Paula Astih

Paula Astih
Business A billboard welcoming tourists is seen along the airport road in Beirut on June 22, 2022. ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon’s Tourism Season Attracts $5 Billion

Lebanon’s summer season constituted a lifeline for the country that has been stricken by an unprecedented economic and financial collapse since 2019. While…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beirut, Lebanon November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon Mulls Closing Down Several Diplomatic Missions

Since the beginning of 2022, Lebanon’s diplomatic missions abroad have not received their operating expenses, while ambassadors and employees are still waiting…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Features Lebanese national flags fly at half-mast outside the presidential palace as Lebanon marks the two-year anniversary of the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, in Baabda Lebanon August 4, 2022. (Dalati & Nohra)

Majority of Presidential Terms in Lebanon End in Conflicts, Wars or Vacuum

Lebanon only twice witnessed a smooth transition of power from one president to a successor in its 79 years of independence. Out of 12 presidents who had…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World Lebanon’s Minister of Education Abbas Al-Halabi (Twitter)

Lebanon’s Private Schools Violate the Law, Impose Fees in Dollars

Many families in Lebanon are looking to transfer their children from high-end private schools to other schools that are less expensive. The anticipated shift…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World A Lebanese protester holds a sign as fuel tankers block a road in Beirut during a general strike by public transport and workers' unions over the country's economic crisis [File: Anwar Amro/AFP]

Public Sector Strike Leaves Lebanese Newborns without Registration

As thousands of public sector workers continue their strike in Lebanon, hundreds of the country’s newborns are being left undocumented. In Lebanon, civil…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World Lebanon's President Michel Aoun giving a televised speech at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on May 14, 2022 on the eve of parliamentary elections. (Dalati & Nohra)

Numbers Highlight Lebanon’s Collapse During Aoun’s Tenure

Less than two months before the constitutional date that allows for the election of a new president for Lebanon, the severe economic and financial crisis that…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Features Lebanese soldiers search for survivors of a migrant boat sinking off the coast of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Lebanon, 25 April 2022. (EPA)

Illegal Migration from Northern Lebanon to European Shores on the Rise

Illegal migration is on the rise from northern Lebanon towards European shores. The capsizing of a migrant boat off the impoverished northern city of…

Paula Astih (Beirut)
Arab World People walk in Downtown Beirut. (AFP file photo)

Lebanon's Tourism Minister Calls for Removing Posters of Hezbollah Leaders from Airport Road

Lebanon's Tourism Minister Walid Nassar issued on Thursday a decree that allows tourist institutions to exceptionally and selectively list their prices in US…

Paula Astih (Beirut)