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St. Georges Hotel, Beirut
The Hotel St. Georges is a historic resort hotel in Beirut, Lebanon, opened in 1934. It was constructed by a French investment group, the Société Des Grands Hotels Du Levant (SGHL), during the period of the French mandate. Parisian architect Auguste Perret came to Beirut to design the hotel with local architect Antun Tabet. Local businessman Abdallah El-Khoury, along with several partners, bought the SGHL in 1958. El-Khoury died in 1964, and his wife Nadia managed the hotel through its heyday in the 1960s and early 1970s, when guests included Brigitte Bardot, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, King Hussein of Jordan, the Shah of Iran and his wife Princess Soraya, as well as spies from both sides in the Cold War, like Kim Philby, who frequented its famous bar. The hotel closed in 1975, as a result of the Lebanese Civil War. It was one of the main sites of the infamous Battle of the Hotels in 1975-1976, in which opposing factions battled for control of the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race. The Western Bloc was led by the United States as well as a number of other First W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotels In Beirut
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refrigerator and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a flat screen television, and En-suite, en-suite bathrooms. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, business centre (with computers, printers, and other office equipment), childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium, restaurants, day spa, and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually Room number, numbered (or named in some smaller hotels and Bed and breakfast, B&Bs) to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assassination Of Rafic Hariri
On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was killed along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel. Among the dead were several of Hariri's bodyguards and former Minister of the Economy, Bassel Fleihan. Hariri had been part of the anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon. His assassination triggered the Cedar Revolution, a popular movement which forced Syria to withdraw all its troops in Lebanon by April 2005. The killing also led the United Nations to set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to investigate the killing. The Special Tribunal, along with an independent investigation carried out by Lebanese Brigadier General Wissam Al-Hassan, found compelling evidence for the responsibility of the Lebanese group Hezbollah in the assassination.Ronen Bergman. (15 February 2015)"The Hezbollah Connection" ''The New York T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint George Bay
Saint George Bay (french: Golfe de Saint-Georges), also known as the Bay of Beirut, is located on the northern coast of the city of Beirut in Lebanon. The Beirut River empties into the bay. Etymology The bay is named after Saint George, a popular saint among Christian sects in the eastern Mediterranean.Riches, Samantha. ''St George: A Saint for All''. Reaktion Books; 1st edition (June 15, 2015), page 39. Location The bay is situated north of Beirut and runs from the Cape of Ras Beirut, extending eastward and then northward until it reaches the marina of Dbayeh. High-rise apartment buildings and hotels overlook the bay and its palm-lined promenade, the Corniche. The Port of Beirut occupies the eastern part of the bay, as does the marina and the famous landmark, the Saint George Hotel. The hotel's name derives from the bay. Legend According to legend, the bay is where Saint George slew the dragon at a grotto with seven caves, located at the mouth of the Beirut River. After ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation on . Hariri headed five cabinets during his tenure. He was widely credited for his role in constructing the Taif Agreement that ended the 15-year Lebanese Civil War. He also played a huge role in reconstructing the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He was the first post-civil war prime minister and the most influential and wealthiest Lebanese politician until his assassination. Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005 by a suicide truck bomb in Beirut. Four Hezbollah members were indicted for the assassination and are being tried ''in absentia'' by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, but others have linked the assassination to the Syrian government. The outcome of a 15-year investigation led to the guilty verdict of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solidere
Solidere s.a.l. is a Lebanese joint-stock company in charge of planning and redeveloping Beirut Central District following the conclusion, in 1990, of the Lebanese Civil War. By agreement with the government, Solidere has special powers of eminent domain as well as a limited regulatory authority codified in law, making the company a form of public-private partnership. Solidere was founded on 5 May 1994 under the authority of the Council of Development and Reconstruction and following the vision of then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Solidere was incorporated as a privately owned company listed on the stock exchange. The name stands for ''Société Libanaise pour le Développement et la Reconstruction du Centre-ville de Beyrouth'', French for "The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District". Solidere's original mandate was to finish its development work and dissolve by 2019, but this date has been extended to 2029. Projects Solidere is w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Hotels
The Battle of the Hotels ( ar, معركة الفنادق, ''Maʿrakah al-Fanādiq,'' French: Front des Hotels), was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first major battles of the war that began in April 1975. The battle was fought for the possession of a small hotel complex, the St. Charles City Center, adjacent to the gilded Corniche seafront area on the Mediterranean, in the north-western corner of the downtown district of Beirut, and it quickly spread to other areas of central Beirut. The often fierce battles that ensued were fought with heavy exchanges of rocket and artillery fire from the various hotel rooftops and rooms. Sniper fire was commonly utilized. Background The hotel district involved in the Battle of the Hotels included a number of then-modern hotels built during Lebanon’s “Golden Age” boom of the mid-to-late 1960s and early 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities and an exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The diversity of the Lebanese population played a notable role in the lead-up to and during the conflict: Sunni Muslims and Christians comprised the majority in the coastal cities; Shia Muslims were primarily based in the south and the Beqaa Valley in the east; and Druze and Christians populated the country's mountainous areas. The Lebanese government had been run under the significant influence of elites within the Maronite Christian community. The link between politics and religion had been reinforced under the French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, and the country's parliamentary structure favoured a leading position for its Christian-majority population. However, the country had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War II and in the early stages of the Cold War. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviets. Born in British India, Philby was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1934. After leaving Cambridge, Philby worked as a journalist, covering the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of France. In 1940 he began working for the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6). By the end of the Second World War he had become a high-ranking member. In 1949 Philby was appointed first secretary to the British Embassy in Washington and served as chief British liaison with American in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary ( fa, ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری, Sorayâ Esfandiâri-Baxtiâri; 22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001) was Queen of the Imperial State of Iran as the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom she married in 1951. Their marriage suffered many pressures, particularly when it became clear that she was infertile. She rejected the Shah's suggestion that he might take a second wife in order to produce an heir, as he rejected her suggestion that he might abdicate in favor of his half-brother. In March 1958, their divorce was announced. After a brief career as an actress, and a liaison with Italian film director Franco Indovina, Soraya lived alone in Paris until her death. Early life and education Soraya was the elder child and only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (1901–1983), a Bakhtiari nobleman and Iranian ambassador to West Germany in the 1950s, and his Russian-born German wife Eva Karl (1906–1994). She was born in the En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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