[Spain] Prince and Princess of Asturias mourn with families after earthquake

The Prince and Princess of Asturias comforted relatives of nine people killed in Spain's deadliest earthquakes in more than 50 years, hugging them and shaking their hands Friday as the royals slowly made their way along a long row of mourners.

Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia bent down to chat with the mourners at a crowded funeral Mass celebrated in a trade center, part of which has been turned into a makeshift refugee camp after two quakes Wednesday left many homeless in the southeastern agricultural city of Lorca.

Many of those in the front row at the Mass wore dark glasses. At one point, the prince stooped down to speak to a boy and affectionately ruffled the child's dark hair.

to read more, go to the source

sources for the photos: 1 & 2

(this picture is... breath taking).

[Japan] Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko marked the two-month anniversary of the March 11 disasters in simple fashion

Empress Michiko visits a devastated area on the two-month anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, with Emperor Akihito in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture on May 11.

Displaced residents in evacuation centers and relief workers in the battered towns of Tohoku gathered to observe a minute’s silence at 2:46 p.m., the moment when the country’s biggest-ever earthquake occurred two months earlier.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Fukushima prefecture Wednesday in their latest trip to the disaster zone to pass on messages of support. The country’s biggest daily paper, the broadsheet Yomiuri, printed an updated list of the names of those confirmed dead since April 8, the last time it published this list, which fills three pages with very small print.

With the news cycle having rolled on many times since Japan marked the one-month anniversary, international attention has inevitably shifted elsewhere, be it to civil protests in the Middle East, tornadoes in the southern U.S. or the killing of Osama bin Laden.

source

[Japan] Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako meet villagers affected by nuclear crisis

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako meet the villagers evacuating from Fukushima prefecture, the state devastated by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and radiation crisis, at a refugee center in Misato, Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, May 7, 2011.

source

[Morocco] King Mohammed VI visits site of Marrakesh bombing

Morocco's King Mohammed VI flew into Marrakesh on Saturday to visit survivors of a devastating bombing that killed 16 people, and to see the site of the attack itself.

Amid tight security, King Mohammed visited the popular Argana cafe in the city's main Djemaa el-Fna square where the bomb went off Thursday, and where floral tributes now lie scattered outside the building's wrecked facade.

Several hundred people, mainly women and children stood nearby, waving Moroccan flags and photos of the king. Several of them shouted: "Long live the King!"

The king spoke briefly to investigators still working at the site of the bombing and also shook hands with some members of the crowd. From there, the monarch went on to Ibn-Tofail hospital and a military hospital in the city to visit some of those injured in the blast, the deadliest here since the 2003 Casablanca attacks, which killed 33 people.

Those still being treated in the hospitals include three Moroccans, seven French and two Dutch patients, the country's Map news agency reported. Others among the 25 injured had already left hospital, a medical source told AFP.

A French diplomatic source said two French citizens injured in the blast had been flown home.

Police and security officers were out in force in the square and also stepped up their presence at the Ibn-Tofail hospital.

Experts from the United States and Europe have joined Moroccan investigators in the hunt for those behind the bombing, the interior ministry said Saturday.

"American, French and Spanish experts are taking part in the inquiry," the ministry official said.

"It is an international incident as many foreigners have died," he added.

Thanks to two Dutch tourists they have a photofit portrait of the suspected bomber: a young, long-haired clean-shaven Arab the couple saw with two large bags in the cafe shortly before the blast.

On Friday, Interior Minister Taeb Cherkaoui said 13 of the 16 people killed in the attack had been identified: seven French nationals, two Canadians, two Moroccans, a Dutch national and a British national.

A 10-year-old French girl was among the victims, said Marie-Francoise Auger, the mayor of her home town Herlies, near Lille, in northern France. Her father was also seriously wounded, she added.

The British victim was identified as Peter Moss, 59, a father of two and a writer from London, according to the Jewish Chronicle newspaper.

"The way in which this act was carried out reminds us of the style normally used by the Al-Qaeda organisation," Cherkaoui said on Friday.

The device had been triggered by remote control and the bomb had been made up of nitrate and ammonium and two TATP explosives, as well as nails, he said.

Triacetone triperoxyde, or TATP, is relatively easy to make and has surfaced in a number of recent investigations into attacks, including the July 2005 London bombings that killed 56 people and injured another 700.

A video posted on the Internet three days before the bombing and attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) included a threat to attack Morocco.

It showed five young men, armed, dressed in desert fatigues, their faces covered by the Arab headdress, or shemagh. AQIM has been active in countries in the region, notably carrying out a series of kidnappings for ransom.

In a statement to parliament Friday, Cherkaoui promised the attack would not stop the country's pursuit of democracy and respect for human rights.

New York-based Human Rights Watch also called on Morocco's authorities to pursue the perpretators while heeding "the king's directive to do so in accordance with the law".

Moroccan authorities had commited "grave abuses" including "arbitrary arrest and detention, torture during interrogations, forced confessions, and convictions after unfair trials" during past investigations, said the group.

After three demonstrations by pro-democracy campaigners earlier this year, the Moroccan monarch announced major political changes including greater judicial independence. In mid-April, he pardoned political prisoners, including Islamists.

Thursday's attack was the deadliest in Morocco since 33 people were killed by 12 suicide bombers in Casablanca in 2003.

source

[Japan] Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit tsunami affected area

JAPAN'S Emperor Akihito has toured a tsunami-hit port and ate fish fresh from the sea, despite fears over radiation.

Friday's event was the second time Akihito and Empress Michiko had visited an area directly hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami, which left some 27,000 people dead or missing along the Pacific coast northeast of Tokyo.

They plan to travel closer to the hardest-hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima in the coming weeks as the imperial family plays its constitutional role as a symbol of the nation's unity.

The 77-year-old emperor and his wife, 76, travelled to the city of Kitaibaraki, some 150 kilometres northeast of the capital, where five people died and another went missing in the disaster.

They offered a silent bow toward the sea when they were told at a fishing port that one fishery cooperative worker went missing when a breakwater collapsed, according to television footage.

"How many metres did the tsunami measure in height? What is the most difficult thing now?" they were heard asking officials.

The couple then visited a city gymnasium where about 40 evacuees were staying, talking to each of them.

Emperor Akihito consoled a 72-year-old man, whose wife had died at the centre, saying: "It was quite unfortunate. You must be missing her very much."

A 74-year-old man told the emperor: "I am staying here because I am scared of aftershocks," according to the daily Yomiuri. "I felt calm when I saw his majesty's face. Tears came to my eyes," it quoted him as saying.

Kitaibaraki's fishing port resumed operations Wednesday amid fears of pollution as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 70 kilometres to the north, continues leaking radiation into the air, sea and ground.

The emperor and empress were offered fried conger eels and flounders cooked in soy sauce, popular sea delights in Japan, for lunch at the port, Kitaibaraki mayor Minoru Toyoda told Japanese media.

The couple expressed concern over the area being harmed by rumours about radioactive pollution of fishery products, Toyoda said.

source

Dutch Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Mark Rutte remember shooting victims

Dutch Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Mark Rutte were among those paying tribute on Wednesday to the victims of a shopping centre shooting in which six people were killed earlier this month.

"They are with us today. We are commemorating them with our deepest respect," Rutte said at the sombre ceremony at a theatre in the town of Alphen aan de Rijn shown on Dutch public television NOS.

"Today, flags are flying half-mast all around the Netherlands. You are not alone," Rutte told some 750 people including victims' relatives, those injured in the shooting, rescue workers and police officers involved.

Six people died and at least 10 others were injured when Tristan van der Vlis, 24, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle on shoppers in the mall in the western Dutch town on April 9. Van der Vlis then committed suicide.

Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem-Alexander and several Dutch ministers attended the ceremony at the theatre.

There, six bunches of white roses rested on top of makeshift tombstones bearing the names of the dead.

"After April 9 it will never be the same," said Alphen aan de Rijn's interim mayor, Bas Eenhoorn.

"But it's not only about sadness, it's also about being strong together," he added.

The ceremony was also followed on big screens by hundreds of residents outside the theatre, at the town hall and at a church in Alphen aan de Rijn, according to the Dutch news agency ANP.

On April 10, a day after the shooting, between 5,000 and 6,000 people joined the prime minister at the shopping centre.

source

[Japan] Emperor Akihito visits tsunami-hit city

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Thursday visited Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in their first trip to an area badly hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, to console local people.

The couple were briefed by Asahi Mayor Tadanao Akechi on the damage suffered by the city before visiting two shelters to offer moral support to people, many of whom lost their houses.

Asahi, located in the northeastern coastal area, suffered 13 fatalities and two people are still listed as missing. Some 900 houses were crushed or almost demolished.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Thursday visited Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in their first trip to an area badly hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, to console local people.

source