Today begins the first trial of the former Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. After some thirty years the first trial is under way with Comrade Duch, as he is known, in the defendant's chair. Though evidently an important watershed moment for the Cambodian people in coming to grips with a traumatic past it still begs the question of whether, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, justice delayed is really justice denied.

In response to recent tough talk by North Korea Secretary of State Clinton issues a warning. The trip is also notable in that it is the first time in some forty years a Secretary of State has made his or her first overseas trip to Asia rather than Europe.

Things could hardly be worse in Japan. The Finance Minister has resigned after appearing to drunk at a news conference at a G-7 conference. Now new economic data is out that Japan's export dependent economy is shrinking so fast it's suffering from whiplash. As goes Japan so goes the world?


From the land of false dawns comes another potential heartbreaker. After Qatari brokered talks the main rebel group in Darfur has signed an accord with the Sudanese government. Whether this will end the residual but noteworthy violence in the region is about as certain as the outcome of Israel's recent election. If we're looking for false dawns in the region look no further than the UN-AU peacekeeping force. Authorized a year ago and at half the strength a year later. The international community has let Darfur down to a large extent. Is it realistic to hope its own leaders can chart a different course?