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Trumpet player Angel Tichaliev remembers hearing a lot of brass bands back in the old days. But they’re long gone. The older masters started dying; popular tastes changed. In the Balkans, music has been dominated by Roma or Gypsies for centuries. Since the end of communism, the coming of the free market has meant that much traditional Roma music has been squeezed out by more profitable genres.
Germany has one of Europe’s largest immigrant communities, with some 2.5 million Turks. Yet even third-generation immigrants, born and raised in Germany, are still considered foreigners. That’s prompted many Turks to leave Germany for a country they’ve never lived in. Matthew Brunwasser reports from Istanbul.
Last year China overtook the United States as the world’s biggest car market, buying 13.6 million vehicles in 2009. Chinese car producers are also exporting cars to developing countries and now they are starting to make inroads into the lucrative European market. A joint venture in Bulgaria will produce the first Chinese brand cars in the European Union. From Bahovitsa, Bulgaria, Matthew Brunwasser reports.
Matthew Brunwasser visits two ethnic Roma neighborhoods in Bulgaria to find out how the Roma there view the issue of integration. France’s extradition of Roma to Bulgaria and Romania has set off a debate in Europe about the Roma’s place in European society. Continue reading “Roma integration in Bulgaria”
SOFIA — An unusual investigation that brought together prosecutors and human rights lawyers has revealed a grisly picture of neglect at Bulgarian state homes for mentally disabled children: 238 deaths since 2000.
More than three-fourths of the deaths were found to have been avoidable: 84 from physical deterioration caused by neglect; 36 from exposure to cold or long-term immobility; 31 from malnutrition; 13 from infections caused by poor hygiene; 6 from accidents; 15 were unexplained. Continue reading “Unlikely Allies in Bulgaria Reveal Fatal Mental Health Neglect”
This week the European Commission will decide if it will take action against France over its expulsion of Roma migrants. Correspondent Matthew Brunwasser reports on how the Bulgarian government has tried to help Roma integrate in Bulgarian society.
In many Muslim towns and villages around the world, drummers march through the streets to wake up residents for a meal before sunrise. Matthew Brunwasser reports from a neighborhood in Turkey where the drummers are no longer welcome by all.
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. Continue reading “Singing lessons for muezzins”
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. Continue reading “Eco-Islam in Africa”
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.
Continue reading “Kenya’s planned port threatens Swahili culture”
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