By Farooq Tariq, December 4, 2009
The Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) condemns US President Barack Obama's Afghanistan policy and demands that all NATO forces immediately withdraw from Afghanistan and stop drone attacks on Pakistan. The Labour Party Pakistan has decided to protest against this new escalation of the war effort in the region. The first protest took place on December 4 in front of US consulate in Lahore. There will be more demonstrations in different parts of Pakistan.

In Sydney on December 1, the Leichardt and Marrickville Councils along with leaders of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation raised the Morning Star Flag, marking the 47th National Flag Day.

According to Papuan leader John Ondawame, the events showed "their firm support for the aspiration of independence of the people of West Papua".

According to news reports, hundreds of West Papuan protesters raised the Morning Star flag in a number of cities across West Papua on December 1. Dozens of protesters were arrested and 13 continued to be detained.

Papuan protesters also held a rally in Jakarta, demanding independence for West Papua.

Professor Brij Lal is a Fijian historian and is part of the Division of Pacific and Asian History at the Australian National University. He was recently expelled from Fiji by the military government for speaking out against the regime’s expulsion of Australian diplomats on November 3.

He spoke to Green Left Weekly’s Aaron Roden about the character and contradictions of Fiji’s military dictatorship, led by coup leader Frank Bainimarama.

Kerryn Williams, Green Left Weekly

Twenty-five years after the worst industrial disaster in history, the people of Bhopal, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, are still fighting for justice.

On December 3, 1984, a leak at Union Carbide's Bhopal factory sent a barrage of toxic gases through the city. The streets were flooded with people desperately trying to flee the clouds of poison, choking, convulsing, vomiting and writhing in pain.

Medical workers cover the bodies of massacre victims, November 25, 2009.

By Sonny Melencio, Partido Lakas ng Masa

November 25, 2009 -- The Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) condemns in the strongest possible terms the massacre in Maguindanao. We assert that this is not only a problem confined to Mindanao, but that it’s a symptom of a festering and rotten political system. We predict that this violence will be the feature of the coming elections, as the political elite struggle with increasing desperation and ferocity for a share of the ever-dwindling national wealth and power.

Statement by the Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM), November 27

GST – Goods and Services Tax if implemented will not be a problem at all for the 6% richest in the country, but it is certainly too much for the 70% poor and the rest!

Statement by the Australia West Papua Association, 29 November 2009

As West Papuan national flag day approaches (1st December), the Indonesian security forces are ready to clamp down on anybody who attempts to raise the Morning Star flag in West Papua.

It was reported in Tempo Interactive that the Indonesian Armed Forces would intensify patrols near the border with Papua New Guinea before 1st December in areas where the OPM are believed to operate.

A new film by Dominic Brown, filmed undercover in West Papua.
According to the film's website, Forgotten Bird of Paradise "provides a rare and moving insight into the long forgotten struggle for freedom of the West Papuan people".

For more information visit www.forgottenbirdofparadise.net.