There was a lot of love in the air this Valentine's Day as one royal couple made a baby announcement ... and another couple had some big news of their own.
On Sunday, Morocco's royal palace announced the wedding of Lalla Nouhaila Bouchentouf to Ali El Hajji.
Bouchentouf, 28, is the only daughter of Morocco's Princess Lalla Asma, sister of King Mohammed VI, who gave the nuptials his blessing.
The ceremony took place in an intimate setting in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco.
A picture released by the palace, shows the happy couple beaming and holding hands.
Bouchentouf is dressed in a traditional green Moroccan kaftan while the groom donned a cream-coloured Moroccan djellaba.
According to an official statement from the palace, the ceremony was attended by close family, in compliance with the preventive measures taken by the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Morocco has been tightening Covid-19 restrictions over the past few weeks, and recently announced that it would be extending its night curfew by two weeks starting Tuesday, February 16.
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On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
