One of the great artists of the motion picture industry died on Wednesday. Cinematographer Sven Nykvist, who did some absolutely splendid work for Ingmar Bergman over the years before becoming a regular member of Team Woody Allen, was 83.

Bloggage via Technorati.

It's the 61st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations this week. Heads of government from all over the world are there. George W Bush, Hugo Chavez, Thabo Mbeki, Michael Somare, Jacques Chirac, Thaksin Shinawatra (even if he has no job to go home to); Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Robert Mugabe, they're all there, including... um, Alexander Downer.

About the most generous thing I can say about Pope B16's speech at the University of Regensburg last Tuesday is that he put his foot in it. While it does seem that his quotation of Emperor Manuel II Paleologus, relating to Mohammed, was reported internationally out of context, Cardinal Ratzinger should know that in this day and age, anything he says will be taken down and used as evidence against him.

Did I ever tell you Federal Parliament is a joke?

Despite the Prime Minister's total apathy towards the world's greatest current humanitarian crisis, the Government hasn't been totally quiet on Darfur. DFAT announced on September 1 an additional $5 million in food aid for Darfur, and $510,000 to Austcare for "protection officers who will work with United Nations agencies increasing security for civilians in internally displaced person camps in both Darfur and southern Sudan."

Today, September 17, has been declared a Global Day of Action for Darfur. dayfordarfur.org tells us that the day "was originally conceived by a group of NGOs working on Darfur and concerned about the slow response of the international community to the crisis".

It's also the first anniversary of the signing of the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome Document. Of particular relevance here are paragraphs 138 and 139:

Responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity

138. Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This
responsibility entails the prevention of such crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means. We accept that responsibility and will act in accordance with it. The international community should, as appropriate, encourage and help States to exercise this responsibility and support the United Nations in establishing an early warning capability.

139. The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We stress the need for the General Assembly to continue consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and its implications, bearing in mind the principles of the Charter and international law. We also intend to commit ourselves, as necessary and appropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and to assisting those which are under stress before crises and conflicts break out.

So what are we doing about it? Damn little. An obscenely small amount. Mary Liddell in today's Observer summarises the situation:

The African Union's 7,000 peacekeepers, feeble, underfunded and unwelcome, are leaving in a fortnight. Sudan's leader, Omar al-Bashir, refuses to accept the 20,000 replacement force mandated by the United Nations. The resulting security vacuum would force out aid workers, condemning to death many of the 2.5 million who depend on them. It would also let Bashir unleash a military solution to a three-year conflict that has killed 300,000 people and left 2 million homeless; 10,000 Sudanese troops are massing to take on the rebels.

A good centralised resource page for information and action about the situation in Darfur can be found at the excellent International Crisis Group website.

As for John Winston Howard, he still registers a nil return for mentions of "Darfur" either in Hansard or in transcripts available on the Prime Ministerial website. But then, he never was big on humanitarian issues, was he?

I'll post about the Australian political activity in relation to Darfur in a separate item. I'll finish this post with a prayer, published by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on Friday:

Heavenly Father,

I always thought CNN Headline News was set us as a wall-to-wall headlines bulletin channel to complement the main CNN channel. Now, it seems they have ratings-chasing O'Reillyesque attack dogs who hound people not just to their graves, but beyond.

If the Naomi Robson episode in West Papua is high farce, the Nancy Grace interview with Melinda Duckett, aired deliberately and unapologetically after Duckett's suicide, is an outrage.

Unfortunately, John Howard was not in the House when Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage and Water, Anthony Albanese, gave the following solution for reducing greenhouse emissions, speaking in Federal Parliament on Wednesday:

September 16, 1956: Channel Nine begins transmission with station manager Bruce Gyngell (long before his pretty in pink days) uttering that profound line:

Hello, and welcome to television.

Two years ago, I opened my personal recollection of the events in the US on September 11, 2001 with a quote from New York Times columnist Nicholas D.Kristof. Let me repeat it, for it still rings true:

But as we commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, let’s remember that almost as many people are still dying in Darfur every week as died in the World Trade Center attack.
- Nicholas D.Kristof, New York Times, 11 September 2004

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV 1918-2006

One of 29 remaining monarchs in the world today, the King of Tonga died yesterday. An old Newingtonian and a Sydney Uni law graduate, Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Tupoulahi had been King since 1965, succeeding his mother, Queen Salote, who been Queen since 1918.

Tupou weighed in at times at over 200 kilograms.

Crown Prince Sia'osi Taufa'ahau Manumata'ogo Tuku'aho Tupou, a 58 year-old confirmed bachelor, is now King Taufa'ahau Tupou V.