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Emirate of Sharjah Provides Grant to Renovate Gibran Khalil Gibran Museum

Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)
Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)
    Beirut - Sawsan el-Abtah
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Emirate of Sharjah Provides Grant to Renovate Gibran Khalil Gibran Museum

Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)
Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)

The Gibran Khalil Gibran Museum, located in the Lebanese town of Bsharri, is celebrating a grant provided by Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah, to restore and renovate the museum.

The grant will be used to preserve the museum’s possessions, and restore artifacts including photos, manuscripts, tools, books, and paintings, as well as equipping it with the latest museum display technologies.

The grant was announced after talks and negotiations that ran over the past year between Lebanon and Sharjah to determine the works that will be implemented, and the projects in which this grant will be invested amid the hard circumstances that the country and the museum are living following the pandemic’s lockdowns and the economic collapse that heavily affected the cultural life in Lebanon.

The agreement was signed last week, on the sidelines of the opening of the Sharjah International Book Fair, by Joseph Fenianos, head of the museum’s committee, and Marwa Obaid Al Aqroubi, director of the House of Wisdom affiliated with the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, to implement renovation, restoration, and development projects at the Gibran Khalil Gibran Museum within five years.

The agreement consists of developing the museum, and printing Gibran Khalil Gibran’s books.
Attending the Sharjah book fair, Joseph Fenianos met with Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah, and gifted him a figurine of the late Lebanese writer sculpted by Artist Rudy Rahme.

Joseph Geagea, manager of the Gibran Museum in Bsharri, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The contact between the two parties is not new. An esteemed exhibition about Gibran was held in Sharjah in 2015. Another one took place on the occasion of the House of Wisdom opening from September 2021 till January 2022, for which we shipped many paintings, the atelier of Gibran and his brushes, and an important collection of manuscripts that we displayed there.

“The opening was supposed to be attended by Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, but later, we knew that the Ruler of Sharjah would attend too. First, we thought the ruler would pass by for a few minutes, but surprisingly, our meeting with him lasted for 55 minutes, during which he seemed so interested in Gibran and his literature. As a tribute, the Ruler of Sharjah directed to provide a grant for the Gibran Museum.”

Few days ago, the head of the museum’s committee traveled to Sharjah to sign the agreement.

“We knew a grant has been provided to the museum, so we set a list of the works we need, including printing Gibran’s books, in addition to improving, developing, and mechanizing the information center dedicated for the visitors. The most important project is probably changing some of the old presentations that visitors have seen for many years. We have 440 paintings drawn by Gibran with water colors, charcoal, and pastels, but only 150 works are currently displayed, which means there are around 300 paintings hidden because we are not able to display them. What we want is to improve the work at the museum, so visitors keep coming and see new works every time. At our museum, we have the world’s largest collection of Gibran’s paintings,” Geagea told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Gibran Museum team presented five projects to develop the museum in Bsharri, and they were all approved.

“Hopefully, we will manage to preserve the heritage of Gibran, and present it to the Arab people and the world in the best way. We will protect this unique history for humanity. Gibran is not an Arabic writer, he’s international,” added Geagea.

Gibran Khalil Gibran is still the third most read novelist in the world, following Shakespeare, and the Chinese philosopher Laozi. His book, “The Prophet” was translated into 130 languages with several translations in each language; it has 17 different translations into German, 20 into French, and around six into Chinese.

Foreign embassies have always shown special interest in the Gibran Museum. The Japanese embassy in Beirut has recently provided a grant, and the Bulgarian embassy restored the personal library of the late novelist. However, the Arabic interest in the museum of a Lebanese, Arabic novelist remains the most special, and has a unique significance.

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Varieties

Nepal Halts Search after Guide Killed, Iranian Climber Missing

A tourist looks at a view of Mt. Everest from the hills of Syangboche in Nepal December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
A tourist looks at a view of Mt. Everest from the hills of Syangboche in Nepal December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
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Nepal Halts Search after Guide Killed, Iranian Climber Missing

A tourist looks at a view of Mt. Everest from the hills of Syangboche in Nepal December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
A tourist looks at a view of Mt. Everest from the hills of Syangboche in Nepal December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar

Bad weather forced Nepali rescuers to suspend the search Monday for an Iranian climber missing for four days after an accident which killed a Nepali team member, expedition organizers said.

Extreme conditions, including fierce winds, made rescue efforts impossible on the 8,481-meter (27,825-feet) high Mount Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain.

Iranian climber Abolfazl Gozali, 42, and Nepali guide Phurba Ongel Sherpa, 44, were part of a rare winter expedition on the peak.

The four-member team successfully summited on Thursday, but during the descent the guide fell to his death.

Team lead Sanu Sherpa, who has climbed all 14 highest peaks in the world at least twice, and Lakpa Rinji Sherpa went to his aid but found that he had fallen hundreds of meters and did not survive.

When they returned to where they had left Gozali, he was no longer there.

"A team of eight experienced climbers have been sent but the wind has been very strong and affected the search," Madan Lamsal of expedition organizer Makalu Adventure told AFP.

"We hope to resume soon."

Lamsal said the rescuers intend to find Gozali, as well as recover the guide's body.

Phurba Ongel Sherpa was a highly experienced mountaineering guide with multiple summits of Everest and other major peaks.

Gozali is also an accomplished climber, who has climbed two of world's highest peaks and completed the "snow-leopard peaks" -- the five mountains of over 7,000 meters between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

This was his second attempt to summit Makalu in winter. Last year, freezing temperatures and high winds forced the team to turn back, just 800 meters short of the summit.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, and welcomes hundreds of climbers every year during the spring and autumn climbing seasons.

Dangerous terrain and extreme weather can make winter expeditions particularly risky.

Varieties

Shark Mauls Surfer in Sydney, 3rd Attack in Two Days

People stand next to warning signs in place, and beaches are closed after a surfer suffered a shark attack at Dee Why Beach in Sydney, Australia, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
People stand next to warning signs in place, and beaches are closed after a surfer suffered a shark attack at Dee Why Beach in Sydney, Australia, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
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Shark Mauls Surfer in Sydney, 3rd Attack in Two Days

People stand next to warning signs in place, and beaches are closed after a surfer suffered a shark attack at Dee Why Beach in Sydney, Australia, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
People stand next to warning signs in place, and beaches are closed after a surfer suffered a shark attack at Dee Why Beach in Sydney, Australia, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Jeremy Piper

A shark mauled a surfer off an ocean beach in Sydney on Monday in the Australian city's third shark attack in two days, authorities said.

The surfer, believed to be in his 20s, was in a critical condition in hospital with serious leg injuries after the attack at a northern Sydney beach, police said.

"The man was pulled from the water by members of the public who commenced first aid before the arrival of emergency services," New South Wales state police said in a statement.

All of Sydney's northern beaches were closed until further notice.

The attack at North Steyne Beach in the suburb of Manly came hours after a shark bit a large chunk out of a young surfer's board about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north along the coast at Dee Why Point.

That surfer, reportedly a boy aged about 11, was uninjured but the beach was closed immediately, AFP reported.

On Sunday, a large shark bit a 12-year-old boy in the legs as he played with friends at a beach in Sydney harbor, leaving him fighting for survival in hospital.

The boy and his friends were jumping from a six-meter (20-foot) rock into the water off Shark Beach in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse when the predator struck, police said.

"It was a horrendous scene at the time when police attended. We believe it was something like a bull shark that attacked the lower limbs of that boy," said Superintendent Joseph McNulty, New South Wales marine area police commander.

"That boy is fighting for his life now," he told reporters on Monday.

Recent heavy rain had drained into the harbor, and authorities believed the combination of the brackish seawater and the children's splashing created a "perfect storm" for a shark attack, McNulty said.

He warned people not to go swimming in the harbor or other river systems in New South Wales because of the risks.

He praised the boy's "brave" young friends for pulling him out of the water on Sunday.

Officers put the unconscious child in a police boat and gave him first aid, applying two tourniquets to stem the bleeding from his legs, McNulty said.

They tried to resuscitate the boy as they sped across the harbor to a wharf where ambulance paramedics were waiting.

The child, confirmed by police to be 12 years old, was in intensive care at Sydney Children's Hospital surrounded by family and friends, McNulty said.

Varieties

China’s Population Falls Again as Births Drop to Lowest Rate Since 1949 Communist Revolution

Women push baby strollers as they walk along a street in Beijing on January 4, 2026. (AFP)
Women push baby strollers as they walk along a street in Beijing on January 4, 2026. (AFP)
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China’s Population Falls Again as Births Drop to Lowest Rate Since 1949 Communist Revolution

Women push baby strollers as they walk along a street in Beijing on January 4, 2026. (AFP)
Women push baby strollers as they walk along a street in Beijing on January 4, 2026. (AFP)

How do you persuade a population to have more babies after generations of limiting families to just one?

A decade after ending China's longtime one-child policy, authorities are pushing a range of ideas and policies to try and encourage more births — tactics that range from cash subsidies to taxing condoms to eliminating a tax on matchmakers and day care centers.

The efforts haven't paid off yet. At least, that's what population figures released Monday show for what is now the world's second-most populous nation. China's population of 1.4 billion continued to shrink, marking the fourth straight year of decrease, new government statistics show. The total population in 2025 stood at 1.404 billion, which was 3 million less than the previous year.

Measured another way, the birth rate in 2025 is the lowest on record since 1949, the year that Mao Zedong’s Communists overthrew the Nationalists and began running China. Figures before that, under the previous Nationalist government, were not available. The rate of 5.63% is the number of births per 1,000 people.

China was long the world’s most populous nation until 2023, when it was surpassed by regional neighbor and sometime rival India. Monday's statistics illustrate the stark demographic pressures faced by the country as it tries to pivot from a problem it is working hard to overcome: status as a nation with a growing but transitional economy that, as is often said, is “getting old before it gets rich.”

Is a snake involved? The number of new babies born was just 7.92 million in 2025, a decline of 1.62 million, or 17%. The latest birth numbers show that the slight tick upwards in 2024 was not a lasting trend. Births declined for seven years in a row through 2023.

Most families cite the costs and pressure of raising a child in a highly competitive society as significant hurdles that now loom larger in the face of an economic downturn that has impacted households struggling to meet their living costs. Another potential factor in the numbers: last year in China was the year of the snake, considered one of the least favored years for having a child under the Chinese zodiac.

Like many other countries in Asia, China has faced a declining fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. While the government does not regularly publish a fertility rate, last saying it was 1.3 in 2020, experts have estimated it is now around 1. Both figures are far below the 2.1 rate that would maintain the size of China's population.

For decades, the Chinese government barred people from having more than one baby and often sanctioned those who did — a policy that produced more than two generations of only children. In 2015, the government raised the permitted amount of offspring to two and then, facing demographic pressure, further revised the limit to three kids in 2021.

The push for more births is about the economy. China now has 323 million people over 60, or 23% of the entire population. That number has continued to rise, while the working-age population is shrinking, meaning there are fewer workers to support the older population.

This demographic shift is happening while China is in the process of trying to transition away from labor-intensive industries like farming and manufacturing into a consumer-driven economy built with high-tech manufacturing. The difficulty is in trying to get richer as a country, while this population shift likely means a slowing economy.

Officials have had limited success with policy changes to incentivize families to have more children. In July, the government announced cash subsidies of 3,600 yuan ($500) per child to families.