TRIPOLI, Libya - The whole of Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi is in darkness. Tracer fire and explosions sporadically illuminate the night sky. A 21-year old woman stands at the highest point in her family’s garden on the phone, giving a journalist in Tripoli the details of that day’s fighting. Unable to reach any officials for confirmation, *Mariam Ahmed's analysis is based on where the fighting is taking place and the type of weapons being used.

TRIPOLI - A bleak and stormy seafront in Tripoli on Tuesday mirrored the atmosphere in the capital, as residents struggled to come to terms with the tragedy of an attack on a luxury hotel that left at least 11 dead. The incident at the five-star Corinthia Hotel was amongst the most shocking the capital has witnessed since the revolution. Armed men attacked security personnel at the hotel’s guardhouse at around 9am (0700 GMT) and, according to local media, three security guards were killed. -

TRIPOLI - Every morning, Libya’s only kite-surfing instructor, Jalal El-Walid opens his shop on Tripoli’s seafront to the capital’s small but committed community of kite-surfers. Against the backdrop of half-finished building projects, distant hotels and 1980s-era blocks of flats that comprise Tripoli’s curious architectural horizon, the kites fly high and surfers dart swiftly across the sea below.