The World - News from Nov. 9, 1987

More than 213,000 people linked hands in a human chain organized to urge more Japanese government spending on social welfare and to raise funds for humanitarian projects, police said. The human chain nearly encircled Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, at Otsu, 240 miles west of Tokyo. The appeal was for more government spending on care for the elderly and the handicapped, unemployment benefits, pensions and other social welfare programs, a police official reported. The participants covered roughly 108 miles of the lake’s 141-mile perimeter, he said, adding that each participant donated 1,000 yen ($7.40) to various projects.