ISLAMABAD - NUCLEAR-ARMED Pakistan put its forces on high alert after a hoax caller pretending to be India's foreign minister spoke to President Asif Ali Zardari in a threatening manner on Nov 28, two days after the militant attacks on Mumbai began, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

'It's true,' a diplomat with knowledge of the exchanges told Reuters when asked whether the newspaper report was correct.

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S main opposition party said on Saturday it could form a government with members of the ruling coalition that collapsed this week, freezing out allies of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The surprise development comes just days after a court stripped Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of his position and disbanded the pro-Thaksin People Power Party in a vote fraud case, following months of anti-government protests.

A REPORT card on the performance of town councils will be drawn up next year and one possible new indicator is the adequacy of town councils' (TC) resident sinking funds, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu.

The Ministry of National Development will also monitor estate maintenance, cleanliness as well as lift performance and use these factors to grade and benchmark the TCs' performance so that residents can have a better idea of the performance of their TCs.

MINA (Saudi Arabia) - SAUDI Arabia has mobilised a force of 100,000 men to protect an estimated two million Muslim pilgrims starting the annual hajj on Saturday, amid fears of attack or deadly stampedes.

The interior ministry said that in addition to many thousands of Saudis, an estimated 1.7 million of the faithful have descended on the kingdom from abroad to perform the annual rites.