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Matthew Brunwasser is an independent journalist based in Istanbul.
Aug 11th, 2010
Singing lessons for muezzins
With thousands of mosques broadcasting the call to prayer five times a day, it only takes one muezzin singing with a froggy voice to make life miserable for neighbors. To make it easier on the ears – and nerves – of local residents, the city’s chief religious official has set up singing lessons. From Istanbul, Matthew Brunwasser reports.
Jul 24th, 2010
Eco-Islam in Africa
Green is the color commonly associated with Islam and some scholars say the Koran also commands Muslims to be green in the modern environmental sense. In East Africa, a development project using Islamic ethics has taught locals the Koranic imperatives of conserving natural resources. Some say eco-Islam has taken root. From Pemba Island in Tanzania, Matthew Brunwasser reports.
Jul 13th, 2010
Kenya’s planned port threatens Swahili culture
In East Africa, a multi-billion-dollar supertanker port is being planned for Lamu on the coast of Kenya. The massive project would give a boost to the isolated area and forge economic links between countries in the region. The plan includes proposed oil pipelines, motorways and railroads, linking Lamu with Southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. But the big changes also threaten one of the last strongholds of traditional Swahili culture – a mixture of Arab and African cultures dating back from trade between Africa and the Middle East in the 9th Century. From Lamu, Kenya, Matthew Brunwasser reports.
Jun 23rd, 2010
Israeli travelers avoid Turkey
Israelis are cancelling planned trips to Turkey, in the wake of tensions following the killing of nine Turkish activists on a Gaza-bound aid ship convoy. That could have an impact on the Turkish economy. Matthew Brunwasser reports from Antalya, on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, one of Israelis’ favorite international vacation spots.
Jun 23rd, 2010
China’s approach to helping Africa
China is investing heavily in Africa. While many African welcome the capital and know-how, others fear that China is stepping in with heavy boots. Matthew Brunwasser reports from Nairobi, Kenya.
Jun 19th, 2010
Digging for Chinese culture in Kenya
Scientists from China are on the way to East Africa in June, to prepare for a massive archaeological excavation. The Chinese government is funding a three year search for Chinese cultural heritage on the coast of Kenya, in some half-dozen sites both underwater and on land. China is highlighting the ancient cultural ties between the two countries as its commercial power blossoms across the region. Matthew Brunwasser reports from Lamu, Kenya.
Mar 3rd, 2010
Turkey tense over house vote
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee is voting tomorrow on whether to use the term “genocide” to describe the World War One-era killing of Armenians during the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The vote will be closely watched by many in Turkey. Correspondent Matthew Brunwasser reports from Istanbul.
Mar 1st, 2010
Loud and Proud – Istanbul
Published in Monocle Issue 31 Vol 3 Journalism in Turkey has always been a political contact sport. Even so, the size of the tax penalty given to the Dogan Media Group – Turkey’s largest – had global reverberations. The conflict between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dogan first surfaced when the papers dug into the allegations swirling around the premier of corruption. Erdogan publicly accused the group’s founder, 73-year-old Aydin Dogan, of blackmailing the government for policies favourable to his investments.
Jan 6th, 2010
“Sweating Bullets” in Serbia
Extra trivia points if you can identify the male television character pictured here. He is Nick Slaughter, from the show “Sweating Bullets.” The cheesy detective show, set in a Florida beach town, aired in the US from 1991 to 1993. Well, America may have forgotten Nick Slaughter. But Serbia hasn’t. In fact, the star of the show, actor Rob Stewart, recently discovered his enduring fame in Serbia. Now he’s making a documentary about his experience, called Slaughter Nick for President. From Belgrade, Matthew Brunwasser reports.
Jan 4th, 2010
Crunch time for Romania’s ‘New Wave’
From the hipsters of Williamsburg in Brooklyn to the cinephiles of France, Romanian cinema is developing a global cult-like following that in 2010 should make Romania famous for something far more meaningful than Dracula, Ceaucescu and Nadia Comaneci. The so-called “New Wave” Romanian cinema is producing film-lovers’ films. They tell stark, lonely stories of micro-human-scale dramas, in impressive defiance of all the mega trends and commercial might of the global film industry, which tends to favour big stories, grand, sweeping tales of heroes, wars and disasters and the great processes of history.
Copyright © 2010 Matthew Brunwasser Journalist.
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