When Albertina Gwenhure left Zimbabwe to study in Australia, she dreamed of the opportunities that would change her family's fortunes.
 
"Life in Zimbabwe was very hard," she says. "But my parents sacrificed to sell most of the assets they owned so they could send me here to study in the hope that after I finish my studies I will get residency."
 
But two years later, those dreams are in tatters after a Federal Government decision in February to change immigration laws left Albertina, and hundreds of other students like her, out in the cold.
 

 Melbourne - Wesa Chau, a leading advocate for international students and a member of an innovative media mentoring project, has been named Young Victorian of the Year.
 
Ms Chau, 27, founded the Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS) in 2002 after emigrating to Australia from China as a child.  She received her award on Thursday at a ceremony to mark Victoria Day held at Melbourne Town Hall.
 

By Sherinald Shwe
 

Lwe Moo San Tay, Sheri Shwe and Myo Toke are returning to the Thai-Burma border to help their people.
Picture: DAVID SMITH, Leader Community Newspapers
 
MYO Toke was just four when he and his family were forced to flee from their Karen village in north-east Burma when it was burned down by soldiers.

“At the time I wasn’t scared. I didn’t know the danger we were in when our village was attacked because I was running with my family and I felt very safe,” says Myo, now 19.

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 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.

By Frank Lin*

 Melbourne - A new satellite TV installation at the Atherton Gardens Public Housing Estate in Melbourne means many migrant residents now enjoy television in their mother tongue.

 Melbourne - Members of the public can record personal messages to those affected by the bushfires in a condolence book available in the foyer of the State Library in Swanston Street.