Around the world: Poland, Mexico, Japan, and Nepal

By Michael J.W. Stickings

With the U.S. celebrating its independence over the weekend, let's begin the week with a quick look at some interesting international stories (something we haven't done in quite some time):

1) Poland: Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski has moved ahead of Jaroslaw Kaczynski in what is a very close run-off presidential election -- at last check, it's 52.6 to 47.4. (The first round was held last month, but no candidate won 50% of the vote.) The election, needless to say, is taking place in the shadow of the plane crash, in April, that killed then-President Lech Kaczynski and many of the country's top political and military leaders.

2) Mexico: The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the socialist-cum-centrist de facto "state party" that controlled the country for over 70 years (under a few different names) -- until the center-right National Action Party (PAN) won the presidency in 2000 under Vicente Fox (and then again in 2006 under Felipe Calderón, when it also won pluralitis in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) -- looked to make major gains in yesterday's local elections, including most of the 12 gubernatorial races, positioning it well ahead of the 2012 presidential election. (The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the other of the three major parties, has also been strong, with Andrés Manuel López Obrador running a close second to Calderón in '06. It heads the Coalition for the Good of All, a left-wing coalition that won more Chamber seats than the PRI's Alliance for Mexico coalition in '06.)

3) Japan: The world of sumo wrestling has been brought low by a series of scandals involving drugs, match-fixing, and gangsters, and now the Japan Sumo Association has banned a top wrestler for life for gambling on baseball -- yes, baseball -- and for paying off a gangster who blackmailed him. This doesn't appear to be a Pete Rose situation, but, scandals piling up, a sport steeped in tradition appears to be unravelling.

4) Nepal: If you're looking for a black market in small arms, why not try Thamel, Kathmandu's central tourist district? "Most tourists spend at least a day here before heading out into the country to go trekking or rafting. But in recent years, the cafes selling banana pancakes and vegetarian food have been joined by strip bars and dance clubs, many of them employing underage girls who have been trafficked into the capital from the countryside." Sounds charming.

Okay, that's it for now.