As the world focuses its attention on the crack down of protestors in Tibet and China, similar actions are taking place much closer to home. The Australia West Papua Association say that 11 men have been jailed for carrying the national flag, the Morning Star, during a protest on March 13. Since the Indonesian government took control of West Papua in 1969 under the so-called “Act of Free Choice”, any calls for independence have been brutally oppressed. Today in Canberra the Association and their supporters are gathering at the Indonesian Embassy- calling for a referendum for West Papua and an end to the Indonesian military occupation. Featured in story: Herman Wainggai, West Papuan refugee and Dr Meredith Burgmann, patron of the West Papua Project at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Sydney University.

Registered nurses in Queensland’s remote Torres Strait Island communities are threatening to leave their posts by Friday and operate a fly in and out service only, if security and health concerns are not addressed. This comes after a nurse on the Torres Strait Island of Mabuaig was allegedly raped. The Queensland Nurse’s Union is demanding that basic security needs, such as locks on doors and window’s are met. Meanwhile the community of Mabuaig have gone one month without a registered nurse. If the planned industrial action goes ahead, the whole of the Torres Strait Island community will face the same problem. Featured in story : Beth Mohle, Assistant Secretary of the Queensland Nurses’ Union; Terrance Whap, Mabuaig Community Council member and Mark Bousen, Editor of Torres News

Yesterday protestors disrupted the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece. Angered by ongoing human rights abuses by the Chinese government in Tibet, they're calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic games. International Committee President Jaques Rogge, insists the boycott will not happen. The Dalai lama has himself, advised against it. Featured in story: Paul Bourke, Executive Director of the Australia Tibet Council.

The weekend’s election saw the Koumintang or KMT return to power in Taiwan after 8 years in the wilderness of Opposition. Their candidate Ma Ying-Jeou defeated Frank Hsieh from the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by a healthy margin of nearly 17 percentage points. Like the ALP, the Koumintang is now firmly back in power at all levels of government after crushing the DPP in January’s elections and gaining a stranglehold in the Parliament. Featured in story: Dr. Lo Chih-cheng, executive member of Taiwan Thinktank and chair of the Political Science Department at Soochow University and Bruce Jacobs, specialist in Taiwanese politics from Monash University

With both sides of politics pledging to “close the gap” between indigenous and non-indigenous life expectancy by 2030, strategies to bring this about are starting to take shape. Aboriginal families carry a burden of disease four times greater than the non-indigenous population. Children, the most vulnerable, are often the hardest hit. Now the Rudd Government is proposing a revolutionary new approach based on an American “home visit” plan. Featured in story: Professor Graeme Vimpani Head of Paediatrics at Newcastle University and Rosemary Bryant President of the Royal College of Nursing