Saddam Hussein never cared for truth or justice when he ruled Iraq and those who suffered under him might think it perverse to care about his fate now. But his trial for genocide and war crimes against the Kurds has degenerated into black farce, a chaotic travesty of what should have been due process to call him to account.

Barring surprises, the United Nations will this week confirm the appointment of a new secretary general to succeed Kofi Annan, who is ending his second five-year term in December. Ban Ki-moon, the foreign minister of South Korea, emerged as the clear consensus candidate after consultations between the members of the security council, especially the powerful, veto-wielding permanent five.

Turks are robust enough to react calmly to the threats from a break-away Kurdish group to turn the country into ”hell” in an attempt to scare away foreign tourists and damage the economy. But it is nevertheless alarming that six bomb attacks have been carried out this week, killing three people and injuring scores of others.

It is not yet quite a year since Israel withdrew its forces and dismantled illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip, though there has always been a grim inevitability about the offensive — codenamed Summer Rain — that Ehud Olmert unleashed this week to try to free a soldier abducted by Palestinian fighters.

Striding through the smoke and flames threatening to torch the new Labour project, like a cornered action hero attempting a final comeback, Tony Blair recently showed once again why he is the most resilient politician in Britain. After days of coded revolt from his heir apparent he faced down his party with a powerful performance at his Downing Street press conference and at an evening session with MPs.

Evo Morales went for a characteristically theatrical gesture on May Day when he sent in troops to seize Bolivia’s natural gas fields, pipelines and refineries. As global energy companies struggle to digest the consequences, it is clear that the president of Latin America’s highest, poorest and most isolated country intends to keep on trying to redistribute the region’s wealth.