Wesa Chau
 
Melbourne - It’s a tragedy that international students are being killed on our streets – but it will become a scandal if Governments don’t act swiftly to protect them and the $15 billion industry they sustain.
 
Thursday’s high-profile police operation in Melbourne’s western suburbs is a good start and should be maintained. 
It shows authorities can act on the ground to protect the community against thugs like those who killed graduating Indian international student Nitin Garg.  This kind of active policing is to be applauded and encouraged.  However, it cannot end there.
 

By Fatima Dennaoui
 
Melbourne is a city of festivals, with regular celebrations of art and culture taking place throughout the year.
 
February marks the Lunar New Year with partying in Chinatown, while March has both Moomba, and the Greek Australian community’s Antipodes Festival.
 
In the western suburb of Newport, a twice-yearly Eid festival is a big celebration for local Muslim and non-Muslim residents.
 
This audio report from Fatima Dennaoui.

By Laura Borghouts

 Melbourne - The screening of the Movie “Balibo” has resurrected painful memories of the events of October 1975 when five Australian journalists were killed during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.

Balibo is a small village in the Bonabaro region of East Timor, just 10 kilometers from the Indonesian border. It was there that the five newsmen and technicians from Channel 7 and Channel 9 TV networks planned to capture footage of Indonesian troops setting foot in the former Portuguese territory.

By Setyo Budi

MELBOURNE -- Non-Government Organisations in East Timor are awaiting a reply from donor countries to their appeal for aid to allow the Dili government to push ahead with development plans to tackle the long-term causes of poverty and conflict in that country, according to reports reaching here.

By Frud Bezhan

 Melbourne - For the women of Afghanistan, it is yet another brutal message — that death awaits those who choose a public life.

By Brooke from A.R.A.B.

 MELBOURNE - A.R.A.B is one of the best families you could find. I’m 16 and I became part of this amazing family four years ago when I was in Year Seven.

By Jennifer Henderson

 MELBOURNE - Australians tourists to Bali who show too much skin could be targets of new laws passed in an Anti-Pornography bill. The bill, which was originally drafted in 1999, contains definitions of pornography and restrictions on clothing and behaviour.

Hardline Islamic parties such as KAMMI and The Justice Party have pressured the government to pass the bill. A day before the law was passed hundreds of Muslim Indonesians rallied for its support in Jakarta. They claimed that the bill was vital to protect women and children from sexual attacks.

By Lisa Williams
 Melbourne - Chocolate lovers are being urged to write to manufacturers to ensure there is no dark side to their favourite sweet.