The trial has begun at 9:00 here (8:00 in Sierra Leone and Liberia), but there is a half hour delay in the video and audio feed, so we still have about ten minutes before we can know what’s happening.   

We do know that Charles Taylor has appeared in court this morning, and that the first prosecution witness is expected to be an expert on diamond and weapons trafficking in West Africa.  He will be followed by a victim witness, and then an “insider” witness whom the prosecution says is a former associate of Charles Taylor.