Tunisian women activists accused Ennahda party of giving false promises during its election campaign and reneging on them after winning a majority in the National Constituent Council in the first election the country witnessed after the ouster of President Zine Elabidine ben Ali’s regime. Those activists were particularly concerned about recent statements by Ennahda leader Rashid Ghannouchi on making some changes to the personal status law, particularly concerning the legalization of adoption and the ban on polygamy.

Calm has returned to the town of Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the Tunisian revolution, after an overnight curfew was imposed because of violent post-election protests, police said. The curfew - in effect from 7:00pm on Friday until 5:00am on Saturday - was imposed after hundreds of people marched on the Sidi Bouzid headquarters of the Ennahdha party. The crowd burned tyres and pelted security forces with stones following the announcement that Ennahdha had won last Sunday's national elections.

Tunisian election officials are counting votes after Sunday's election, the first free poll of the Arab Spring. More than 90 per cent of registered voters turned out to cast their ballots, officials say. Tunisians are electing a 217-seat assembly that will draft a constitution and appoint an interim government.

In the run-up to Tunisia’s first free elections on 23 October, Amanda Sebeysten shares the manifesto of a small independent party, linked to an association of unemployed graduates in in Kasserine, a town in the country’s interior which lost the largest number of lives in the revolution.

The Pan-African Parliament, in a recommendation on land investments, has called for a moratorium on new large-scale land acquisitions, pending implementation of land policies and guidelines on good land governance. PAP has also called for the establishment of an African Ministerial Conference on land-based investments equivalent to the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCE) and the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW).

As Tunisia is preparing to hold historic elections on 23 October, the profound reform of the media sector is yet to take place, despite genuine initiatives taken and valid recommendations made by competent groups and voices. In this context, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 21 free expression groups, urges the interim government to authorise without any further delay the 12 radio and five television services recommended by the National Authority to Reform Information and Communication (INRIC), respectively on 29 June and 7 September, to start broadcasting.

After 23 years of enforced silence, media professionals and artists in Tunisia are enjoying a period in which their freedom of expression is being respected for the first time. Hundreds of cyber-activists from across the Arab world gathered in the birthplace of the Arab Spring last week at the third meeting of Arab bloggers to discuss the role of social media and cyber-activism during popular revolts that toppled dictators in North Africa.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has condemned the ruling of the judge in charge of state disputes to shut down the satellite channel Tunisia TV. The judge designated to state disputes decided on 9 October to shut down Tunisia TV under the pretext of broadcasting an interview with Hemma Al-Hammami, leader of the Tunisian Communist Labor Party, following the launch of the electoral campaign.

Police in the Tunisian capital have used tear gas in an attempt to disperse hundreds of protesters who were attacking authorities with stones and batons. The protesters, who are aligned with conservative Islamic groups, had gathered at the main university in Tunis on Sunday to protest against a ban on wearing the niqab, or full-face veil, as well as the closing of a mosque near the campus.

Tunisian authorities refused to grant Palestinian bloggers visas to attend the Third Arab bloggers meeting taking place in Tunis from the 3-6 October, 2011. The meeting is an attraction to Arab bloggers and activists, and an opportunity for them to exchange expertise and learn from each other. The event is co-hosted by Global Voices, Nawaat and Heinrich Böll Foundation and is attended by around 100 bloggers from nearly all Arab countries.

Nine months after an uprising that deposed former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and inspired the Arab Spring, Tunisians elect politicians on 23 October to an assembly that will rewrite the country's constitution. Parties running candidates have agreed the assembly will sit for one year. An independent committee set up by Tunisia's caretaker government to oversee the poll said nearly 11,000 candidates would contest 218 seats in the assembly.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of African migrants arriving in Italy in overcrowded boats, officials say. More than 3,000 people have reached the small island of Lampedusa - 200km (124 miles) off the Tunisian coast - in the past few days, they report. Arrivals are said to include Somalis and Nigerians as well as North Africans fleeing the violence in Libya.

In the next few months, Tunisian women may have a real opportunity as candidates and voters to participate in the country's new, post-revolution, electoral system. With hope, this will lead to more women in decision-making roles in government and a chance to demonstrate that democracies flourish when women, and the special experience and viewpoints they bring to the process, are included.

With nearly two months to go before constituent assembly elections, Tunisia confronts a long list of challenges to the creation of a democratic system, begins this policy brief from Freedom House. 'Expectations for swift and wide-ranging reforms are very high among a population hungry for change after decades of harsh authoritarian rule. Ordinary citizens are eager to enjoy the benefits of meaningful political freedom and economic prosperity, having endured unrelenting repression, mismanagement, and the plundering of resources by a small circle around the family of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.'

has an interesting article about rap music in Tunisia. 'Two months ago the private radio station Mosaïque FM asked Rachid Ghannouchi whether he preferred rap music or mizwid (Tunisia’s most popular sha‘bi or folk music, whose name derives from the main instrument that accompanies the singing, i.e., the goatskin bagpipe). Ghannouchi, leader of Ennahda (Renaissance), the previously banned Islamic party and now one of the major players in Tunisia’s postrevolutionary political scene, did not hesitate to say "rap.” How come Ghannouchi opted for the seemingly more “liberal” and “progressive” choice, rap music, over the more “traditional” and “authentic” one, mizwid?'

A women’s group begins campaigning near La Marsa beach in Tunis to convince more women to come up and register in the electoral lists, in time for the deadline now pushed back to 14 August. Most of the women watching the proceedings are veiled. The veils present more of a question than a suggestion at present. One survey among veiled women conducted by journalists here claims that four in five of these women will not vote for Ennahda, the Islamist party surging ahead in popularity ahead of elections for a constituent assembly due in October.

The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 21 IFEX members, is urging action to prevent any repeat of recent violent crackdowns on demonstrators and journalists in the run up to scheduled constitutional elections in October. The IFEX-TMG's concerns deepened after a statement by Interim Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi in which he accused journalists of stirring up trouble.

Concerned with a low rate of voter registration, Tunisia's Independent High Electoral Commission (ISIE) is in the midst of a major push to encourage citizens to register for the country's historic 23 October elections. Tunisians have until Tuesday (2 August) to register to vote for the Constituent Assembly elections.

As African Union and NATO leaders push for a political solution to the Libyan crisis, many of the thousands of refugees and migrants stranded on the Libyan- Tunisian border say their plight continues to fall on deaf ears. Sitting outside her makeshift tent with her daughter and grandson, 63-year-old Somali refugee Hawiyeh Awal tries to find a bit of shelter from the scorching sun on the Tunisian desert. 'I’m so scared that I’m going to die in this hot desert,' she says. 'I have diabetes and I’ve lost more than eight kilos since coming here because of the hot weather.'

Tunisia is set to hire thousands of new teachers while at the same time doing away with a long-derided aptitude test for those wishing to join the ranks of educators. Many teaching hopefuls said the Contest of Aptitude for Secondary Education Teachers (CAPES) was a barrier to employment and a source of corruption. The education ministry will hire 2,000 new teachers, 1,345 new superintendents and 120 new chief superintendents.