Tripoli, Libya -  Amal, a mother of five children, crouches over a sewing machine within the maze of whitewashed alleys in Tripoli's dilapidated old city, its ancient walls abutting the Corinthia Hotel compound.
The light in her dingy tailor shop has been on for most of the day, a rarity for the impoverished neighbourhood, which has been plagued with hours-long electricity cuts, skyrocketing food prices and crime.

"We hear gun shots everyday and we are tired," said Amal, nostalgic for the security she says she had before Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow in 2011.
While Libya's two competing governments continue to battle over power, territory and the country's oil wealth, against the backdrop of controversial United Nations-brokered peace negotiations in Geneva, it's the ordinary Libyans across the country that are paying the highest price.
"Of course I'd be happy if the two governments were unified. But they want the power, money and the country, so I think this will be [only] resolved by fighting."
About 600 people have been killed in three months of heavy fighting between Libyan pro-government forces and Islamist groups in Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi, medical staff have said.
The high-profile attack on the luxury Corinthia Hotel in downtown Tripoli on Tuesday, which has been mostly empty in recent months except for a handful of guests and businessmen, is the latest ominous sign of Libya's slide into violence and economic chaos.
Fighters allied with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have claimed responsibility for the attack. The Tripoli-based "Libya Dawn" coalition, however, blamed Gaddafi loyalists instead, which essentially means former General Khalifa Haftar's forces, commonly known as "Operation Dignity", in the east of the country
He estimates that around 70 percent of gasoline for domestic use is now imported.

Can talks bring peace to Libya?
The Central Bank of Libya has warned that total revenues last year were $15.5bn against $34.1bn in spending, leaving a $18.6bn deficit. The government has vowed to cut subsidies on petrol and food, and enact austerity measures on a population heavily dependent on government pay.
Many salaries remain unpaid, crowds shove each other at banks for cash withdrawals, and in some cases, money has to be flown across the desert to reach certain communities.
In the shadow of the historic Central Bank building on Tripoli's harbour is a collection of trading shops for gold and currency. The Libyan dinar has lost nearly half its value, plummeting to less than half a US dollar, while the cost of chunky gold bars has increased.
"To tell you the truth, nowadays I'm nervous about putting money in the bank," said Mustafa Badr, a currency trader. "But if people start to withdraw a lot, they could be robbed. Then this would become normal."
Down the block, Ali Nefatti, a 22-year-old student, works at a gold jewellery shop when he's not at the Tripoli University. He says business has been bad because the traditional jewellery, mostly worn at weddings, is not essential for people now.
"Each side needs the power, and so they will finish it by fighting," he sighed. "I'm going to work, get money and go abroad. Most of my friends want to go abroad. We are fed up with all the fighting. Everything is wrong here. We need security and we need peace."