Set out the Good China: The President's Coming : Mr. Bush is especially stingy with state visits (he's been host to a mere five in five years — for India, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland and Kenya) and is no fan of formal occasions. But they also know what the Chinese know: that Mr. Hu is getting less than his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who was accorded a full state visit by President Bill Clinton in 1997. And to the Chinese, that matters.

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THE IRAN PLANS - Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb? By Seymour Hersch : Under Ahmadinejad, the Revolutionary Guards have expanded their power base throughout the Iranian bureaucracy; by the end of January, they had replaced thousands of civil servants with their own members. One former senior United Nations official, who has extensive experience with Iran, depicted the turnover as “a white coup,” with ominous implications for the West. “Professionals in the Foreign Ministry are out; others are waiting to be kicked out,” he said. “We may be too late. These guys now believe that they are stronger than ever since the revolution.” He said that, particularly in consideration of China’s emergence as a superpower, Iran’s attitude was “To hell with the West. You can do as much as you like.”

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Indonesia's Skin Wars - A proposed law against pornography worries moderates and minorities in Indonesia: The black bra under the thin yellow kebaya, a close-fitting blouse, leaves little to the imagination. Even more suggestive are the flittering eyes and gyrating hips of the dancer, who chases young men to pull them up on stage. One accepts the offer and makes a grab for her large posterior as she beckons with welcoming eyes. Another makes a gesture at her breasts and then stuffs cash into her hands. This is not a lap dance in Las Vegas, but a revered Balinese custom known as the joged bumbung, or bamboo dance.

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Final thoughts on RSC (RIP?): All the confabulated adoration of US 60s/70s rock and protest culture is just a substitute for two things: 1) the history Chinese rock doesn't have, and 2) the story it can't tell. Now - and this is different from even two or three years ago - Chinese rockers are really finding their roots in the West. Lots of bands in Beijing (Hang on the Box, SUBS, Ret-ros, etc.) are now singing in English, and this is new. And in the Wudaokou record shops, this leaves the playa haters saying, "They're not making music for us here. They're making it for the West, coz they want to be famous."
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Chinese police probe skulls find: In the markets of Lhasa, bowls made from fake skulls sell for two or three pounds each. But bowls made from genuine human skulls are said to fetch hundreds of pounds.
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China gives Cambodia $600m in aid: Analysts say China is keen to strengthen ties with south-east Asian countries that have sea ports that can serve Beijing's growing hunger for oil from the Gulf. Cambodia hopes its closer ties to China will help it counter the influence of its rival, neighbouring Vietnam, analysts say.