Naveena Kottoor

In Tunisia, Anis Amri's family implores its youngest to turn himself over to German police

OUESLATIA, TUNISIA - The day Anis Amri became Europe's most-wanted man was also his 24th birthday. His 4-year-old niece, Zeineb, was running puzzled from the doorstep outside her grandmother's simple one-story home in his home town in central Tunisia, to the bare room where the family - Anis Amri's mother, Nour, 60, five sisters and two brothers - sat, their heads in their hands, not knowing whether to doubt or despair over the news they were being confronted with.

'They crushed me': Tunisians reveal abuses they endured before the Arab Spring

Nada Elwikil was still in high school when she was taken to Interrogation Room 27 for the first time. Security services ordered her to take off her clothes and headscarf. When she refused, they stripped her naked. Then, in between interrogation sessions, they pushed her head in a toilet filled with excrement.

'Wanted' posters are popping up all over Tunisia's capital

Kingdom Road - Morocco

Libyan diplomacy

United Front

New Dawn - Tunis

Tunisia's transition and upcoming elections

Come one, come all

Tunisia's Beji Caid Essebsi becomes 1st democratically elected President

Tunisia's historic handover of presidential power

Tunisia museum shooting: Tourists killed by gunmen - BBC News

Media playback is unsupported on your device Nineteen people, including 17 foreign tourists, have been killed after gunmen targeted a museum in the Tunisian capital, according to the country's prime minister. Italian, Spanish, Polish and German citizens were among those killed, as well as a Tunisian and a police officer, PM Habib Essid said.

Tunisia election: Sense of achievement for voters

Sea-change for Tunisian tourism, 25/07/2014 GMT, Middle East Business Report - BBC World News

Could an emphasis on authenticity and heritage turn Tunisia's tourism industry around?

Tunisia's Essebsi: The 88-year-old comeback kid

Continue reading the main story Some Tunisians fear that President Beji Caid Essebsi and his Nidaa Tounes party represent less of a break with the old system, and more of a disguised return of the old guard, with an injection of Botox.

Why bananas cost more in Tunisia

In many countries around the world, bananas are among the cheapest type of fruit available. Not in Tunisia. Bananas here are about 30% more expensive than in the UK and according to a World Bank study, bananas were in the top 10 smuggled goods entering the country from either Algeria or Libya.

Tunisia from revolution to republic

For someone who has not been sleeping much, and working punishing hours for months, 27-year old Anis Smaali is in an extraordinarily good mood. He is running a team of 5,000 election observers for Mourakiboun - a group that monitored Tunisia's parliamentary elections in October and on Sunday will be observing the first freely contested presidential election in the country's history.

Tunisia's first video games boss

For someone who started playing computer games as a three-year old, and launched his first business when he was 12, Walid Sultan Midani was perhaps destined to set up Tunisia's first video games development company. Now 31, Mr Midani is the founder and chief executive of Digitalmania, based in the capital Tunis.

The Senegal tech hub run by women for women

Coudy Binta De's eyes light up when she talks about how she first became fascinated with computers. The 24-year-old says that as a young girl she went to visit her mother in work at one of the Senegalese government's first computer departments.

Dollar signs on a canvas

AN air of money hangs over the Senegalese capital this month for the Biennale of contemporary African art, the largest of its kind on the continent. On the opening night in the lush gardens of the Musee Theodore Monod, a cream-coloured art deco building downtown, young artists with oversized black-rimmed glasses were mingling with curators and buyers from Africa as well as Europe, China and the United States.

Barakat activists challenge Algeria's status quo

There was a sense of tension among the members of Barakat, as they were sitting huddled around a long table in a cellar in central Algiers. That week the police had prevented some of them from protesting and detained those who resisted their orders several times.

New opponents

AMIRA Bouraoui is determined to finish what her parents' generation tried, but failed, to achieve: a democratic and free Algeria. The 38-year old obstetrician and mother of two (pictured above), is a founding member of Barakat (Enough! in Algerian Arabic), an opposition movement that emerged earlier this year in the run-up to the presidential polls on April 17th.

Quelle surprise

AN HOUR before the final result was officially announced on April 18th, a stream of honking cars covered in posters of Abdelaziz Bouteflika was already driving down Rue Didouche Mourad in Algiers, a tree-lined avenue dotted with coffee shops. It seemed contrived rather than a spontaneous celebration of the 77-year-old incumbent's landslide victory in polls the day before.

Bittersweet justice

IN THEORY Tunisian women's rights activists had a reason to celebrate this week. On March 31st a group of policemen who raped a 29-year old woman, known simply as "Meriem", were convicted in a court in the country's capital, Tunis.

Tunisian police rape victim defiant

Tunisia was praised for passing a progressive constitution in January that explicitly protects women against violence. But the protracted case of a Tunisian victim of police rape, who persevered in her pursuit of justice despite being initially charged with indecency, epitomises the challenges that lie ahead.

In pictures: Mixing graffiti and calligraphy in Tunisia

A Tunisian artist has turned a prison wall into a symbol of hope for young people coping with unemployment and political turmoil in the central city of Kasserine.

Tunisia's entrepreneurs want reforms

Three years ago thousands of Tunisians protested on the streets, demanding, among other things, more economic opportunity. The protests led to the departure of the country's former ruler, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and sparked the wider Arab Spring across North Africa and the Middle East.

Tunisia's women make huge gains

Tunisia's new constitution could usher in momentous change for women, following the adoption of a clause which guarantees gender equality in legislative assemblies and for steps to be taken to protect women against violence, a first in the Arab world. "This article is a revolution in itself.

Preserving a kosher taste of Tunisia's past

The sleepy seaside suburb of La Goulette is renowned for its fish restaurants on Avenue Roosevelt. But for those in the know and those who are curious, there is a slightly different menu on offer just around the corner on Avenue Pasteur.

Students develop a banana piano

Two students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have managed to develop a banana piano. Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, both 32, were looking for a way of turning everyday objects into touchpads. They have developed a kit called MakeyMakey, that can turn fruit, animals and even humans into keyboards.

Facebook's first female engineer

Ruchi Sanghvi was 23 years old when she became the first female engineer at Facebook. She developed the news feed and saw the company grow from a small start-up into the world's biggest social network. Despite her successful career in Silicon Valley, she says when she decided to pursue engineering, she was confronted with old-fashioned views.

Why African art is the next big thing

With major museums in London and New York showcasing leading contemporary African artists this summer, and Angola's recent success at the Biennale in Venice, is the world of art finally putting Africa on its map? Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui is among the most celebrated contemporary African artists at the moment.

Kenya rape victim fears repeat of 2007 ordeal

Amidst the violence that followed the disputed Kenyan election in December 2007, reported cases of rape and sexual attacks against women doubled, according to the UN. Now - ahead of elections next week - one rape victim told the BBC that she is leaving the capital Nairobi out of fear of being attacked again.

The gay airman who took on the US military

In 1975 an air force sergeant made history when he came out, to challenge the ban on homosexuals in the US military. Leonard Matlovich became a figurehead for gay rights, but he could not have foreseen that in 2013 the US Supreme Court would be considering whether to overturn a ban on same-sex marriages.

How Timbuktu's treasure was smuggled to safety

When Islamist rebels set fire to two libraries in Timbuktu earlier this year, many feared the city's treasure trove of ancient manuscripts had been destroyed. But many of the texts had already been removed from the buildings and were at that very moment being smuggled out of the city, under the rebels' noses.

Could you forgive your daughter's killer?

The moment when a murderer is released from prison can be a traumatic one for the victim's family. But for American Bill Pelke the release of his grandmother's killer this year was different - he has not only forgiven her, he wants to help her start a new life.

US regains supercomputer crown

IBM's Sequoia has taken the top spot on the list of the world's fastest supercomputers for the US. The newly installed system trumped Japan's K Computer made by Fujitsu which fell to second place. It is the first time the US can claim pole position since it was beaten by China two years ago.

Tony Mendez, the real CIA spy in Argo

Argo, a film about the audacious rescue of six Americans hiding in Tehran after the storming of the US embassy in November 1979, is the bookies' favourite for best picture at the Oscars. CIA agent Tony Mendez, played in the film by Ben Affleck, explains how the rescue plan was hatched.

Speaking up for democracy | All media content | DW.DE | 07.05.2014

Algeria has just sworn in the incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a fourth term in office, but few believe the election was free or fair. Many observers describe Algerian politics as ossified, the opposition has been coopted or repressed. But a protest movement called Barakat has been making headlines in and outside Algeria.

BBC Business Daily: Contemporary art in Africa by naveenakottoor

For Business Daily on the BBC World Service, Naveena Kottoor reports from Senegal on the surprisingly lively contemporary art scene.

A visit to Algier's illegal money exchange by naveenakottoor

Naveena Kottoor reports from Algeria on a very different kind of trading - the black currency market that operates in a public square in open view of the local police.

BBC News: The case of Meriem, a victim of police rape in Tunisia by naveenakottoor

A rape trial in Tunisia tested the country's commitment to women's rights. 18 months ago two policemen raped a 27 year old Tunisian woman Meriem.... The officers said they caught her engaged in immoral behaviour with her boyfriend. Meriem was charged with public indecency which caused such an outcry that Tunisia's President had to apologise.

BBC Radio 4 - World at One - What does January 14th mean to Tunisians? by naveenakottoor

Exactly three years ago today former Tunisian dictator Zine Abedine Ben Ali was ousted from power and fled to Saudi Arabia. Tunisians started coming out onto the streets after a young fruit vendor called Mohammed Bouazizi set himself alight. It became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring.

Three years post-revolution, a look at Tunisia's economy

This month marks the third anniversary of the Arab Spring.

BBC World Service News Tunisia Youth Naveena Kottoor 06 03 2014 by naveenakottoor

Tunisia has been applauded by international observers and foreign governments for its consensus based, progressive constitution. But at home Tunisian politicians have an image problem. Young people started the revolution and the constitution even has a new youth article recognising that. But is it more than lip service?

BBC World Service Outlook: Profile of Karim Jabbari by naveenakottoor

Karim Jabbari is a Tunisian calligraphy and street artist, who was drawn to calligraphy at the age of 12, after his father, a political opponent, was imprisoned. After living abroad for more than a decade Jabbari has decided to return to Tunisia, to modernise Arabic calligraphy, and work with young artists in impoverished parts of Tunisia like his native Kasserine.

BBC World Service Tunisia constitution - Article 45 by naveenakottoor

The Tunisian Revolution is approaching its third anniversary on Tuesday, it will be exactly three years that former dictator Zine Abedine Ben Ali was ousted from power and fled to Saudi Arabia. The Tunisian assembly is still in the process of voting on their new constitution.

BBC World Business Report: Tunisia's entrepreneurs by naveenakottoor

What are the main challenges for Tunisia's entrepreneurs three years after the revolution? Naveena Kottoor reports for World Business Report from the capital Tunis

World in Progress

Syria's forgotten Christians -- good governance training for Afghan students in Erfurt -- A taste for tolerance in the only Jewish restaurant in Tunis Fighting between the army and rebels continued in Syria this week. About 10 percent of Syrians are Christians, and Christian areas of Damascus are under attack from rebel mortars.