Heavy snowstorm pounds Germany, upends travel

Berlin: A snowstorm and strong winds pounded northern and western Germany on Sunday, forcing trains to cancel trips and leading to hundreds of road accidents. Police said 28 persons were injured on icy roads. Authorities brought homeless people into warm shelters amid the sub-zero temperatures. National train operator Deutsche Bahn said main train routes between Hamburg and Hannover, Berlin and the west were canceled as snowdrifts piled up on the tracks and power lines. Police said they had counted 222 accidents due to the bad weather conditions since Saturday. PTI

K2 climbers feared dead in Pak, rescue ops suspended

Islamabad: Pakistan Army helicopters on Sunday suspended the search and rescue operations after failing to trace three climbers, including renowned mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who went missing two days ago on K2. Sadpara and two other climbers, John Snorri from Iceland and Juan Pablo from Chile, went missing on Friday night. Two army helicopters flew for the second day to their maximum limit of 7,800 metres for an hour to locate the missing climbers but without any success. Sadpara’s son Sajid, who returned from K2 when his oxygen kit malfunctioned, said the chances of surviving after remaining missing for three days were “very low”. PTI

Pope appoints more women to Vatican posts

Vatican City: Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See. He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares meetings of world bishops held every few years. The previous day, Francis named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Court of Appeals. Reuters