypt, Bahrain and Tunisia, Jordan has not seen the same amount of protesting, but it is significant. The King mentioned how the end of the Arab Spring is unknown.
“No expert in the world now can predict what’s going to happen in the Middle East. Things are happening too quickly, and the area is changing so rapidly that we really don’t know.”
To hear and read more about King Abdullah II’s interview with NPR, click here.
Source: NPR
On Monday, the Crown Princess of Sweden and her husband began a two day tour of the current European Capital of Culture, Turku in Finland. This was their first visit to Turku, a medieval city located on the southwest coast of the country.
 Click here for more images at Daylife.com Victoria and Daniel arrived in the city aboard the vessel, Tre Kronor just before 11am local time. But they did not sail from Stockholm to Turku that way. Instead, Their Royal Highnesses met the ship halfway through their travel to the city. The Tre Kronor is the same ship Victoria set sail during the sea seminar she attended last week.
Once on land, Victoria and Daniel were welcomed by large crowds and by the officials of Turku, including mayor Aleksi Randell.
Their first act there was to unveil a plaque with their names on it for the conservation of the Baltic Sea, in front of Forum Marinum. The Crown Princess also received a fibreglass seal sculpture from the HejHylje! charity project.
Afterward, the royal couple went to the Baltic Sea Living Room function which was organized by the The Baltic Sea Action Group. There, they discussed with school children on ways to preserve the Baltic Sea. Both Victoria and Daniel were impressed by the knowledge some of the children had about the topic.
For the rest of Monday, the two toured Turku’s art museum and Turku Castle. In the evening, there was a reception at the Castle.
On Tuesday, Victoria and Daniel took part in a debate at Åbo Akademi University and the topic there was about Swedish-Finnish relations. They also visited an art exhibition at the Logomo and Turku’s main library.
By late afternoon, the couple had completed their tour and flew back to Stockholm.
To check out more photos of the visit, click here and here
Sources: The Royal Forums, Turku.fi,
This Tuesday was Prinsjesdag for the Netherlands – the day Her Majesty Queen Beatrix gives a speech from the throne to officially open the Dutch parliamentary year. This day is also called Budget Day, as the Queen outlines the annual budget in her speech.
 Click here for more recent photos of Queen Beatrix Like so many other governments in the world, the Dutch have to cut back in order to preserve funds due to tough economic times, and that affects all citizens. Beatrix discussed that in her speech.
“The economic and social uncertainties are putting our stamina to the test,” the Queen told the politicians at Knight’s Hall in The Hague.
“The government is making an appeal to everyone to contribute to this — an appeal in this difficult period for everyone to build together a stronger society and a stronger economy in the best traditions of our country.”
But she spoke of hope and optimism during the difficult times.
“Our starting position is positive. The government is looking forward to an involved and open exchange of views. We would like to work with you towards solutions which are widely accepted.”
After giving her speech, the Queen and other members of the Dutch royal family, including Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima, rode in gold trimmed carriages to Noordeinde Palace where they went out onto the balcony to wave to the many Dutch below.
The Netherlands’ budget cuts include raising the retirement level from 65 to 66 in 2020, and deep fund reduction to the social security system.
Source: Reuters, Radio Netherlands, AP
The Prince of Monaco began a three day official visit to the former Soviet state of Georgia Sunday.
 View more images of Prince Albert II in Georgia here Prince Albert II arrived at Batumi airport and was greeted by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. The two then went to Svaneti where they toured several monuments that are listed as UNESCO cultural sites.
Later in the day, the Prince and the President went back to Batumi to see a performance of the show, “Keto and Kote” before touring Batumi at night.
Monday saw Albert go to Bakuriani, the hometown of the late luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. His Serene Highness visited Kumaritashvili’s grave and later presented a medal to his family. Kuamritashvili was killed during a practice run during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last year on the day the opening ceremonies took place.
Also on Monday, Albert went to Rtveli for the harvest of grapes and then moved on to Dmanisi to meet with archaeologists. He later checked out the National Museum.
Tomorrow will see Prince Albert go to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia and tour its landmarks. Then he will return to Monaco.
It is unknown why the Prince’s new wife, Princess Charlene, did not accompany him on this trip.
Source: Trend.AZ
 See more photos here at SN.dk Crown Princess Mary spent Sunday in the town of Kalundborg, where she named the newest vessel of the Danish navy.
The vessel is called the Holger Danske, after both Denmark’s national hero and the resistance group during the Nazi occupation. A few surviving members of the group were guests of today’s event.
As part of the naming ceremony, there was a military parade and a naval band performing a few songs. Crown Princess Mary inspected the honor guard during the ceremony. She trained with the Danish Home Guard, from 2008 to 2009.
After she officially named the vessel, the Crown Princess joined its crew for a short sailing around Kalundborg’s harbor. When that was over, Mary took part in a reception at Restaurant Fjorden.
Source: The Royal Forums, Nordvestnyt.dk
This weekend, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal released several documents to the media which refute allegations that he raped a young model aboard his yacht docked in Ibiza, Spain in August 2008. Last week, a Spanish court re-opened the case which was originally closed due to a lack of evidence.
 View more images of Prince Alwaleed at Daylife.com The documents Prince Alwaleed’s private office sent to Royalty in the News include a scan of his passport, which is marked for France in August 2008, and scans of yacht navigation logs, again showing Alwaleed’s yacht, Kingdom 5-KR, was not ever docked in Spain during that time.
The Prince’s private office also released statement from Heba Fatani, the Sr Executive Manager of the Corporate Communications department of Kingdom Holding Company. Fatani is quoted as saying Alwaleed was with his wife, Princess Ameerah, and daughter, Princess Reem, at the time and was also surrounded by French security while being in multiple public places in France.
In addition, Fatani says, “While the Prince is a committed advocate for women and has empathy for any assault victim, he was simply not present” in Ibiza as the alleged victim claims.
Also speaking out is Alwaleed’s wife, Princess Ameerah. According to the AFP, she has said this about the rape allegations:
“I was with my husband outside of Spain the day these allegations took place in Ibiza.”
“Quite simply we were not there. We were together in the French city of Cannes. I was with him all the time, and we were with at least 30 people,” she said.
“Hundreds of witnesses can confirm that we were in Cannes, just as there are dozens of proofs that we were not in Ibiza in 2008.”
The reason why this case has been reopened is because a provincial court overturned the ruling to close the case, and an Ibiza court wanted to formally request assistance from the Saudi authorities to take a statement.
Source: AFP, Private Office of HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Even though she is to be the future Queen of the United Kingdom, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is taking her time adjusting to royal life – even when it comes to duties. It was revealed this week that Prince William’s wife won’t do any solo engagements until next year.
 Check out more file photos of William & Catherine at Zimbio “Historically, women joining the Royal Family do not begin undertaking solo engagements until around two years after their marriage,” a source told the Express royal correspondent Richard Palmer.
Take a look at Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex. She married Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest son in 1999, but did not do her first royal duty alone until three years later.
But Sophie is not meant to be Queen one day. Her sister-in-law, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is and she began doing solo engagements one month after her 2005 wedding to Prince Charles.
According to many sources, the Queen and Prince Philip are determined to make William and Catherine’s marriage work out for the best. They do not want to heap Catherine with too much work right away as they did with the late Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson when she was married to Prince Andrew.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be making a few appearances for the remainder of the year, most especially with Remembrance Sunday in November when the royals lay wreaths at the Cenotaph. But overall, the newlyweds will stay in their small home in Wales where William is a search and rescue pilot and Catherine is a housewife.
The two will definitely be making appearances next year when the Queen celebrates her diamond jubilee – 60 years on the throne. By then, it is expected that the Duchess will have chosen which charities she wishes to support. She supposedly wants to help service families and disadvantaged children and support the arts.
Source: Express
Spain’s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia were in Paris Thursday to attend the 7th annual International Congress on Victims of Terrorism. They were there as guests of honor, and Felipe made an opening speech in which he urged for greater efforts to combat terrorism effectively, a phenomenon which he said is not justified by “any idea or belief political project”.
 Click here for more photos at Zimbio.com “No terrorist can escape or hide their responsibility to the law,” said the Spanish heir to the throne, in a speech that alternated between French and English.
“Nobody is entitled to claim the right to take the life of any human being, nor to undermine their integrity or their freedom,” he added.
“The alleged terrorists, kill, injure, kidnap and threaten, to achieve their ends or to impose their ideas in an absolutely unacceptable. As an expression of totalitarianism, hatred, cowardice and intolerance, rejection and deserves our strongest condemnation.”
Prince Felipe also reflected on the victims of 9/11, who were killed in the attacks 10 years ago this week.
“Each of the victims and their families put names and faces to the deep human pain and irreversible and irreparable damage it generates. With them we owe a great debt owed immense solidarity, support and gratitude.”
On Sunday, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Felipe and Letizia took part in a memorial service in Madrid in which they planted 10 American oak trees in memory of those who died that day.
Spain is no stranger to terrorism. It has seen attacks over the years by Basque separatist groups, and in March 2004, Islamic radicals bombed a Madrid train station during rush hour, killing about 200 people.
Source: EFE
On Wednesday, the King of Swaziland spoke about the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank coming to his southern African Kingdom’s rescue. He also wondered why they won’t do to his country what they did for Greece and Portugal.
 View more photos of King Mswati III at Daylife.com “When they come to visit us, they do not come in the same spirit and that is a cause for concern,” said King Mswati III.
According to the AFP, the IMF won’t grant Swaziland a bailout unless it controls its spending. It has also called for the government to cut back on its travel budget and focus more on education and health.
“We are given timelines that are difficult to meet,” Mswati complained of the recommendations.
“I am quite confused as to which advice to take. The IMF has its own advice, the ILO (International Labour Organisation) has its own advice and the UN has its own advice. This puts us in a predicament knowing the state of the economy,” he said.
Recently, South Africa gave Swaziland a $343 million bailout, but it has yet to be released. That is probably because South Africa wants to see national dialogue in Swaziland, which it has been urging.
Wednesday was a step towards national dialogue in order to discuss ways to fix the shattered economy. It comes after five days of protests in the country from labor unions, who accuse the King of bankrupting the nation by living a lavish lifestyle along with his 13 wives – each who have their own palace.
In fact, King Mswati arrived at the meeting in a luxury car.
During the dialogue, union leaders were not allowed to speak unless they were representing themselves as individuals.
Source: AFP
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