Roundup: Asia

Did the King of Pop save the Ayatollah? David Rothkopf says yes: In an instant, the really important story of tens of millions struggling to be heard in Iran was swept off the air by the death of a 50 year old accused pedophile in America.

No more opium wars? The US pulls away from poppy eradication in Afghanistan.

Asians, apparently, are no longer babes. Lance Burri is probably a racist.

Is it time to call in the cavalry?

Illicit cigarrettes in China -- could one of our own bloggers be smoking them while pondering the implications of the Chinese government's decision not to implement tighter web filter?

The leader of a Fijian coup of 2006 now has a "roadmap to democracy." One wonders what was so wrong the old one that he had to scrap it.