Under the patronage of Princess Rym Ali, the Executive Commissioner of the Royal Film Commission, and attended by Prince Ra’ad bin Zein and Princess Majda, started the 21st European Film Festival (1-16 November) at Al Hussein Cultural Center in Amman.

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The 21st edition will take place in Amman at Al Hussein Cultural Centre, (King Abdullah II Center), Irbid (Yarmouk University), Aqaba (Chamber of Commerce) and Karak (Hassan Cultural Center). The Festival’s objectives are to introduce Jordanian people to the tradition and culture of the European countries and promoting the intercultural dialogue.

On November 9 will be celebrated at Festival the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall with a film screening and concerts. The popular German band 17 Hippies will be playing at this event together with the popular Jordanian Band Sign of Thyme.

The Festival is arranged by the European Union in cooperation with the Royal Film Commission and Greater Amman Municipality. This year the spectators can see films from fifteen countries.

salma Jordanian Royals Film, Patronage, Princess Rym

Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein was present on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the Jordan Rally 2009 (29 – 31 Oct 2009) in Amman. This year, the Rally was held in the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo. Twenty-nine teams from all over the world participated in it.

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During the opening ceremony, attendees enjoyed listening to traditional music and a concert by Omar Abdallat.

Prince Feisal, President of the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) and Chairman of Jordan Motorsport, made a statement to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). He said that “the importance of the Jordan Rally this year is that it’s considered to be a rehearsal for the real and most important World Rally Championship, which will be hosted in Jordan next April.”

salma Jordanian Royals Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, Sport

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Prince Hassan of Jordan visited Ankara (Turkey) last Wednesday, where he gave a speech at the Parliament of Cultures.

The conference was inaugurated by Professor Ihsan Dogramaci. In his speech, HRH said that “we must work towards a law for peace”, and that “it is important to focus on the affinities among cultures in order to fight discrimination”.

The Parliament of Cultures is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) which works to promote understanding among different cultures throughout the world.

Before the conference, Prince Hassan had a meeting with Turkish President, Abdullah Gül.

salma Jordanian Royals Prince Hassan, Turkey

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 HRH Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, the honorary chairman of the Al Shajarah Foundation, honored last Monday at King Hussein Club in Amman supporters of this Foundation.

Mr. Fuad Srouji, the Foundation’s director, Khalid Irani, the Minister of Environment, and HRH Princess Basma bint Ali, the founder of the Royal Botanic Garden, were also present at the lunch.

The Shajarah Foundation was created in June 2006 under the patronage of Prince Hamzah, who often collaborates with them. The Foundation has reforested different places of Jordan during these years with the support of Zain Company, Toyota, the Governorates of Jerash and Madaba, and the Dutch embassy.

salma Jordanian Royals Environment, Jordan, Prince Hamzah

King Abdullah of Jordan inaugurated on Monday Jordam’s first independent power plant in Amman. The $300 million Amman East Power Project was constructed on a site located at Almanakher, which is approximately 14 kilometers east of Amman, and about 1 km from the Arab Gas Pipeline.

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The project’s main goal is to meet the electricity needs of the country in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, in order to contribute to the economical well-being of the population of Jordan. This project has been financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The new power plant was built by AED Jordan PSC, a company owned by a consortium formed by AES Oasis Ltd. Company(Cayman Islands) and Mitsui Co. Ltd. (Japan), which also built another power plant in Mafraq.

King Abdullah II was accompanied by a number of ambassadors, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Khaldoun Qteishat, the Royal Court Chief, Nasser Lozi, and the King’s Adviser, Ayman Safadi.

salma Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Industry

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Princesses Ghida Talal and Dina Mired attended on Tuesday the opening of the seminar “Combating Cancer and Tobacco Use in the Developing World” organised by the King Hussein Cancer Foundation in cooperation with the World Health Organisation and hosted by breast cancer activist and WHO Goodwill Ambassador, Nancy Brinker.

Princess Ghida Talal, the Chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF), said during her speech that 40% of all cancers can be prevented by refraining from smoking and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and added that “we need to go back to the proper diet and stay away from fast food, which is responsible for the increasing incidence of cancer in developing countries, not to mention caused by heart disease and obesity.”

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Princess Dina Mired, Director General of the KHCF, appreciated the efforts and achievements of the program in Jordan to breast cancer.During the symposium, Princesses Ghida and Dina signed the document “World Youth anti-smoking and cancer” and called to all world leaders to give this issue a priority in the global agenda for health.

salma Jordanian Royals Cancer, Health, Princess Dina, Princess Ghida

Prince Hassan bin Talal on Sunday participated at the first WANA Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Recovery Consultation in Amman, Jordan.

In his speech, the Prince called for a road map for human security in the West Asia and North Africa region, he said it is useless to talk about human, economic and natural resources without talking about the ‘carrying capacity’ of the region, which consequently leads to recovery capacity. He also stressed the need to strengthen the autonomy of human beings through “education for citizenship”.

Prince Hassan suggested that one avenue is through promoting awareness of global and regional commons, and building concepts which fit the views and aspirations of the peoples of the region for a secure and stable future. He added that the key issue that must be focused on is social cohesion, warning that “continuing to live on isolated islands and to promote narrow identities would exacerbate the crises in the region, and reinforce the stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims as terrorists”.

He stressed that it is time to live up to international standards and consider the importance of coordination at the regional level.

The consultation was attended by various experts, specialists and representatives of United Nations including former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Lakhdar Brahimi, Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing, Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Chairman of Council for Development and Reconstruction in Lebanon, Nabil Al-Jisr, and a representative of the Minister of Rural Developmentin Afghanistan, Ehsan Zia.

salma Jordanian Royals Conference, Prince Hassan

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King Abdullah II & Queen Rania of Jordan just ended a 3 day state visit to Italy. The couple had a busy schedule with different events from daytime to gala dinners. Each event Queen Rania turned up wearing a different outfit. As Queen Rania arrived in Rome, she was seen wearing a lovely navy/royal blue velvet jacket, skirt and a ruffled top matched with a wide belt picture.

As the state visit started the next morning, day 1, with a ceremony welcoming at the Presidential Palace, Queen Rania choose to wear a Fendi balck & white dress with a matching black jacket and a belt, the outfit was matched with beige shoes and a beige bag which didnt really match the outfit (Can I add that part in, my opinion) picture. For the next event on day 1, Rania choose to wear a solid black cocktail dress which had weird cuts on the waist yet was flattering picture. Later that evening Queen Rania wore an Armani prive evening dress for the gala dinner, the dress was black velvet with a white upper part picture.

On day 2 Queen Rania went for a similar look that has been seen in the past, a black pleated skirt with a brown leather jacket by Prada and a belt which really didn’t match the look picture. Later that day, Queen Rania was seen in a silver Prada dress at two other events with nicely done hair picture. Later that evening, the Jordan royals held a dinner for the Italian President and his wife where Queen Rania went for a white evening dress said to be by French designer Stephane Rolland, the dress was Greek inspired picture.

The final day of the visit, Queen Rania was spotted in a lovely orange/red dress which she wore a nice greyish trench coat with brown fur trimming over it picture.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Fashion, Italy, Queen Rania, State Visit

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HRH Princess Sana Asem, the Honorary President for Family and Child Care, inaugurated a Game Room for Children at the Queen Rania Al Abdullah Hospital in Petra yesterday.

During the visit, Princess Sana, accompanied by the Petra District Governor Ibrahim Assaf, visited the children’s section of the hospital where she spoke with sick children and their parents, and distributed gifts.

This is the eighth hospital in the Kingdom which collaborates with the Zahra Cultural Centre’s campaign.

salma Jordanian Royals Children, Hospital, Patronage, Princess Sana

Day 3 was their Majesties last day to the 3 day State Visit to Italy. On the last day King Abdullah, Queen Rania and Princess Zein attended the Jordanian-Italian Business Forum in Milan. Giving a speech at the forum, King Abdullah said Jordan is qualified to serve as a gateway into the region for foreign investors, he also underlined the need to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

After the forum, Queen Rania and Princess Zein went for a coffee at a nearby cafe.

Later that day the royal left for Jordan.

dazzling Jordanian Royals Abdullah II, Italy, Princess Zein, Queen Rania, State Visit