Lebanon: What life is like in a ‘failed state’

As the economic crisis grinds on, Lebanese navigate soaring food costs and fuel and medicine shortages.

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Beirut, Lebanon – Zeinab Mawla wipes the sweat off her upper lip as she sits behind the wheel of her car in the blistering September heat, waiting for her turn at a petrol station in Jnah, a district in the south of Lebanon’s capital.

It is nearly midday, but she has been queueing since 4am to fill her tank before rushing back to work at Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) – the country’s largest public hospital and leading coronavirus treatment facility.