Bandar Seri Begawan - The Royal Thai Embassy in Brunei yesterday opened a condolence book for Princess Galyani Vadhana, the elder sister of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Here are a selection of brief news items pertaining to arts, entertainment, culture and other fun things to do in your spare time:

Barry Manilow, Lao-French band the Mekong Vert, and Lao pop star Alexandra Bounxouei join VOA in wishing all our listeners worldwide a very happy, healthy, and prosperous 2008.

On this Christmas 2007, VOA Music Program wishes you all A Merry Christmas along with these wonderful Christmas songs: “Have Yourself A Merry Christmas” by Joy Williams.

This week we entertain our audience with songs by The Exile of Canada, Alexandra of the Lao PDR, and Chao Pangkham of France.

The master Lao folklore singer says the goal and purpose of the Traditional Folk Life Music organization is to preserve and transfer the knowledge of these priceless traditions to new generations and make them known to people around the world.

Alexandra Thidavanh Bounxouei, Lao PDR singer and actress is currently visiting the United States with her family. VOA music program this past Sunday featured her songs in Bulgarian, Japanese and Lao per requests by her Thai Fan Club.

The Lao National Assembly, during its just-ended 4th ordinary session, passed an anti-narcotic law which, with strict enforcement, authorities believe will help them deal with drug problems more effectively.

The working seminar, recently held in Vientiane, was designed to boost Laos preparedness in coping with a possible bird flu pandemic, by increasing the efficiency of all concerned personnel and authorities in responding to avian flu cases.

Laos’ health officials say random screening of more than 143,000 people in the country between 1990 and the first half of 2007 shows over 2,400 cases of HIV/AIDS infections, of which 1,523 turned into full-blown AIDS, resulting in 775 deaths.