BEIRUT -- In Beirut, you don't hail a cab, it hails you, with a raucous honk. The city's ubiquitous, banged-up Mercedes-Benz taxis -- with their hissing engines, torn upholstery and smoking drivers -- are icons in Lebanon.

But these days the city's transport staple is facing some serious competition from a growing army of female taxi drivers, dressed in stiff-collared white shirts, dark shades, pink ties and small pink flowers tucked into their flawlessly coiffed hair.

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