Pak flood toll over 350:

PASNI: A second dam burst in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, pushing the nationwide toll from a week of torrential rain, floods and avalanches past 350. Officials said 1,000 to 1,500 people were missing in coastal villages in Baluchistan, while casualties rose sharply in northwestern frontier and Kashmir. — AP

Bat-borne virus kills 12:

DHAKA: The incurable and potentially fatal Nipah virus transmitted by fruitbats has killed 12 people and infected 32 in rural Bangladesh. Symptoms are similar to those of influenza with fever and muscle pain. In some cases, brain inflammation leads to disorientation or coma. The outbreak struck Tangail district, north of Dhaka on January 10 as 12 people developed fever and fainted after drinking palm fruit’s juice. — HNS

53 hospitalised with burns:

BEIJING: Some 53 people were hospitalised in the Chinese capital after suffering burns while bursting firecrackers during the Lunar New Year. Ninety-nine fires were reported in the city. People openly challenged the 12-year ban and the 130,000 policemen and volunteers who paraded the streets since New Year Eve on Tuesday. Cracker bursts were constantly heard though posters reading “firecrackers forbidden” were pasted on nearly every street corner. — HNS

Wishing tree injures two:

HONG KONG: Overburdened with scores of goodluck oranges during Chinese Lunar Year, Hong Kong’s famous wishing tree broke its main branch injuring a 62-year-old man and a four-year-old boy, Xinhua reports. The tree, Taipo, believed to make desires come true if a wish written on a red-gold paper attached to an orange is thrown onto its branches, snapped its branch on Saturday during the New Year fiesta. — HNS

22 hurt in Kashmir attack:

SRINAGAR: Twenty-two people were injured, including an Indian soldier, when suspected Muslim rebels on Sunday hurled a hand grenade at an army patrol in Indian Kashmir, police said. The attack occurred in Shopian, 50 km south of Srinagar. — AFP

Elephant kills mahout :

KAZIRANGA: A mahout was trampled to death by an elephant at a national park in Assam, dampening the spirit of the sanctuary’s centenary celebrations. A wildlife warden said a female elephant went berserk at Kaziranga National Park on Saturday and trampled its keeper Gathia Munda, 35. — HNS

No trace of 22 missing:

DHAKA: Police on Sunday found a boat which capsized in a fast-flowing Bangladesh river but said there was no sign of 22 people missing after the accident. The boat collided with a ferry on Saturday and capsized in the Rupsha river near the southwestern city of Khulna. Eleven people managed to swim ashore. Divers found the boat in the river but no bodies of passengers . — AFP