The Crown Prince of Bahrain, Prince Salman bin Halmad al-Khalifa, declined the invitation to attend the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The Crown Prince said he regrets not going to Britain’s royal wedding but in light of what is going on in his country, he respectfully declined thru a letter he sent on Sunday.

In the past few months, Bahrain government has been unsettled because of a growing outcry for more freedom from a group of people. Since February of this year, at least 30 pro-democracy individuals have already been killed by the country’s security forces. Moreover, Prince Salman’s father also sought the assistance of Saudi Arabia in sweeping off demonstrators from the streets. Now, more than a hundred of them are sent to jail.

When the invitations were sent to the Crown Prince of Bahrain, the media criticized what they call an insensitive move from the British royal family. Although Prince William and Prince Salman are old friends, the Clarence House’s Foreign Office advisers (the ones who helped in the guest list) should have withdrawn the invitation as the situations in Bahrain continued to worsen.

Prince Salman bin Halmad al-Khalifa said in his letter to Prince Charles, father of the groom-to-be Prince William, that he intentionally delayed sending his letter of regrets because he was hoping that the conditions in his country would improve and he wiould have the chance to join the wedding. Reports say that the Royal Family understood Prince Salman’s decision completely.

Judy Blume’s young adult novel, “Tiger Eyes” is about to hit the big screen as the author agreed to pass the adaptation. Judy Blume wrote the screenplay along with her son, Lawrence Blume, who will be directing the film.

Tiger Eyes has been previously adapted in television such as the Fudge series and two ABC weekend specials in the year 1990s. However, this is the first time that the novel will be translated into a featured film since it has been believed that Blume is unwilling to agree to adaptations.

Tesco, a UK-based retail giant will be financing the film and the budget for the production will be less than $5 million. They will be looking for a U.S distributor when the film is done shooting.

“Tiger Eyes” was written by Judy Blume in the year 1981. It tells a story of a teenage girl named, Davey, whose family is forced to transfer to her relative’s house in New Mexico after her father was killed in a robbery.

The girl meets an American Indian boy named, Wolf, who has a terminally-sick father admitted in a hospital. In the course of the movie, Davey will learn how to deal with her loss and fear.

According to Blume, at first she was writing the story based on a family relocating to a new town, just as she did when she transferred with her children to Los Alamos. However, she soon realized that the story was a subconscious way for her to deal with the memory of her father who had a sudden death.

Blume said that she never thought of putting her novel in big screens even when there were several invitations. But, she is glad that her son will be directing the film. The productions will start on Wednesday in Santa Fe.