Rabieh

Rabieh (Arabic: الرابية‎) is a upscale suburban area on the northern edge of Greater Beirut, Lebanon, about 20 minutes driving distance from Beirut. It is located in the foothills of Mount Lebanon, on the road to Bikfaya. Rabieh saw its population increase sharply in the late 1980s, following the Lebanese civil war. Most of Rabieh's inhabitants are Christians, and it is considered one of the most expensive places to live in Lebanon; many magnificent villas have been built all over the hillside. Rabieh is also famous for its biodiversity and ecological richness. Rabieh is as well the home of many prominent Lebanese personalities and politicians.

It's divided into three sectors: Rabieh 1 and Rabieh 2 where the big villas are situated, going from "rue 1" (1st street ) till "rue 25" (25th street ) Rabieh 3 where buildings are allowed to be up to four storeys tall, going from "rue 26" till "rue 35" (26th street => 35th street ).

Rabieh has a geo-strategic location, it is only 15 to 20 minutes away from the vibrant capital Beirut, and is a minute's drive from the Bikfaya highway. A 45 minutes drive from Rabieh is the famed Faraya-Mzaar ski resort.

Guest House

Guest House is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the treatment of Catholic priests, deacons, brothers, seminarians (and - since 1994 - women religious) who suffer from alcoholism, other chemical dependencies and other addictions involving food and gambling. Opened in 1956 in Lake Orion, Michigan, Guest House is the oldest, continuously operating treatment center of its kind anywhere.

Guest House has 68 full-time and 61 part-time employees and an annual budget in excess of $7 million. Guest House operates two licensed and Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Facilities (CARF) accredited treatment centers. The one in Rochester, Minnesota is for priests and male religious and the other, in Lake Orion, Michigan, is for women religious.

History

Guest House was founded by Austin Ripley who was a nationally renowned mystery fiction writer and author of Minute Mysteries, a popular newspaper column featuring solve-it-yourself crime cases, which was syndicated in more than 170 U.S. newspapers.

Michel Aoun

Michel Naim Aoun (Arabic: ميشال عون‎) (born 18 February 1935) is a Lebanese politician and former Lebanese Army Commander. He is the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement, over which he presided from 2005 to 2015.

From 22 September 1988 to 13 October 1990, shortly before the end of Lebanon's Civil War, Aoun served as Prime Minister of one of two rival governments contending for power at that time. He declared "The Liberation War" against the Syrian army forces on 14 March 1989. On 13 October 1990, the Syrian forces invaded Beirut, killing hundreds of unarmed soldiers and civilians. Aoun fled to the French Embassy in Beirut, and was later granted an escape to France. He returned to Lebanon on 7 May 2005, eleven days after the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country. In 2006, as head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), he signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah, starting a major alliance that has remained ever since. Despite the bloody history with the regime of Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad, Aoun visited Syria in 2009.

Samir Geagea

Samir Farid Geagea (Arabic: سمير فريد جعجع, Arabic pronunciation: [samiːr ʤʕaʤʕa], also spelled Samir Ja‘ja‘; born 25 October 1952) is a Lebanese politician and commander. He is also the executive chairman of the Lebanese Forces, the second largest Christian political party in Lebanon.

He took leadership of the LF in 1986. After the civil war, there was increased pressure by Syria on Geagea to accept the Syrian presence or face charges. Prior to his arrest, he was contacted by several sympathetic politicians and warned about the forthcoming proceedings and offered safe passage out of Lebanon. In 1994, four years after the end of the Lebanese Civil War, Geagea was tried for ordering four political assassinations, including the assassination of Lebanon's Prime Minister Rashid Karami in 1987, and the unsuccessful attempted assassination of Defense Minister Michel Murr in 1991. He denied all charges, but was found guilty and sentenced to four death sentences, each of which was commuted to life in prison. Geagea was imprisoned in solitary confinement below the Lebanese Ministry of Defense building in Beirut for the next 11 years. He is the only Lebanese militia leader to have been imprisoned for crimes committed during the Lebanese Civil War.

Omar Khorshid

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Omar Khorshid (Arabic: عمر خورشيد) (October 9, 1945 – May 29, 1981) was an Egyptian musician, composer, accompanist, and actor. Born in Cairo, Khorshid was a well-known guitarist who accompanied many Arabic singers, including Umm Kulthum, Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez.

Biography

As a child, Khorshid taught himself the violin, guitar and piano, which eventually led him to a private music institute in downtown Cairo for further instruction. In 1966, Khorshid formed a band with friends called "Le Petite Chats" (The Small Cats), a band that played music influenced by Western sounds. The group played in small venues and eventually worked their way up in terms of fame.

From 1973 to 1977, Khorshid moved to Lebanon and began recording albums under his own name for Lebanese record labels such as Voice Of The Orient and Voice of Lebanon. Working with audio engineer Nabil Moumtaz at Polysound Studios in Beirut, Khorshid worked harder to progress his musical style. However, due to the Lebanese Civil War, Khorshid was forced to move elsewhere to continue his career. In 1977, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat invited Khorshid to perform in America at the White House for American president Jimmy Carter. Though many saw this performance as peaceful, conservatives in the Middle-East who saw the United States as Zionist viewed it as a betrayal.