Parliament strips Gyanendra of veto power

Nepal's King Gyanendra, revered by some as a divine incarnation, lost his power to veto legislation after parliamentary sessions late Saturday.

Parliament had earlier removed the king's authority over the military, forced him to pay taxes, and made him answerable to both parliament and the courts.


King Gyanendra. AFP file photo from Yahoo News.

The use of the world "royal" for state-owned enterprise has also been halted. Thus, for example, Royal Nepal Airlines is now known as Nepal Airlines. What was formerly known as "His Majesty's Government" is now known as the "Nepal Government."

It is expected that parliament will also soon take control of succession to the throne, if in fact Nepal is not declared a republic and the monarchy rejected altogether.

"Political parties are not clear whether they want to keep the king or not," said Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the private research group Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies.



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Royal celebration of Thai king's 60th anniversary

Royalty from around the world began arriving Sunday in Thailand for the celebration of the 60th year of King Bhumibol Adulyade on the throne.

Among the royals expected to attend are Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, Jordan's King Abdulllah II and Spain's Queen Sofia.

On Sunday, Buddhist monks blessed the king in an ancient ritual held at Bangkok's Grand Palace that was televised nationwide.


Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej along with Queen Sirikit wave from the balcony of Dusit Palace. AFP photo from Yahoo News.

Celebrations honoring the 78-year-old king will last until Tuesday.

Other guests who have already arrived in the country are Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, Britain's Prince Andrew and Morocco's Princess Lalla Salma.




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Japanese emperor visits Singapore on Southeast Asian tour

Japan's Emperor Akihito and wife, Empress Michiko met with Singpaore's President S.R. Nathan and Mrs. Nathan during a state welcome Friday.


Japan's Emperor Akihito, left and Empress Michiko, are welcomed by Singapore's President S.R. Nathan and his wife Urmila on June 9, 2006. Reuters photo from Yahoo News.

The Japanese Emperor and Empress are on a tour of Southeast Asia in which they will also visit Malaysia and Thailand. They have visited Singapore twice before in 1970 and 1981.

Japan recently has made overtures towards the formation of a pan-Asian trade forum. Singapore was the first nation that Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with in 2002.


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