■ Pakistan
Telco workers may strike
Pakistan army and paramilitary troops were Sunday guarding the sensitive telephone facilities across the country after workers threatened a nationwide strike next week against the proposed partial privatization of the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Limited Company (PTCL). "Security has been beefed up on 150 telephone exchanges and other related sensitive installations across the country," police officials said. Army and paramilitary troops were moved to safeguard telephone facilities after days of talks between the government and representatives of the workers collapsed on Saturday. The government has announced June 18 as the new date for the sale of 26 per cent of PTCL after the open bidding scheduled for last June 10 was postponed.
■ India
Advani irrelevent: survey
A majority of India's youth believe the controversy over veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani's remarks on the founder of Pakistan is not relevant today, a newspaper survey showed yesterday. On a visit to Pakistan this month, the man credited with building up the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) praised the late Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a man the Hindu right -- committed to one day reuniting India and Pakistan -- blames for the 1947 partitioning of the subcontinent. Advani's comments infuriated many hardline Hindu allies, particularly the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), regarded as the BJP's ideological parent. The Hindustan Times survey of 921 people between 18 and 25 showed the Jinnah debate rated a low 3.5 on a relevance scale of 10 while 54 percent thought India's politicians were stuck in the past.
■ Australia
Peace activists arrested
Police yesterday arrested 10 peace activists who tried to disrupt a joint military exercise at Shoalwater base involving more than 17,000 Australian and US troops. Police said six demonstrators were arrested after they scaled a fence at the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Queensland state carrying fake coffins bearing the names of Iraq war dead. "The six protesters gained entry to the grounds and refused to leave despite being asked a number of times," police said. Another four were arrested for delaying tanks and armored personnel carriers from entering the base; all 10 were released on bail. Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition spokeswoman Hannah Middleton said, "More than 70 percent of Australians bitterly opposed our involvement in the Iraq war yet the government continues to risk the lives of our young people in a war that is illegal and immoral."
■ South Korea
Fugitive tycoon to return
The fugitive former chairman of South Korea's collapsed Daewoo Group conglomerate is expected to return home on Tuesday after fleeing about six years ago. Kim Woo-choong is likely to face arrest upon arrival at Incheon International Airport near Seoul. Daewoo, once South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, collapsed in the aftermath of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Kim had been spotted in Vietnam in April. Kim, one of South Korea's most wanted fugitives, is accused of having falsified Daewoo's accounts to draw billions of dollars in illegal bank loans. Police believe he has been traveling in Europe since fleeing South Korea, and say he also has French citizenship.
■ Japan
Heat fells 22 runners
Twenty-two runners taking part in a road race in Tokyo yesterday were taken to the hospital after they collapsed in the heat and humidity of the hottest day in the city so far this year. Five of them were in serious condition but released from hospital within the day. Temperatures hit 29.8?C (85.6?F) in central Tokyo, the highest so far this year, with humidity of 55 percent. Some 6,000 people were taking part in the popular annual race, which covers 10km in central Tokyo.
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