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Speech by Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan
Global Encounters Festival held in Dubai, UAE
July 20, 2025

Bismillah-ir-Raheman-ir-Rahim

Your Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Excellencies, Athletes and Artists, Ladies and Gentlemen.
That we are here today was not a given. Thousands have offered their time, expended their effort and have sacrificed weeks and months to put this festival together.

The Global Encounters Festival 2025, organized by the Ismaili Muslim community, will be held in Dubai from July 20-27, according to the.ismaili. The festival aims to unite the Jamat through experiences that celebrate their shared identity, global presence, and individual talents. It will feature events for all ages, including GE Spark for younger attendees and opportunities for youth to participate in international camps and internships.

The festival was attended by thousands of athletes and spectators from around the globe.

Address by Princess Zahra Aga Khan at the Global Convocation Ceremony of the Aga Khan University
26 February, 2022
Nairobi, Kenya

Our Chief Guest Mr Peter Kalmus, Climate Scientist, University of California, Los Angeles;

Our Guest of Honour Dr Peter Mathuki, Secretary General of the East African Community;

Chairman Zakir Mahmood and members of the AKU Board of Trustees;

Chairman Moyez Alibhai and members of the AKU Kenya University Council;

President and Vice Chancellor Sulaiman Shahabuddin;

Provosts, deans, faculty and staff;

The Aga Khan Museum was honoured to welcome distinguished guests this week to celebrate the opening of As the Sun Appears from Beyond: Twenty Years of the Al Burda Award, a landmark exhibition illuminating two decades of contemporary Islamic art.

Co-curated by Dr Ulrike Al-Khamis, Director and CEO of the Aga Khan Museum, and Al Burda Fellows Fatma Mahmoud, Sara bin Safwan and Shaikha Al Zaabi, the exhibition bridges historic and modern artistic expressions, exploring themes of light, spirituality and creativity through calligraphy, ornamentation, poetry, contemporary paintings and more.

A homebred for Aga Khan Studs, four year-old Wootton Bassett stallion colt Zabiari missed virtually his entire three year-old season in which he had just one start, but is now making up for lost time and won the Group III Prix Betrand du Breuil (1600m) at Chantilly overnight.

A Group winner at two, Zabiari has had three runs this year for Francis-Henri Graffard and won all of them showing an impressive turn of foot for Michael Barzalona to charge home and win by a neck.

Zabiari has five wins and two seconds from nine starts with the promise of more to come.

SPEECH BY PRINCESS ZAHRA AGA KHAN AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL ON BEING ON BEING AWARDED AN HONORARY DOCTORAT
JUNE 9, 2025

Madame la Chancelière, Monsieur le recteur, invité d'honneur, chers diplômés, parents et amis. C'est un véritable honneur et un vrai plaisir pour moi d'être parmi vous aujourd'hui, en ce jour de célébration pour l'université de Concordia, pour l'Académie, pour toutes les familles et les amis des diplômés et surtout
pour tous les diplômés de 2025, bravo a vous tous, congratulations.

At a convocation ceremony on 9 June for the Faculty of Arts and Science at Concordia University, Montreal, Princess Zahra was awarded an honorary doctorate for her contributions over many decades to improving the quality of life of vulnerable communities around the world.

Concordia University Chancellor Gina Cody presided over the ceremony, and Professor Anne Wade formally presented Princess Zahra’s achievements to graduands, faculty, and guests.

In a special tribute to the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims and one of the greatest philanthropists, who passed away on February 4th this year in Lisbon at the age of 88, the 246th running of the historic race will be named ‘The Betfred Derby (in honour of His Highness Aga Khan IV)’.

Jim Allen, General Manager of Epsom, commented: “I would like to thank the Aga Khan’s family for supporting us in our decision to rename this year’s race and look forward to welcoming Princess Zahra Aga Khan on Saturday 7th June as our guest.

ISLAMABAD: Expressing deep concern over escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, known as the Aga Khan V, has formally offered to mediate between the two countries to help defuse the situation and prevent further loss of life.

According to a foreign news agency, Prince Rahim has sent letters to the Prime Ministers of both Pakistan and India, urging both sides to pursue a peaceful resolution.

There was incredible drama at the finish of the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Group 1) on Sunday at ParisLongchamp. For several long minutes, it seemed that the British filly Shes Perfect (by Sioux Nation) had pulled off an impressive gate-to-wire victory, showing true grit… but unfortunately for her, the filly owned by the Basher Watts Racing 2 syndicate drifted significantly in the home straight, severely hampering Zarigana (by Siyouni).

"The greatest gift a breeder could have." That was how the late HH Aga Khan IV described his unbeaten masterpiece Zarkava. How fitting then, that months after the retirement of the 20-year-old daughter of Zamindar and the sad passing of her owner-breeder, Zarkava's granddaughter Zarigana, herself out of the

Francis Graffard trainee Vadinska (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) delivered an impressive debut performance in Thursday's Prix Fourire at Saint-Cloud and earned a TDN Rising Star badge after registering a 10-length success in the one-mile debutantes' heat.

If the most exciting sight in Flat racing is to watch a horse with a real turn of foot played daringly late, then it is possible that Zarigana might produce more than her share of thrills as the season progresses.

Mickael Barzalona has learned the Aga Khan Studs' regally bred daughter of Siyouni needs to be the last to attack and, with energy pent up in the 189 days since her fractional defeat in the Prix Marcel Boussac, he left Zarigana with barely a furlong and a half of the Prix de la Grotte to work with before he let her at the front-running Shes Perfect.

Keeping it simple on the 6-5 favourite Mandanaba (Fr) (Ghaiyyath (Ire), Mickael Barzalona allowed the exciting Francis-Henri Graffard-trained homebred to roll from the front and capture Sunday's G3 Al Shira'aa Racing Prix Vanteaux at ParisLongchamp. Sufficiently impressive on her debut at Chantilly in November to earn TDN Rising Star status, Princess Zahra Aga Khan's daughter of her triple Group 1 winner Mandesha (Fr) (Desert Style {Ire}) was in dominant mood throughout.

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and The Aga Khan University (AKU) in Arusha, Tanzania, will host the 1st International Symposium on Artemisia from October 8-10, 2025.

This landmark event will bring together over 200 leading researchers, physicians, veterinarians, agronomists, and policymakers from around the world to explore the diverse applications of Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra in human health, animal health, and environmental sustainability.

LISBON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The late Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, who died on Tuesday in Lisbon after nearly seven decades as the spiritual leader of the global Ismaili Muslim community, will be buried in Egypt on Sunday, according to the Ismaili Imamat.

After a funeral ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in the Portuguese capital on Saturday - to be attended by leaders of the community, Portuguese government members and foreign dignitaries - Aga Khan IV will be laid to rest at a private burial ceremony in Aswan, Egypt on Sunday, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Lisbon, Portugal, 29 January 2025 – A ceremony was held yesterday at the Diwan of the Ismaili Imamat to mark the signing of a partnership agreement for the rehabilitation of the historic Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Aflição, located in Branzelo, Gondomar.

The Group 1 action at Deauville came to an end on Sunday with the twin highlights of the Morny and the Jean Romanet, but French racing's summer by the sea has at least one more gift to deliver in the shape of Saturday's Racehorse Retraining day.

It is fair to say France was a little late to the party when it came to a unified approach to aftercare, retirement planning and linking up with what is a voracious appetite in the wider equestrian population for sourcing horses once their first career is over.

Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) builds on over three decades of excellence in education in Bangladesh

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Saturday said they are in the process of establishing a new centre of educational excellence in Dhaka – The Aga Khan Academy.

This is being done in line with the renewed protocol of cooperation signed between the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Bangladesh government.

August 17th was designated by Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah to Ismailis as Diamond Jubilee Day and to be celebrated as such every year.