Tim Dobson

On April 19, the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) moved ground troops into what it had declared a “no-fire zone” in the north of the island, into which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians remain crowded.
Business doesn’t want to rip off young workers. We have deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s word for it.
Young Tamil activists Sutha Thanbalasingam, Mathivannan Sinnathurai and Pratheepan Rajathurai were prepared to starve to death in the face of Australian government inaction over Sri Lanka’s genocidal war against the Tamil people. They began a hunger strike on April 11 in Parramatta, Sydney.
Massive protests in London, Toronto, Canberra and elsewhere around the world have demanded the Sri Lankan government agree to an immediate ceasefire and open negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
On the March 16, an Australian soldier, Corporal Matthew Hopkins, died after a fierce battle with Afghan anti-occupation fighters in the Baluchi Valley.
Eighteen-year-old Cheyene Back was sentenced on February 2 to three months jail, despite having no prior convictions.
Ongoing mass demonstrations in response to a severe economic crisis has led to the collapse of the Icelandic government. Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned on January 23 along with the whole government cabinet.
“Poor Human Nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! Every fool, from King to policeman, from the flathead parson to the visionless dabbler in science, presumes to speak authoritatively of human nature. The greater the mental charlatan the more definite his insistence on the wickedness and the weaknesses of human nature. Yet how can anyone speak of it today, with every soul in a prison with every heart fettered, wounded, and maimed?” — Emma Goldman
On November 16 the Iraqi cabinet agreed to a final draft of a “security agreement” that would replace the current United Nations mandate — which has authorised the occupation since 2003 but that is scheduled to expire on December 31.
On October 23, an estimated 30,000 university students took over Rome’s streets. Marching to the chant of “Berlusconi is a piece of shit”, students passed the train station, receiving cheers from young Kurdish immigrants.
Two-and-a-half million people marched through the streets of Rome on October 25 in opposition to the policies and corruption of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
A new documentary, A Well-Founded Fear, to be broadcast on SBS on November 19, documents the deaths of nine Afghan refugees who were returned to Afghanistan after having their asylum applications rejected.