You might think Chinese social networks would be all a-Twitter (yes, pun intended) with mentions of the Bo and Chen scandals, but the censors continue to make heroic efforts to tamp that talk down.

So what has been trending there? Talk of "American French Fry Brother" — otherwise known as Jason Loose. FULL POST

In today's globalized world, we sometimes forget how intense the hostility between nations can be - especially when one of them is a paranoid dictatorship.

But watch the above video from North Korean state television of an angry mob in Pyongyang. What are they angry about? The crimes of this poor effigy, which happens to be that of South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak.

But, no, death by hanging isn't even enough for the dummy. So they set attack dogs on it. Not enough? Try a big bad military tank. Didn't do the job? Throw rocks at the dismembered head. (Don't worry, this isn't a human it's just plastic.) Finally, job done, one hopes.

It is a mysterious country, North Korea. We rarely get pictures from there, but I guess this is how they want the world to see them.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

When the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan premiered in 2006, Kazakhstan's government banned the film and threatened to sue its star. Six years later, Kazakhstan's foreign minister is thanking Borat, crediting the film with a large tourism boost. He called it a 'great victory' as the number of applications for tourist visas to Kazakhstan has grown tenfold.

Travelers can't look to Borat as an accurate depiction of the country.  So how should they prepare for a trip?

Well, they could watch a 67-minute promotional film about the glorious country's history and recent achievements entitled In the Stirrups of Time. This one stars a different Brit, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The film features carefully selected clips from an interview with Blair who applauds the nation's diversity and progress.

It proudly celebrates Kazakhstan's recent accomplishments - political, educational, industrial, economic. Grab your passports, you are now an expert on Kazakhstan.

There were a few statistics that could not fit into the 67-minute video.

Kazakhstan ranks 172nd out of 196 countries in terms of press freedoms, 120 out of 183 in terms of corruption, 137 of 167 in The Economist's 2011 democracy index. Kazakhstan's president won the election with over 95% of the vote.

On second thought, maybe there is a Lonely Planet guide out there somewhere.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

A new danger for politicians, not only do they have to be careful of whom they consort with, what they say, and the promises they don't keep, they now need to look out for what they wear on their wrists.

Take a look at Nicolas Sarkozy at what should have been a standard political event shaking hands at a rope line. But it turned into a scandal thanks to this little move. You see, he has a watch in this photo, and in this one taken just after he has no watch. What happened? He took off his watch and he put it in his pocket. The French press speculated whether he was worried about somebody stealing it or whether he was worried that he would get flack for its reported $75,000 price tag. Well, he got flack all right. FULL POST

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

It's not all missiles and mischief in Pyongyang these days. Despite the dire state of the nation, the North Koreans have had time for fun. Earlier this month they threw a food festival replete with sturgeon, soft-shell crab, bullfrog and other "famous dishes." The sign says, in English, "Cook Festival of Holiday of April."

Check out the video above. This ridiculous display was put on by the government in a nation where as many as 3 million people are at risk of starvation. And to make matters worse, North Korea recently got cut off from American food aid.

North Korea: The land of unique tastes and dreadful policies.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

What caught my eye last week was an art installation by the Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei. He put surveillance cameras up in his house in Beijing, four of them in all, and earlier this week he began streaming them live on a website call Weiweicam.

This was a protest against another form of surveillance, this one by the Chinese government - the police cameras trained on his house, the frequent searches Ai says he is forced to endure and the monitoring of his phone and computer.

But in a move that may not surprise you, four days later the Chinese government told Ai Weiwei to take down the website.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Calcutta, the city of joy, is best remembered in black and white as the one-time capital of the British Raj. It's a city also associated with the color red. After all, it was ruled by the Communist Party for 34 years. But last year, they were voted out. In its place is a populist leader who is promising a new city with new policies.

Forget about black and white or red. She wants to paint the city blue. Yes, literally.

All the official buildings of Calcutta are to be painted blue - even the iconic yellow taxis. Her party says it's because they see blue as the color of optimism. It's the color of the sky.

I think it's probably much simpler than that: It is the opposite of red, in a sense.

The next time you worry about how polarized America is - divided into red and blue states - it could be worse. Just think of Calcutta.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

The questions have flown across the Pacific for years: Was China working on its first aircraft carrier or weren't they? Was it a direct challenge to American naval superiority or wasn't it? Had it been launched or hadn't it?

Well, it turns out China bought three carriers from Russia a decade and a half ago with plans to retrofit them. There's the one that's being militarized, but what about the others?

Well, we don't have to worry about them so much. Take the former Russian carrier Kiev now parked outside Tianjin. Instead of being jam-packed with military hardware, the Kiev is now filled with soft ware. Very soft ware: Beds, pillows, comfy chair lounges and sofas. You see, it is now a hotel and it looks like the kind of place Elvis Presley might have called home, complete with round beds and mirrored ceilings.

There are five suites in all - all of them presidential suites according to the management. For entertainment, a restaurant serving mostly Russian dishes, naturally. And if you peek outside your window, you might see the reenactment of a naval battle. After all, the carrier is now the centerpiece of a military theme park extolling the powers of China's navy.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Ever find yourself dozing off in the middle of a meeting and thanking your lucky stars that nobody caught you? Yes, me too. Well, some delegates to the National People's Congress in China weren't as lucky as you.

Take a look at the video above: Big yawns, even a few people blatantly napping.  The meeting was even on a controversial topic: They were curbing the powers of police to secretly detain people.

A few days later, one of China's most prominent politicians, Bo Xilai, was also caught in the act at the Great Hall of the People.

He was to be in line for the post on the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the nine-member body, which effectively runs China. But just one day after his very public catnap, he was ousted from his post as Communist Party boss in the city of Chongqing. No, it's not because he snoozed.

But maybe they were all snoozing because the assembly is really a rubber stamp body.  The debates don't matter much.

By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, we should be very flattered - and by "we" I mean America's movie poster artists. It seems China likes America's movies - likes them a lot. Likes them so much that they sometimes use them quite liberally as guides for their own work. Take a look in the video above. And thanks to the blog Off Beat China a fun read for the great legwork on this story.