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The National Building Museum's fifth Vincent Scully Prize will be presented on January 25, 2005 to His Highness The Aga Khan, in recognition of his contributions to promoting design excellence and improving the built environment in the Muslim world.
The Vincent Scully Prize was established in 1999 to recognize exemplary practice, scholarship or criticism in architecture, historic preservation and urban design.

At the historical Humayun?s Tomb, His Highness the Aga Khan, hereditary spiritual leader (Imam) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) together with India?s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh today announced the seven recipients of the 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The announcement marked the completion of the ninth cycle of the programme. The Award, which has a triennial prize fund of US$ 500,000, is the world?s largest architectural award. The seven projects selected by the 2004 Award Master Jury are: ??

In response to numerous press inquiries resulting from reports in the media, the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan confirms that His Highness and his wife have been separated for more than 18 months and are currently living apart. The Aga Khan filed for divorce in France four months ago.
In conformity with the long-standing practice of not commenting on the private lives of either His Highness or members of his family, no other statement will be made in this regard.

Department of Public Affairs
The Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan
Aiglemont
60270 Gouvieux, France

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, son of the late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and the late Princess Andrée Aga Khan, died in Boston yesterday, aged 70 after a short illness. Coincidentally, his half-brother, the late Prince Aly Khan died on exactly the same day forty-three ago. The younger of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah's two sons, Prince Sadruddin was the uncle of the present and 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, His Highness the Aga Khan.

The Aga Khan and his German-born wife announced the birth on Tuesday in Paris of a son, Prince Aly Muhammad.The prince and his 36-year-old mother, Begum Inaara Aga Khan, were doing well, according to the Aga Khan's press office. There was no immediate word on the weight of the child. The 63-year-old Khan is the 49th hereditary imam of the Ismaili Muslim community, which has a following of 12-15 million people worldwide.

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), was today among six recipients of the Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
At a ceremony held in the Debating Chamber of Scotland?s Parliament at Holyrood, Edinburgh, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and now Director of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative, presented the Medal to the Aga Khan..

His Highness the Aga Khan today launched a landmark cultural centre here marking a milestone in the 1300 year history of the Ismaili Muslim community in Central Asia.
The Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon and those at advanced planning stages in Toronto and Dubai.

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, today attended the official inauguration of Afghanistan?s President Hamid Karzai, in a ceremony held in the former royal palace in Kabul. The inauguration ceremony was attended by more than 600 people, including more than 150 foreign dignitaries, among them U.S Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. Special Adviser.

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, today announced at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan a multiyear commitment of US$75 million by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) to help re-build Afghanistan.

His Highness the Aga Khan, the Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and renowned philanthropist, will deliver the traditional Jacques de Larosière Lecture to conclude the 2003 Business Forum at the EBRD's Annual Meeting, to be held in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent 4-5 May.Through the Aga Khan Development Network, as well as philanthropy, the Aga Khan invests extensively in helping people to help themselves.

The IPI World Congress and 54th General Assembly will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21-24 May 2005 - the third time, after 1968 and 1981, that IPI will hold its annual general meeting in Kenya, and its fifth on the African continent.
The four-day event will discuss current issues related to the challenges facing Africa and the world, as well as topics dealing with press freedom and the communications industry. Sessions focusing on African topics include:

- 'Pluralism and Democracy - The African Experience'

- 'Africa's Development - Attracting Investment'

- 'Reporting on Africa'

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims was today received by President Mwai Kibaki at State House, Nairobi. The two leaders held wide-ranging discussions covering the implementation of previously articulated and new expansion plans for the agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Kenya specifically and Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region more generally. These include investments of US$ 40 million in the health sector and US$ 30 million in the education sector.

Le Premier ministre Jean Chrétien a annoncé aujourd?hui que Son Altesse l?Aga Khan, 49e Imam héréditaire des musulmans chiites ismaïlis, sera en visite au Canada du 28 au 30 janvier 2002.

The President Was Saddened to Hear of the Death of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan on May 13, 2003. Prince Sadruddin was a great humanitarian, philanthropist, and international civil servant.As UN High Commissioner for Refugees for over a decade starting in the mid-1960s, Prince Sadruddin led international efforts to help refugees from Bangladesh and Burundi, assist Southeast Asians fleeing conflict, and find new homes for thousands of Asians expelled from Uganda by then-President Idi Amin.

The President Was Saddened to Hear of the Death of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan on May 13, 2003. Prince Sadruddin was a great humanitarian, philanthropist, and international civil servant.

When people of a distinctive faith or culture feel economically powerless or inherit clear injustice from which they cannot escape, or find their traditions and values engulfed culturally, and their societies maligned as bleak and unjust ...they risk becoming the victims of those who would gain power by perverting an open, fluid, pluralistic tradition of thought and belief into something closed and insular.'
'It would be wrong to see this as the future of the Ummah.'

A seminar entitled ?Architectural Journalism and Criticism? will be co-organized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Kuwait Society of Engineers in Kuwait City on 6th and 7th December 2005. The meeting has been planned in collaboration with the International Committee of Architectural Critics and the Kuwait League of Architects.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello has expressed his profoundest sorrow over the death of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. He conveys his condolences to Prince Sadruddin's wife, Princess Catherine Aleya Aga Khan, to his nephew, Karim, the Aga Khan, and to the rest of his family.

In a private ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 6, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson installed His Highness the Aga Khan as an honourary Companion of the Order of Canada. The Aga Khan has been Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims since 1957, teaching compassion and tolerance through his commitment to the environment and the ending of human suffering due to poverty. He has selected Ottawa as the headquarters for the new Global Centre for Pluralism.

CourseIn Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by the International Press Institute (IPI). The event will focus on press freedom, media industry issues, and other topics important to journalists in Africa and the world. The Aga Khan and U.S. Senator-elect Barack Obama are among the expected speakers. For more details: http://www.ipikenya.com/. IPI: http://www.freemedia.at.