MONTH THAT WAS

Suicide attack on volleyball watchers kills 60 in Pakistan
In a bloody start to the new year, Pakistan witnessed a major terror attack when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of a volleyball ground in the country’s northwest killing 60 people and injuring over 100 others.
In a separate attack, a tribal elder associated with an anti-Taliban militia and five others were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in was targeted with a roadside bomb in the restive Bajaur region.
The suicide attack occurred at Shah Hasankhel village, located 25 km from Lakki Marawat in the southern part of the north west frontier province.
A large crowd was watching a volleyball game between two local teams when the bomber struck the playground’s wall with his vehicle.
Thirty-two bodies were lying at the site of the blast while 15 bodies were taken to a nearby hospital, officials were quoted as saying by Geo news channel.
The officials said over 100 people were injured.
Mushtaq Marwat, a member of a pro-government ‘peace committee’ that cooperated with security forces to drive militants out of the area, said the blast destroyed 10 houses and several shops.
A mosque where members of the peace committee were meeting was damaged, he said.
The peace committee had received several threats from militants after they were driven out of Shah Hasankhel about three months ago, Marwat said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but police officials said they suspected the Taliban were behind the assault as local residents had cooperated with security forces in the operation against militants.

Husbands Beware
In France, yelling at your wife may land you in jail
COUPLES could be arrested and charged for insulting each other under a French law banning ‘psychological violence.
The proposed legislation would punish partners who ‘overstep the mark’ during verbal spats in the home. The law would apply to husbands and wives, as well as cohabiting couples. It is expected to cover every kind of slur from repeated rude remarks about a partner’s appearance, false allegations of identity and threats of physical violence.
Police are being urged to issue a caution in the first instance of crime, but repeat offenders could face a fine, electronic tagging or jail.
The law, being put forward by the Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, is aimed at protecting women who are the main victims of abuse in the home.
But men would also have the right to report their wives for verbal abuse. Fillon said: "It’s an important move forward as the creation of this offence will let us tackle the most insidious situation, the ones that leave no physical scars but which still injure the victims inside."

Iran bans contact with 60 groups
Iran has banned its citizens from having contact with 60 organisations, including the BBC, Human Rights Watch and opposition website Rahesabz as well as US broadcasters.
The deputy intelligence minister in charge of external affairs said that the 60 black listed groups were suspected of being involved in efforts by Western governments to topple the Islamic regime as part of a ‘soft war’.
"Any kind of contact by individuals or legal entities with those groups involved in the soft war is illegal and prohibited," state media quoted a minister as saying without giving his name.

Beware of spitting in China & smoking in Dubai
CHINESE residents in council housing estates in the southern city of Guangzhou could be evicted if they are caught spitting in public or littering, under new plans.
According to the scheme, residents will be fined penalty points for a wide range of misdemeanours. Spitting in public carries a three-point penalty, while littering the estate gets five.
Dropping items from the higher floors of the apartment buildings will be punished with a seven-point penalty. Noise pollution and gambling are also banned and anyone who racks up 20 points will be asked to leave the estate.
Public spitting is common across China, and the authorities in Beijing felt the need to issue special instructions against it ahead of the Olympics in 2008.
However, an editorial in the New Express Daily, a local newspaper, said that the government had a duty to provide housing to poorer people and that no one should be booted but simply because of his habits. The newspaper suggested that tenants were being discriminated against because they were poor.
In a similar instance, Dubai issued a new anti-tobacco law in which the violators may be sentenced to two years imprisonment and be fined up to a million dirhams ($2,72,250).
The federal law that was issued by President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan restricts the sale and promotion of tobacco products in the country and bans coffee shops that sell tobacco products from doing business in residential areas.
The law, issued to meet the UAE’s obligations under the World Health Organisation’s frame work convention, bans the import of tobacco and its products unless the country’s condition and standard specifications are met, including clear warning statements and pictures on the packages.
The country joined World Trade Organisation convention in 2005.