Papou lahoud biography of barack

On Tuesday, March 1, fifteen American states held primary elections as part of the United States’ electoral season, on a day known as Super Tuesday. LAU’s own assistant professor of political science/international relations Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss tells us about the primaries’ historic results.

What was your first reaction when you saw the results on Wednesday morning?

A real disappointment that [Donald] Trump has done so well across so many different types of states – large, small, conservative, liberal … If anyone still had a doubt, now they can’t deny that Trump has wide appeal to a great number of Americans.  In terms of Hillary [Clinton], the results further consolidate her lead but the fact that Bernie Sanders won four states is really interesting and while it is highly doubtful that he will win the Democratic nomination, he is forcing Hillary to incorporate a lot of ideas from the left than she would have otherwise.

What kind of ideas does Trump actually represent?

He is a populist and a fascist. In populism, you play on the concerns of the general population without articulating how you’re going to actually solve problems. In some ways Bernie Sanders is a populist as well.  But it is no longer hysterical to use the word “fascist” to describe Trump because of the militancy with which he is scapegoating a number of different groups in American society, in a coded language that is white supremacist in nature.

How is the Trump phenomenon possible, in a country that so recently seemed to be becoming more and more liberal on key issues, such as racism and gay marriage?

Among other factors, such as the fact that the country was already highly polarized before Trump came along, it is important to emphasize the lasting economic malaise.  While there are many indicators that the economy is improving, the perception and indeed reality of a lot of Americans is that they haven’t seen their wages go up in 20 years, and that they have lost

She has this unique way of appearing. Sumptuous, she literally shines like her nickname that she took since the beginning of her artistic journey, fifty years earlier. She incarnates the bright and secure face of happiness, of love that she never ceases to sing and live. In a word, Sabah is a legend, beautiful, inimitable. Sabah belongs to such stars, these superstars, so rare these days. For this exclusive status, she sacrificed everything and spent a lifetime.

© Bassam Lahoud

The legendary Sabah. Pioneer of our national song, she required to interpret in each of her films a Lebanese song.

It is on the school benches that talents are awakened. At the Jesuit school in Beirut, a vocal gift is born; during a particular feast of holiday season, a play is performed by students, it is called “The Princess Hind”. Hind is actually called, Jeannette Féghali. She plays, sings, draws all eyes to her. She still wears the apron of the school. Sabah tells her life very simply, as if she is flipping a tale from the Arabian Nights. A STAR IS BORN. “My first official holiday? That was in 1943. I was fourteen. The festival was organized by the Press Syndicate at the time of Robert Abela, at the Grand Theatre in Maarad neighborhood, that night, only two people with me: Georges Farhatat the Oud and SarkisBassimat the Nay. My first salary: 250 Lebanese pounds. Then, while continuing my studies, I sang at Saade Dora coffee with Wadih el Safi. I also remember the café Boutros where Assi and MansourRahbani played. My success at the Grand Theatre has earned me the attention of Mr. QaisarYounis, related to Asia Dagher, the famous Egyptian producer and agent in Lebanon. Younis asked my father to allow me to accompany him to Egypt to begin acting. My father finally agreed. He sold the house of my grandfather inWadiChahrour for 4000 LBP to allow me to buy the necessary for travel. We traveled by train from Palestine

In 1990, Rami and Nada el-Zein decided to merge their computer company Interface with another. They rented space in the first and second floor of Yacoubian Block A. The first floor was for maintenance and support while the second floor was their offices.

They kept their offices there until 1998. When they moved out, they didn’t dream that years later, in 2010, they would buy their family home, a beautiful three-bedroom apartment, in Block B.

The family had lived in Hamra in a 1950s apartment but had to start looking for another place when their building was set to be demolished, ending up in the Yacoubian.

Their 29-year-old son Chafic is very attached to the home.

“There's something special about this place. It's not just the view or the location. Something more than my eyes can see. There’s a lot of history - I’m not sure how many people have lived in my family’s home, for example.”

Chafic used to work at his family business, cloud hosting and development. Initially had plans to move to Portugal with his parents but decided to stay in Lebanon and open a cafe, The Bake Atelier, instead.

He is still quite positive about living in Beirut compared to his peers and his attachment to the family home is unwavering, despite frustrations.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen car windshields broken from things landing on them [from windows]. I’ve also seen everything from cigarette butts to dirty diapers.”

He started parking on the street only to get his gas siphoned off. “Always when I have a full tank,” he jokes.

But he values the investment his parents put into the apartment, nearly all the money they had at the time, and his favourite parts of the building: “The tiles - I love the fifth floor’s black tile,” he exclaims.

The tiles in the open corridors of the Yacoubian are a different colour on each floor - a visual way to tell residents and visitors which floor they are on. It comes in handy with elevator outages when te