22 dead in snow in Pakistan People stand next to cars stuck under fallen trees on a snowy road in Murree, northeast of Islamabad, Pakistan, in this still image taken from a video on Saturday. At least 22 tourists died overnight in their vehicles in frigid temperatures in Murree in northern Pakistan, officials said on Saturday. Thousands of people had flocked to the area to enjoy the heavy snow. Xinhua 19 people killed in New York City major fire At least 19 people, including nine children, lost their lives in a major fire in a Bronx apartment in New York City on Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams confirmed. “We’ve lost 19 of our neighbors today. It’s a tragedy beyond measure. Join me in praying for those we lost, especially the nine innocent young lives that were cut short,” Adams tweeted. “This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the city of New York, and the impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of just pain and despair in our city,” he told reporters. “This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed during modern times.” Thirty-two people were sent to the hospital in life-threatening conditions. Nine people were also seriously injured, and 22 others sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Swedish Crown Princess tests positive again Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has tested positive for COVID-19, the Royal Court said on Saturday, only days after King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia also tested positive. “The Crown Princess, who is fully vaccinated, has cold symptoms but is otherwise well. Infection tracing has been initiated,” the court said in a press release. The Crown Princess and her family are in isolation in their home. It was the second time that Crown Princess Victoria tested positive. Last March, she and her husband Prince Daniel tested positive. The Royal Court said that after positive test results, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Victoria had mild symptoms. Kazakhstan eyes post-riot restoration Kazakhstan will pay special attention to normalizing life across the country as chaos caused by days of violent protests is easing. At a government meeting on Saturday, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged the restoration of administrative and public facilities in the largest city of Almaty and other regions hit by the terrorist attacks. The president asked the prosecutor general, chairman of the National Security Committee, and acting ministers of internal affairs and defense to continue efforts to pacify the perpetrators. The Collective Security Treaty Organization peacekeepers working in the capital city of Nur-Sultan have allowed part of Kazakhstan’s law enforcement officers to redeploy to Almaty for the “counter-terrorist operation” there. Seven killed in rockslide in Brazil At least seven people have died and nine others were seriously injured when a wall of rock collapsed on top of motorboats below a waterfall in southeastern Brazil on Saturday, the fire department said. The tower of rock broke away without warning from the canyon wall and crashed into Furnas Lake near Capitolio in Minas Gerais state. Videos posted on social media showed tourists shouting as the column of rock smashed into the water. At least one wrecked boat sank, while others sped away. New COVID variant with 46 mutations detected Experts are keeping a wary eye on yet another COVID-19 variant, this one with 46 mutations. It was detected in France and showed up in a traveler who recently arrived from a three-day stay in Cameroon, French researchers said in a pre-print study published on medRxiv, which means it has not yet been peer-reviewed. While researchers were monitoring the strain to ascertain how infectious it is or whether it poses a danger, experts emphasized that its discovery alone was not cause for alarm. Moreover, it was noted even before Omicron took over the world stage and “has been on our radar,” WHO incident manager on COVID Abdi Mahamud said at a press briefing in Geneva, according to Bloomberg. (SD-Agencies) | 