Our editors will be looking ahead today to these developing stories ... Biden to meet leaders over economic policy US Vice-President Joe Biden will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing. Earlier, Vice-President Xi Jinping told Biden that the two countries 'have a responsibility to strengthen macroeconomic policy co-ordination and together boost market confidence'. But headlines of a report on Biden's visit by the official tabloid Global Times read 'US desperate for vote of confidence from China'. Asia Adult Expo opens its doors in Macau The three-day Asia Adult Expo 2011 opens for business at the Venetian Macao casino. Organisers say this year's event has attracted more exhibitors than last year's, with a 15 per cent increase in the display of 'sexual wear' and a 50 per cent increase in lubricants on show. Five actresses from a Japanese company that makes adult videos will be on hand as 'image girls' for the event, according to publicity material. Citic Pacific to report on first-half results Citic Pacific reports its first-half results. The Beijing-backed mining-to-property conglomerate has been in the spotlight recently, with Standard & Poor's slashing its credit rating to junk status last month and warning that it might downgrade the rating further. Twenty years since anti-Gorbachev coup attempt Russia marks two decades since the failed 1991 coup by conservatives (pictured) against Mikhail Gorbachev, which ended up hastening the collapse of the Soviet Union. Lithuania and Georgia had already declared independence in 1990 but the botched putsch against Gorbachev's reforms prompted one republic after another to secede from the Soviet Union in the next months. It officially dissolved in December, a shock from which Russia and most former Soviet states have yet to recover fully. With Russia's leadership under ex-KBG agent Vladimir Putin still seeking to show respect for the Soviet era, official commemorations are expected to be modest. Western region forum to discuss development Economists from a State Council think tank and the Columbia Business School in the United States will meet in Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, to discuss China's economy and policy directions. The Western Region Capital Forum, organised by Shanghai's Fudan University, will also discuss opportunities for the nation's west in the new five-year plan. The central government decided last year to establish a special economic zone in the city of Kashgar, and despite recent ethnic violence, its mayor said the plans to transform the city into a booming financial hub and woo talent from major mainland cities remained on track. Norway's mass killer back in court Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old man who has confessed to Norway's July 22 attacks in which 77 people died, will make his second court appearance. A judge has closed the court to the public for the appearance and denied Breivik's request to wear a tailcoat, saying the freemason attire would be provocative. The court will determine if Breivik can remain in solitary confinement.
