Morning Open Thread — Eyes on Asia (and Pope Benedict)

[SeminalBlog]

As the results from Nepal's election last Thursday come in, the Maoists are in the lead, leaving many to wonder what this unexpected result means. The BBC tries to explain:

It is as if the Nepali electorate, starved of the chance to vote for nine years and desperate for lasting peace, have cannily thought of a way to prevent the former rebels going back to conflict.

President George Bush and First Lady Laura met Pope Benedict XVI at the airport Tuesday, welcoming the pope on his first visit to the U.S.. According to the AP, the memory of recent "sex scandals" in the church seem to be tarnishing the pontiff's visit. They report,

The joyous welcome contrasted sharply with the pedophile priest scandal that has rocked the US church, and which the pontiff said during the flight to Washington has made him feel "deeply ashamed".

Still doubting the "official" account, the newly convened parliament in Pakistan is calling for a UN probe into former PM Benazir Bhutto's death, though with Musharraf's permanence hanging in the balance, an inquiry into Benazir's death could open a new can of governmental tensions.
I mentioned it last week in the context of the global economic slump, but this week, attention to the global food crisis has picked up with Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon proclaiming

The rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions.

It doesn't look like the crisis is going to end any time soon.
And China has finally surpassed the US as the world's biggest polluter (though I wouldn't include that statistic in the tourist literature).
What's news are you reading today??
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