Al Hussein, Rajwa Wedding Captivates Jordan and the World

Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah and Rajwa Al-Saif are greeted as they walk together on the day of their royal wedding, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023. (Royal Hashemite Court (RHC)/Handout via Reuters)
Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah and Rajwa Al-Saif are greeted as they walk together on the day of their royal wedding, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023. (Royal Hashemite Court (RHC)/Handout via Reuters)
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Al Hussein, Rajwa Wedding Captivates Jordan and the World

Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah and Rajwa Al-Saif are greeted as they walk together on the day of their royal wedding, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023. (Royal Hashemite Court (RHC)/Handout via Reuters)
Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah and Rajwa Al-Saif are greeted as they walk together on the day of their royal wedding, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023. (Royal Hashemite Court (RHC)/Handout via Reuters)

Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah married Saudi architect Rajwa Al-Saif on Thursday in a palace ceremony attended by royals and other VIPs from around the world, as massive crowds gathered across the kingdom to celebrate the region's newest power couple.

Rajwa is daughter to Khalid bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al-Saif and Azza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmed Al-Sudairi. The wedding drew a star-studded guest list including Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate, US First Lady Jill Biden, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and his wife Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary, King Philippe of Belgium, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Cyprus first lady Philippa Karsera, and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.

The bride, wearing an elegant white dress by Lebanese designer Elie Saab, arrived at Zahran Palace in a 1968 Rolls-Royce Phantom V custom-made for the crown prince’s late great grandmother. The crown prince arrived earlier in full ceremonial military uniform with a gold-hilted saber.

The families and their guests gathered in an open-air gazebo decked with flowers and surrounded by landscaped gardens for a traditional Muslim wedding. The crowd erupted in applause after the signing of the marriage contract. Al-Saif will henceforth be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Rajwa Al Hussein, according to a royal decree.

Several miles away, a jolt went through a packed ancient Roman amphitheater as viewers watched the couple seal their vows and exchange rings on a wide screen. After several minutes of stillness, the crowd of some 18,000 people were on their feet, waving flags and shrieking with excitement at one of several viewing parties held across the nation.

Samara Aqrabawi, a 55-year-old mother watching the livestream with her young daughter, said the ceremony was more impressive than she imagined. “I wish for all mothers and fathers in Jordan and in the world to feel like they’re surely feeling,” she said of the king and queen.

The newlyweds later emerged from the palace in a white custom Range Rover escorted by several bright red Land Rovers, motorcycles and a military marching band — a nod to the traditional horse-mounted processions during the reign of the country's founder, King Abdullah I.

The kingdom declared Thursday a public holiday so crowds of people could gather to wave at the couple’s motorcade amid a heavy security presence across the city. Tens of thousands of well-wishers attended free concerts and cultural events.

On Thursday morning, Saudi wedding guests and tourists — the men wearing white dishdasha robes and the women in brightly colored abayas — filtered through the marbled lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman.

“We are all so excited, so happy about this union,” said Noura Al-Sudairi, an aunt of the bride. “Of course it’s a beautiful thing for our families, and for the relationship between Jordan and Saudi Arabia.”

Excitement over the nuptials — Jordan’s biggest royal event in decades — has been building in the capital of Amman, where congratulatory banners of Hussein and his beaming bride adorn buses and hang over winding hillside streets. Shops had competing displays of royal regalia.

“She looks like such a princess that I think she deserves him,” Suhair Afaneh, a 37-year-old businesswoman, said of the bride, lingering in front of a portrait of Hussein in a dark suit.

Jordan’s 11 million residents have watched the young crown prince rise in prominence in recent years, as he increasingly joined his father, Abdullah, in public appearances. Hussein has graduated from Georgetown University, joined the military and gained some global recognition speaking at the UN General Assembly.

The wedding took place a week after Jordan’s 77th birthday. Combining tradition and modernity, the royal family introduced a wedding hashtag (#Celebrating Al Hussein) and omnipresent logo that fuses the couple’s initials into the Arabic words “We rejoice.”

Zahran Palace in Amman, where the marriage ceremony was held, hasn’t seen such pomp and circumstance since 1993, when, on a similarly sunny June day, Abdullah married Rania, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Decades earlier, Abdullah's father, the late King Hussein, sealed his vows in the same garden with his second wife, the British citizen Antoinette Gardiner.

In addition to the Prince and Princess of Wales, the guest list includes an array of foreign aristocrats and dignitaries, including senior royals from Europe and Asia, Saudi aristocrats, as well as US climate envoy John Kerry.

Both Rajwa and Kate wore gowns by the Lebanese designer Elie Saab, said a spokeswoman for the company, Maryline Mossino.

The motorcade drove through Amman to the Al Husseiniya Palace, a 30-minute drive away, for the reception. There, the newlyweds walked beneath an arch of swords and were welcomed with a traditional zaffeh, a lively musical procession featuring drums, dancing, singing and clapping.

The royals greeted more than 1,700 guests at the reception, which featured live music and a banquet. The celebrations were capped with a fireworks display that could be seen across the capital.

Jordanians from all walks of life shared an infectious excitement about the wedding.

“This is a really important day for my country, and those who are not Jordanian wouldn’t understand,” said Najwa Issamad, a 40-year-old nurse watching her teenage sons dance rowdily to pop wedding music blaring from their phones downtown. “It’s a time for all Jordanians to stop whatever we’re doing and say, let’s celebrate, let’s rejoice.”



Smog Chokes Baghdad as Oil-Fired Factories Belch Out Smoke 

The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora (Daura) Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora (Daura) Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Smog Chokes Baghdad as Oil-Fired Factories Belch Out Smoke 

The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora (Daura) Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
The sun sets behind burning gas flares at the Dora (Daura) Oil Refinery Complex in Baghdad on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Iraqi grocery store owner Abu Amjad al-Zubaidi is grappling with asthma, a condition his doctor blames on emissions from a nearby power plant that fills his Baghdad neighborhood with noxious smoke.

In winter, a thick smog frequently envelops the city of nine million people as the fumes belched out by its many oil-fired factories are trapped by a layer of cold air.

The stench of sulphur permeates some districts, where brick and asphalt factories run on heavy fuel oil, taking advantage of generous state subsidies in the world's sixth biggest oil producer.

In a bid to tackle the worsening air quality, authorities recently shut down dozens of oil-fired factories and instructed others to phase out their use of heavy fuel oil.

"Every time I went to the doctor, he told me to stop smoking. But I don't smoke," Zubaidi told AFP.

When his doctor finally realized that Zubaidi lived just meters from the Dora power plant in south Baghdad, he told him its emissions were the likely cause of his asthma.

Power plants and refineries spew thick grey smoke over several areas of Baghdad.

"We can't go up to our roofs because of the fumes," Zubaidi said.

"We appealed to the prime minister, the government and parliament. Lawmakers have come to see us but to no avail," the 53-year-old complained.

He is not the only victim of air pollution. Many of his neighbors suffer from chronic asthma or allergies, he said.

Waste incineration and the proliferation of private generators in the face of patchy mains supply also contribute significantly to Baghdad's air pollution.

- Sixth most polluted -

In 2023, the air monitoring site IQAir ranked Iraq as the sixth most polluted country in terms of air quality.

Levels of the cancer-causing PM2.5 pollutants, microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs, are seven to 10 times the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline values.

IQAir warned that exposure to PM2.5 "leads to and exacerbates numerous health conditions, including but not limited to asthma, cancer, stroke and lung disease".

It found that air pollution levels in Baghdad were "unhealthy for sensitive groups".

According to the US embassy, air quality in the capital frequently enters the red zone, leading to "health effects", particularly for vulnerable groups.

In October, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a committee to investigate the causes of the "odorous sulphur emissions" so that they can be stopped.

Environment ministry spokesperson Amir Ali attributed the pollution to "industrial activities near the capital" -- particularly the brickworks and asphalt plants in the Nahrawan industrial zone in southeast Baghdad.

There lies "the largest number of factories responsible for the emissions", he said.

Ali also blamed private generators and refineries, including in Dora.

The pollution was exacerbated by "weather conditions, shifts in temperature, the direction of the wind, and increased humidity", his ministry said.

- Green belt -

In December, authorities announced the closure of 111 brickworks "due to emissions" that breach environmental standards, along with 57 asphalt plants in the Nahrawan industrial zone.

The industry ministry has also instructed brickworks to phase out their use of heavy fuel oil within 18 months and replace it with liquefied natural gas.

The government has banned waste incineration inside and outside landfills and has said it will improve "fuel quality at Dora refinery and address gas emissions and wastewater discharges".

Iraq is one of the world's largest oil producers, and sales of crude oil account for 90 percent of state revenues, so its transition to renewable fuels remains a distant goal.

Environmental activist Husam Sobhi urged authorities to keep up their efforts to phase out heavy fuel oil.

"It is difficult for a country like Iraq to let go of oil but we can use better quality oil than heavy fuel oil," Sobhi said.

He also called on planning authorities to put a stop to the city's sprawl into the surrounding countryside.

"Baghdad is in dire need of a green belt which would serve as a lung for the city to breathe," he said.