Sulaiman Hakemy
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Prince Karim Al Hussaini, better known as the Aga Khan IV, died aged 88 in Lisbon on Tuesday. The Aga Khan was the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims.

The Aga Khan was a high-profile figure in popular culture, his name synonymous with old-world glamour. Born in Switzerland in 1936, his high net worth and the trappings of his lifestyle – a royal title, an elite education, racing stables, private islands and private jets – provided European tabloids with ample fodder throughout his life. He was an Olympic skier, too, representing Iran at the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

All of that is worth mentioning at the outset, only so that it can be dispensed with quickly. In truth, it is a footnote to a more complicated, extraordinary and impactful life that combined religious duty with secular philanthropy on an unprecedented scale.

Today, the Aga Khan Development Network, grown out of a foundation started by Prince Karim in 1967, is one of the world’s largest development agencies, employing nearly 100,000 people and spending $1 billion a year in about 30 countries. While it is perhaps best known for its work in rural development and heritage restoration, the network operates non-denominational schools, universities, banks, hospitals, telecoms companies, power plants, airlines, hotels and industrial factories from northern Pakistan to Mali. Its footprint is greatest in places that are underserved by national aid agencies. In Burkina Faso, the network is the country’s largest private employer. In Kyrgyzstan, it operates the largest bank.

Prince Karim was a 20-year-old undergraduate studying Islamic history at Harvard University in 1957 when his grandfather, the previous spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, died and unexpectedly passed the title to Prince Karim in his will.

“Overnight, my whole life changed completely,” Prince Karim later told a journalist. "I woke up with serious responsibilities towards millions of other human beings. I knew I would have to abandon my hopes of studying for a doctorate in history.”

The leader’s role is to interpret the teachings of Islam for Ismaili Muslims. Prince Karim was obliged to carry out this responsibility even as he completed his undergraduate degree. Ismailis from western China to southern India, and eastern Iran to northern Syria, sent him letters or had his picture in their homes.

The burden was no doubt made greater by the Ismaili community’s geopolitical vulnerability. Despite there being 15 million Ismailis when Prince Karim became leader, the community was largely impoverished and spread thinly. This was a product of its dispersion after the fall of its empire, the Fatimid Caliphate, which founded Cairo, in the 11th century, persecution in the Levant during the Crusader period and massacres by the Mongols in the 13th century. By the 20th century, the Ismailis were religious and national minorities in the post-colonial nation states in which they lived. The community’s social insularity and practice of gender equality made it an object of suspicion for secular nationalists and religious extremists alike.

A duty to manage this situation against the volatility of the Cold War turned the young Aga Khan into a sort of statesman without a state. His emphasis on economic development helped his community to prosper, but its well-being grew more precarious. The Baathist revolution of 1963 divided the Ismailis of Syria along political fault lines. In 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled Ismailis and the Aga Khan had to arrange for the community to be moved to the West (mainly to Canada). The Iranian revolution in 1979 forced Ismailis in the country into permanent hiding – their houses of worship still operate under the radar.

Perhaps the most remarkable display of the Aga Khan’s leadership came amid Tajikistan’s civil war in the 1990s, which killed up to 150,000 people. The predominantly Ismaili region of Badakhshan, which is divided by a river from an Afghan province of the same name, became the primary staging ground for anti-communist opposition forces. Amid a siege that threatened to starve the population, the Aga Khan Foundation arranged a humanitarian corridor in co-operation with a US aid agency.

What few Badakhshan residents expected, however, was for the Aga Khan to land in a jet in one of the region’s remote valleys, in May 1995. A crowd of 50,000 of his followers gathered to sit on thousands of carpets hastily laid on the bare earth. Above, the roar of Russian attack helicopters had many in the crowd shuddering as they strained to hear the Aga Khan’s words. On the Afghan shore of the river, more Ismailis arrived to catch a glimpse of Prince Karim as he spoke.

Although Tajikistan’s civil war ended decades ago, the plight of Ismailis in the country remains. Since the start of a protest movement in 2021, the Tajik government has banned Ismaili religious symbols in public spaces and curbed the community’s prayer gatherings. Threats have proliferated elsewhere, too – Ismailis in Syria and Pakistan have been the victims of ISIS attacks, while the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has spurred the community's retreat from public life.

It has been announced that his son, Rahim Al-Hussaini, would succeed him to become the Aga Khan V. He will be expected to give spiritual guidance in a changing world. The task is not getting any easier.

But if Prince Karim’s legacy is to serve as any guide, then optimism is warranted. His persistent faith in efforts to make peace, for the community and beyond, was best articulated in his address in Badakhshan that day in 1995. “Differences,” he said, “must be resolved within the ethic of our faith, through dialogue, through generosity, through forgiveness.”

It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times

If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.

A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.

The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.

In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.

The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.

Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.

Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.

“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.

The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.

“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.

“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

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How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Updated: May 06, 2025, 10:53 AM`