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The History Hour: Beirut's hotel war

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holiday inn pic.jpg

15/08/2020 GMT

Beirut's hotel war

BBC World Service - The History Hour, Beirut's hotel war

Lebanon's civil war comes to Beirut's luxury hotel district, plus the first ventilators

When Lebanon's civil war came to Beirut's luxury hotel district. Plus inventing the ventilator and how women in Turkey overhauled decades-old laws on rape and assault.

At the start of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, Beirut’s luxury hotel district was turned into a battlefield, with rival groups of gunmen holed up in some of the most expensive accommodation in the Middle East. We hear from two former employees of the Holiday Inn about what came to be known as the Battle of the Hotels. Also in today's programme, the first radar, the invention of the ventilator, and how women in Turkey overhauled decades-old laws on rape and sexual assault.

Photo: The ruins of the Holiday Inn. (Credit: Getty Images)

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