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The map of Africa is very likely to change soon. The continent’s largest country looks set to be split in two as people in southern Sudan start voting in a referendum on independence this Sunday. This is not expected to be a close outcome: it would be a surprise if fewer than 90% of the votes were in favor of breaking away from the north. Matthew Brunwasser reports from Juba, South Sudan.
Military service is mandatory in Turkey, and its policy on homosexuals serving in the military is quite different from the recently repealed US policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Turkey’s armed forces consider gays ineligible to serve. From Istanbul, Matthew Brunwasser reports on Turkey’s policy of “will ask, must tell.”
The Romanian rock band Vama has written a song that takes on some of the common misconceptions about the Roma or Gypsies. And it skewers French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s expulsion of Gypsies from France earlier this year.As Matthew Brunwasser reports, the English-language “Sarkozy vs Gypsy” is stirring up passions in both France and Romania.
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.
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