Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Argentina

Taran Rampersad discusses Wikipedia in the Caribbean and specifically, Guyana. He's also got some good updates on Hurricane Dennis.

Agua Fuertes 2004 starts a long discussion when questioning whether Google Earth respects Argentina's privacy [es].

Nada importante sucedió hoy… writes about the potential future of biotech in Argentina [es].

MABB discusses natural gas and Sino-Bolivian relations in the 21st century.

Pehuen describes a new project [es] on the country wide network, TIC Bolivia [es], which aims to support rural, eastern, indigenous Bolivians in learning computer skills.

Venezuela News and Views continues to beat the major media to the punch.

The Devil's Excrement covers the trial against the Venezuelan opposition movement, SUMATE [es].

Saudi Arabia

Beirut Spring has posted a banner condemning terrorism in both English and Arabic.

Saudi Jeans has been looking on the Arabic blogs for commentary on the London bombings but has not yet found any; if you see any, make sure to pass it on to him.

Chan’ad Bahraini simply asks “May the murdered souls rest in peace.”

Islamicate: “Understand, Al-Qaeda is not only about hatred; they are not only about denying and destroying the Islamic spirit; they are about destroying hope; about destroying the future.”

About Lebanon asks us to “take a moment out of our busy days to think about the victims and pray for peace.”

Mr.Behi has a long, heartfelt post about the bombings; he also links to an influential Persian blog out of London that has first-hand reports.

Iranian Prospect is pessimistic about the western response to these bombings.

The Iraqi blog Ibn Alrafidain flatly condemns the violence, though he adds that “I can imagine the disturbance, chaos & fear caused by the incident since we live this situation here in Iraq daily.”

Iraqi Expat, who lives in London, is beside himself with anger and rage: “What happened to London today was an outrageous evil act by shameless criminals who, sadly, call themselves Muslims. Today, my family and I are ashamed of being Muslims.

Kenya

African Bullets and Honey was in London on the day of the attack, and concludes that “whenever I think about the scale and importance of the lives of people I love, and then consider those who were killed today, I am forced to conclude that a single human life is far more important than the ideas and hatreds that lead to such violence.”

Thinker's Room has a very long, very thoughtful response to the bombings in London that recalls the bomb attack on the US embassy in Nairobi.

Black Star Journal reports that one of Mugabe's closest allies, the former head of the secret police, has denounced the government's ‘clean-up' operation.

Congo Girl posts an update on the armed conflict in eastern DR Congo.

Ethiopundit posts a spirited defense of all things British, wrapping up his post with the text of the poem Rule Britianna.

Onyango Oloo of the Kenya Democracy Project asks who stands to gain from the bombings?

The Kenyan blog Mental Acrobatics says “there is no excuse for the cowardly acts. None.”

Pole, the Swahili word for condolences, carries far more weight than Afromusings can properly translate.

Germany

A bit of meta-coverage: A Fist Full of Euros notes that “A recurring theme in all the commentary of the attacks is the stoicism, composure and defiance of Londoners.”

Heiko Hebig points out that the bombings occurred even though London has one of the most comprehensive networks of security cameras in the world.

Lenin's Tomb has a long post analyzing the various interpretations and possible consequences of the bombing.

Barcapundit points to an article that details the similarities–and the differences–between the London bombings and the bomb attacks in Madrid a few years ago.

China

Jinja, who writes the Cambodian blog Webbed Feet, Web log notes the irony that his former boss had only recently left Siem Reap, where the international school had a hostage crisis last month, to go to London. More importantly, though, he looks at the disquieting congruity of ‘good times' and ‘bad times'.

Phil of Flying Chair was interviewed by Singaporean television for his response to the London bombings.

The Ordinary Gweilo points out that “the British government have been saying for a long time that it was a matter of ‘when' rather than ‘if' there was a major terrorist incident in London, and sadly they have been proved right.”

SimonWorld has a short roundup of Chinese press coverage of the London bombings.

The bombing strikes home for Sushicam, since he had ridden those tube lines and taken those buses.

India

India Uncut: “This isn't just an attack on the UK … they're an attack on a way of life and a value-system, one that is dear not just to Western countries, but to millions in the developing world, like me.”

While bemoaning the loss of life, Chien(ne)s Sans Froniters points out that similar blasts in Ayodhya were overlooked by the mainstream press.

Sepoy, at Chapati Mystery, is taken back to November of 2001, when he was living in London.

Russia

Registan.net passes on the news that the Taliban is denying responsibility for the attacks in London, though they're not exactly sorry that they happened either.

The Russian Dilettante points out how opinion polls get deliberately misinterpreted in the Russian press.