Jordanian flags and pictures of Crown Prince Hussein are festooned along the highway that connects Amman’s airport to the centre of the city.
They are part of preparations in the capital to receive guests for his wedding on Thursday to Saudi architect Rajwa Al Saif.
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It will be one of the highest profile events in Jordan for more than two decades.
State television said the wedding would be attended by “heads of state and crown princes and figures from friendly and brotherly countries". Some of them have already arrived in Amman, it said.
The wedding will put an international spotlight on the aid-dependent kingdom, which has been spared the instability that has marked the Arab Levant since the demise of the Ottoman empire more than a century ago.
Prince Hussein is the eldest of King Abdullah's four children.
On Wednesday the king held a dinner on ahead of the wedding at the grounds of Raghadan, the oldest of several royal palaces in Amman.
Four thousand were invited and they were all male, as is the tradition in Jordan for dinners hosted by the father of the groom.
"Our joy is complete with your presence," the king told the dinner party, which was mostly comprised of present and former officials, as well as tribal figures and members of the security forces.
In March, the King's eldest daughter, Princess Iman, married Jameel Thermiotis, a Venezuelan of Greek descent who works in finance in New York.
Economic challenges
The Hashemite monarchy has ruled Jordan since the country’s inception as a British protectorate in 1921.
The kingdom's per capita income is $4,000 a year and the economy has been stagnant for more than a decade. Unemployment is officially at 23 per cent, down from a 24 per cent high two years ago.
More than 60 per cent of the population is under 30, the age group of the Crown Prince, who was born in 1994. His future wife comes from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia.
They are about the same age and Ms Al Saif is related on her mother’s side to Saudi King Salman.
Ties between Jordan and Saudi Arabia have improved in the past year after differences over several Middle East issues, which were exacerbated during the Donald Trump presidency.
In a rare comment on his private life, Prince Hussein said at a seminar this month that an unidentified school friend introduced him to Ms Al Saif and that he considers himself to be “very lucky".
When he was born in 1994, Jordan was ruled by the late King Hussein, who died in 1999. King Abdullah, the current monarch, was a commander in the military.
King Hussein’s funeral was attended by then-US president Bill Clinton and leaders of most world powers.
They came to pay their respects for a man who ruled for almost five decades.
It is the first time that a king holds a wedding for his son while his son is the crown prince
Muntaha Abdullat,
expert on the Hashemite dynasty
King Abdullah inherited the crown in 1999 and in 2012 appointed Hussein as crown prince.
The position had been vacant since 2004, when it was held by the King’s now estranged brother, Prince Hamzah.
No invitation list has been released for the Crown Prince’s wedding, which is expected to start on Thursday afternoon.
But US first lady Jill Biden, and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who were in Jordan on an official visit this year, have confirmed that they will be attending.
The UK's Prince William and his wife Catherine are also expected to attend.
"The event will be important in the history of Jordan," said Muntaha Abdullat, a specialist on the Hashemites who led the documentation department at the royal palace.
"It is the first time that a king holds a wedding for his son while his son is the crown prince."
Those invited will first gather in Zahran, a palace where King Hussein wed the first of his four wives in the 1950s.
A convoy consisting mainly of red Royal Guard Land Rovers and BMW motorcycles will escort Prince Hussein and Ms Al Saif to a reception at another palace on the outskirts of Amman, where the king lives.
People will be allowed to watch from the pavement as the couple travel through the western, more affluent part of the city.
It will be a chance for some to catch a glimpse of the couple who could one day become king and queen.
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Opening Rugby Championship fixtures: Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
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Kobe Bryant 33,643
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
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Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
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Monday, May 18
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THE SCORES
Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
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UAE won by five wickets
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
