Heavy rains claim 12

LUCKNOW: Heavy monsoon rains collapsed houses, uprooted trees, and downed electricity poles in northern India, killing at least 12 people, police said on Saturday. Another 23 people were injured and hospitalised in Uttar Pradesh state on Friday as authorities asked residents to vacate dilapidated homes in the worst-hit districts. — AP

Sedition charge

SINGAPORE: A teenage Singaporean blogger was charged with sedition for allegedly posting racist remarks on the Internet - the third person in a week arrested for such an crime in the city-state. The 17-year-old was charged on Friday on seven counts of violating Singapore’s Sedition Act, Straits Times reported. — AP

Narrow escape

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military was investigating a news report on Saturday that a nuclear submarine from rival China surfaced and nearly collided with a patrol of navy vessels off a Taiwanese-held island. The Chinese attack sub suddenly surfaced and appeared to be heading for five Taiwanese ships near Kinmen island on July 25, according to Saturday’s edition of the Apple Daily. — AP

100 fishermen injured

DHAKA: Pirates attacked fishermen with knives on about 80 boats and threw the crews overboard injuring more than 100 people in southern Bangladesh over the past two days, a report said on Saturday. Two were missing. The fishing vessels were attacked in the Meghna River, 104 km south of the capital, Dhaka. — AP