Czech Republic is observing a national day of mourning on Saturday after the worst peacetime shooting in the history of the country left 14 dead and dozens wounded at Charles University in Prague.

Among the victims were number of young students, a beloved lecturer and a respected department head.

The government ordered flags to be flown at half-staff and said a minute of silence was held at noon nationwide.

Bells across the country will toll for the victims of the attack, according to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

The central European nation of 10 million was left in shock and horror after a gunman opened fire at the university’s School of Arts on Thursday, on what was meant to be the penultimate day of lectures before the Christmas holiday.

In total, 14 victims were killed: 13 were found dead at the scene, described by several long-time police officials as the most horrific site they’ve seen. Another victim died after being taken to hospital. The shooter killed himself.

As Czechs continue to struggle with the scale of the tragedy — mass shootings are rare, though not unheard of in the country — stories of those murdered in the attack are coming to light.

The Department of Musicology at the school announced Friday that its director Lenka Hlávková was one of the victims of the shooting.

Hlávková was a renowned expert in the musical culture of medieval central Europe and the department said in a statement her death was “extremely cruel” news.

A post on the official Facebook page of the university’s Department of Germanic Studies said that one of its lecturers, Jan Dlask, was also killed in the attack.

The statement described Dlask as “a friend, classmate and a wonderful and kind person, an expert in Finnish and Fenno-Swedish literature.”

Lidové Noviny, a Czech national daily newspaper, said in a statement that one of its employees, a proofreader and a first year student of Czech language and deaf studies Lucie Špindlerová was killed in the attack.

A photograph of Špindlerová published by the newspaper shows a young, smiling woman posing in large hat and smelling blooming flowers.

The newspaper said Špindlerová was “a colleague and, most importantly, a friend” and that her death was “extremely painful news.”

Magdaléna Křístková, another student of languages and deaf studies, was also killed, according to a statement issued by the authorities in her hometown of Roztoky.

The statement said she was an active member of the community, taking part in a municipal events and a camping club for children.

“Joyful, kind, incredibly talented and creative, Majda is no longer with us and we will miss her tremendously,” the statement said, referring to Křístková by her pet name.

The Czech Athletic Federation announced that 20-year old shot putter Klára Holcová was also among those murdered in the attack.

The federation described Holcová as a “promising” young athlete who won nine medals at various Czech championships and represented Czech Republic at international track and field meetings.

Holcová studied Czech studies and archival sciences at the university, the federation said, adding that the news of her death was “soul crushing.” A photograph attached to the statement showed Holcová in Czech national kit, competing at an event.

The Volunteer Fire Brigade in Velichovky, a village in northern Bohemia, said one of its members, Aneta Richterová, was also killed in the attack.

A statement on the brigade’s Facebook page described Richterová as “beloved daughter and sister, smiling and always sincere friend.”

As the Czech Police began investigating the attack, it emerged the shooter was most likely responsible for three more murders before embarking on his deadly rampage in Prague.

A body of a man, identified later as the shooter’s father, was found at the family’s home in Hostouň shortly after the police received the first tips about the shooter.

Later on Thursday, the police also linked the killer to a double murder  of a man and his two-month old baby in a Prague suburb last week. On Friday, the police said the weapon used in that attack was found in the shooter’s home.

Alex Batty, a British boy who was found in France after going missing for six years, says it feels “surreal” to be back with his grandmother in the United Kingdom.

In an interview with The Sun newspaper published Thursday, Batty – who is now 17 – said: “Every time I go to sleep, I feel like I’m gonna be waking up back in France. It’s not really kicked in yet that I am back in England.”

The teenager spoke of the six years he spent living in Spain and France after he was taken on holiday by his mother and grandfather in 2017 and didn’t return.

He said that for the first few years away from home, it was like a “vacation,” as he spent most of his time “reading, drawing, (and) going to the beach.”

After he turned 14, however, Batty said that he “started needing to pick up (his) own slack” to pay for food and rent by working in construction, demolition and decoration. He said around this time, he began to start thinking about leaving for England.

“I started weighing up the pros and the cons from each lifestyle and, after a couple of months of contemplation, I realised England was definitely the way forward,” he said. “From the past few years, I could envision my future few years and it just wasn’t the way forward (that) was best for my future.”

Batty said he had a “non-existent social life” while living with his mother and grandfather, saying he only made one friend during the six years abroad.

The teenager said when he decided to leave France to try to reach England, he wrote a note for his mother. “(I) told her how much I loved her, how much I appreciated what she had done for me. I didn’t want her to worry about me,” he said.

He took a warm jacket, his skateboard, and some money for food, and left in the “pitch black” night, where it was “raining quite a lot.” He said he traveled at night, sleeping as little as he could, and in well-lit areas for his safety.

Now back in England, Batty said he is “very happy” and “healthy.” He said he still loves his mother and grandfather and doesn’t want them to worry about him.

“Sorry for leaving but it was necessary for my future,” he said, addressing them in a video posted to The Sun’s website.

“I can take care of myself so you don’t have to worry about any of that,” he added.

Science is revolutionizing our understanding of the past.

Paleogenetics teases out astonishing secrets from DNA hidden in bones and dirt. Artificial intelligence decodes ancient texts written in forgotten scripts. Chemical analysis of molecular residues left on teeth, cooking pots, incense burners and building materials reveals details about past diets, smells and construction techniques.

Here are six mysteries about human history that scientists have cracked in 2023. Plus, one that still has researchers scratching their heads.

The true identity of a prehistoric leader

Buried with a spectacular crystal dagger and other precious artifacts, the 5,000-year-old skeleton discovered in 2008 in a tomb near Seville, Spain, was clearly once someone important.

The individual was initially thought to be a young man, based on analysis of the pelvis bone, the traditional way scientists determine the sex of human skeletal remains.

However, an analysis of tooth enamel, which contains a type of protein with a sex-specific peptide called amelogenin, determined that the remains were female rather than male.

In other studies, the technique has also dispelled the cliché of “man the hunter” that has informed much thinking about early humans.

The ingredient behind Roman concrete’s legendary strength

Roman concrete has proven to be longer-lasting than its modern equivalent, which can deteriorate within decades. Take, for example, the Pantheon in Rome, which has the world’s largest unreinforced dome.

Scientists behind a study published in January said they had discovered the mystery ingredient that allowed the Romans to make their construction material so durable and to build elaborate structures in challenging places such as docks, sewers and earthquake zones.

The study team analyzed 2,000-year-old concrete samples that were taken from a city wall at the archaeological site of Privernum in central Italy and are similar in composition to other concrete found throughout the Roman Empire.

They found that white chunks in the concrete, referred to as lime clasts, gave the concrete the ability to heal cracks that formed over time. The white chunks previously had been overlooked as evidence of sloppy mixing or poor-quality raw material.

The actual appearance of Ötzi the Iceman

Hikers found the mummified body of Ötzi in a gully high in the Italian Alps in 1991. His frozen remains are perhaps the world’s most closely studied archaeological find, revealing in unprecedented detail what life was like 5,300 years ago.

His stomach contents have yielded information on what his last meal was and where he came from, while his weapons showed he was right-handed, and his clothes provided a rare look at what ancient people actually wore.

But a new analysis of DNA extracted from Ötzi’s pelvis revealed in August that his physical appearance wasn’t what scientists first thought.

The study of his genetic makeup showed that Ötzi the Iceman had dark skin and dark eyes — and was likely bald. This revised appearance stands in stark contrast to the well-known reconstruction of Ötzi that depicts a pale-skinned man with a full head of hair and a beard.

The wearer of 20,000-year-old pendant revealed

Archaeologists frequently unearth bone tools and other artifacts from ancient sites, but it’s been impossible to know for sure who once used or wore them.

Earlier this year, scientists recovered ancient human DNA from a pendant made from deer bone found in Denisova Cave in Siberia. With that clue, they were able to reveal that its wearer was a woman who lived between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago.

She belonged to a group known as Ancient North Eurasians, which have a genetic connection to the first Americans.

Human DNA was likely preserved in the deer bone pendant because it is porous and therefore more likely to retain genetic material present in skin cells, sweat and other body fluids.

It’s not known why the deer tooth pendant contained such a large amount of the ancient woman’s DNA (about the same amount as a human tooth). Perhaps it was well-loved and worn close to the skin for an exceptionally long period, said Elena Essel, a molecular biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who developed a new technique to extract the DNA.

The ancient, damaged scroll decoded by AI

Some 1,100 scrolls were burned to a crisp during the famous eruption of Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. In the 1700s, some enterprising diggers recovered the huge cache from volcanic mud.

The collection, known as the Herculaneum scrolls, is perhaps the largest known library from classical antiquity, but the contents of the fragile documents remained a mystery until a University of Nebraska computer science student won a scientific contest earlier this year.

With the help of artificial intelligence and imaging by computerized tomography, Luke Farritor was the first to decode a word written in ancient Greek on one of those blackened scrolls.

Farritor was awarded $40,000 for deciphering the word “πορφυρας” or “porphyras,” which is the Greek word for purple. Researchers are hopeful that it won’t be long until entire scrolls can be deciphered using the technique.

The materials necessary for making a mummy

From fragments of discarded pots in an embalming workshop, scientists have discovered some of the substances and concoctions ancient Egyptians used to mummify the dead.

By chemically analyzing organic residues left in the vessels, researchers determined that ancient Egyptians used a wide variety of substances to anoint the body after death, to reduce unpleasant smells and to protect it from fungi, bacteria and putrefaction. Materials identified include plant oils such as juniper, cypress and cedar, as well as resins from pistachio trees, animal fat and beeswax.

While scholars had previously learned the names of substances used to embalm the dead from Egyptian texts, they were — until recently — only able to guess at exactly what compounds and materials they referred to.

The ingredients used in the workshop were varied and sourced not just from Egypt, but much farther afield, suggesting the long-distance exchange of goods.

Beethoven: A family secret revealed — but one mystery endures

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died at the age of 56 in 1827 after a string of chronic health problems, including hearing loss, gastrointestinal issues and liver disease.

Beethoven wrote a letter to his brothers in 1802 asking that his doctor, Johann Adam Schmidt, investigate the nature of the composer’s illnesses once he died. The letter is known as the Heiligenstadt Testament.

Nearly 200 years after his death, scientists extracted DNA from preserved locks of hair in an attempt to honor this request.

The team was not able to come up with a definitive diagnosis, but Beethoven’s genetic data helped the researchers rule out potential causes of his ailment such as the autoimmune condition celiac disease, lactose intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome.

The genetic information also suggested an extramarital affair had taken place in the composer’s family.

Ashley Strickland and Taylor Nicioli contributed to this report.

Maalim Ayman, a senior leader of the Al-Shabaab militant group operating in Somalia and Kenya, was killed on December 17 by a joint military operation between the Somali and US forces, Somali Minister for Information Daud Aweis announced Friday.

“Ayman was accountable for planning multiple lethal terrorist attacks in Somalia and nearby countries,” Aweis said in a statement on social media.

Most notably, Ayman is responsible for a terrorist attack on US and Kenyan personnel at Kenya’s Manda Bay Airfield on January 5, 2020, US officials say.

Three Americans were killed, including one soldier and two civilian contractors. Two more US service members and one civilian contractor were wounded, according to a statement from the US Department of State.

The US government put out a bounty of up to $10 million for “information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of Maalim Ayman” in January of this year.

Al-Shabaab was designated by the US as a terrorist group in 2008 and by a UN Security Council committee in 2010.

Prague was in shock and mourning Friday after a gunman killed 14 people and injured 25 more at Charles University, the deadliest peacetime attack in the history of the Czech Republic.

The brutal incident on Thursday was also the first-ever school or college shooting in the Czech Republic, leaving the nation and its top officials stunned.

Prague, a festive winter wonderland just 24 hours before, felt somber and empty on Friday morning. A makeshift memorial of candles and flowers was set up at the university’s historical headquarters overnight, with people coming to pay their respects from early in the morning, despite heavy snow and rain.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the shooting “a senseless attack” and said “this Christmas will be unimaginably sad.”

“Like many of you, I am feeling a deep sorrow and disgust over this incomprehensible and brutal violence,” Fiala said. Czech President Petr Pavel said he felt “deep sadness and also helpless anger over the loss of so many young lives.”

Pope Francis, meanwhile, said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the shooting, according to a Vatican statement released Friday.

“His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his spiritual closeness to all affected by this tragedy,” the statement said.

In a press conference Friday, Prague police chief Petr Matějček also confirmed the gunman – a 24-year-old man who was a student at the university – died by suicide. Police have not yet named him.

“I went to the site of the attack and I was horrified and shaken. And I have been with the police for 40 years,” Matějček told journalists.

“When I saw the amount of ammunition, the weapons that he brought, what he was prepared for, I can only thank my officers for their quick action — they prevented many more deaths.”

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Czech Police Chief Martin Vondrášek also said that having been a police officer for 35 years, he had “never seen anything as horrifying” as the shooting at Charles University in Prague that left 14 people dead and 25 more injured.

He said 13 people were killed at the scene and one died after being taken to hospital.

Vondrášek said that the Czech police has begun regular and sustained training for active shooter situations following the 2011 terror attacks in Norway.

“That was the moment we realised this kind of thing can happen anywhere,” he said. “I can assure you that not a week passes without an active shooter training somewhere in the Czech Republic,” he said.

Vondrášek praised the prompt response from police and other emergency services, which he said likely saved many lives.

The country’s Interior Minister, Vít Rakušan, made an emotional plea with Czech citizens to seek mental health support and not to spread false information in the wake of the shooting.

“Please seek help. There are many resources. The Czech National Institute for Mental Health has many resources, including guides on what to do in crisis — and this is a crisis,” Rakušan told a news conference.

“There is no shame in asking for help. There is no shame in seeking professionals. Please, do not hesitate to do this,” he added.

Rakušan also asked the media and the public not to share information about the gunman and details of the shooting, saying that experience from abroad shows this could lead to copycat attacks.

“Do not give the perpetrator what he wanted. Do not give him the publicity, do not give anyone a chance to be inspired by this act,” he said.

Police in the Czech Republic say they have bolstered security across the country following the deadly incident.

“We have adopted nationwide precautionary measures in relation to schools and other soft targets,” police said in a statement on Friday, adding that there is no information about any specific threat.

The area around the building is popular with tourists and close to major attractions. It is just across the Vltava River from Prague Castle and five minute walk from the Old Town Square where Prague’s famous Christmas Markets were taking place. The historic Jewish Quarter is within a few hundred meters of the building.

Authorities are still investigating a motive in the rampage, which took place at the Faculty of Arts building of Charles University. Known in Czech as the Faculty of Philosophy, the school is one of the original colleges set up when the university was founded in 1348. Subjects including history, philosophy, art theory and languages are taught there.

Police said that as of midday on Friday, all 14 victims had been identified. The victims included a number of young students, a lecturer, and the head of a university department.

The Department of Musicology at the school announced that its director Lenka Hlávková was among the victims of the shooting. Hlávková was a renowned expert in the musical culture of medieval central Europe and the department said in a statement her death was “extremely cruel” news.

Lidové Noviny, a Czech national daily newspaper, said in a statement that one of its employees, a proofreader and a first year student of Czech and Deaf studies Lucie Špindlerová was killed in the attack.

A photograph of Špindlerová published by the newspaper shows a young, smiling woman posing in large hat and smelling blooming flowers.

The newspaper said Špindlerová was “a colleague and, most importantly, a friend” and that her death was “extremely painful news.”

Later on Friday, the Czech Athletic Federation announced that a 20-year-old shot-putter, Klára Holcová, was among those murdered in the attack.

The federation described Holcová as a “promising” young athlete who won nine medals at various Czech championships. She also represented the Czech Republic at international track and field meetings.

Holcová studied Czech studies and archival sciences at the university, the federation said.

A post on the official Facebook page of the university’s department of Germanic studies said that one of its lecturers, Jan Dlask, was also killed.

The statement described Dlask as “a friend, classmate and a wonderful and kind person, an expert in Finnish and Fenno-Swedish literature.”

Another victim was Magdaléna Křístková, known as Majda, according to a statement issued by the authorities in her hometown of Roztoky. She was also a student of languages and deaf studies.

The town said she was active member of the community, taking part in a municipal events and a camping club for children. “Joyful, kind, incredibly talented and creative, Majda is no longer with us and we will miss her tremendously,” the statement said.

The identities of other victims have not been publicly announced.

How the shooting unfolded

The police chief said authorities had information about the shooter before the university killings, saying police received a tip he was traveling to Prague from his hometown village of Hostouň with the intention to take his own life.

Some time later, the police received information that a man, believed to be the gunman’s father, was found dead in Hostouň.

Vondrášek said the police were aware the shooter had a lecture at 2 p.m. local time and evacuated the building where the lecture was meant to take place. But authorities then received a call about a shooting in a different building, according to the police chief.

Czech police on Friday released body camera footage taken during the response to the mass shooting, showing officers searching through corridors and evacuating people from the buildings. It also shows inside a classroom where many of the victims were found.

Czech authorities are also working on a theory the gunman is connected to a double homicide in Klanovice, a Prague suburb, last week, where a man and a two-month-old baby were found murdered in a forest. Speaking on Friday, the police chiefs said this was believed to be “extremely likely.”

The shooter had a gun permit and owned several weapons, Vondrášek said.

The Czech Republic has relatively liberal gun laws compared to the rest of the European Union, but gun attacks are rare. To obtain a gun legally, a person needs an official firearm license, which requires a medical examination, a weapon proficiency exam and no previous criminal record.

Rakušan said that reforms seeking to make the gun laws stricter are already being discussed in the Parliament, and that the legislative process began before the shooting attack on Thursday.

The reformed law would make it easier for police to confiscate guns based on information about potential risks, Rakušan said. It would also make it a legal requirement for gun sellers to report any unusual purchases of weapons, including purchases of large amount of ammunition.

Under current Czech laws, a firearm license is needed to obtain a weapon legally. To get the license, people have to pass a weapon proficiency exam and a medical exam.
Rakušan said that under the proposed reforms, the medical exam would be stricter and include a psychological evaluation. Only people with a clean criminal record can get the license. Around 300,000 people in the 10 million country own a firearm license, according to police statistics.

According to official police statistics, more than 300,000 people have a legal permit to own a gun. As of 2022, almost 1 million legally owned weapons were officially registered in the Czech Republic.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are fighting a war that has killed thousands and resulted in a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Israeli military began an offensive on the Palestinian enclave after Hamas militants launched a brutal assault on Israel on October 7 – the biggest terrorist attack in the country’s history – with gunmen killing more than 1,400 people and taking more than 200 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel’s retaliation has been fierce, with an air, sea and ground campaign on Gaza as well as a total siege on the territory to choke its Hamas rulers.

The conflict has led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with more than 10,000 people killed there, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah. Residents of the Strip, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, are trapped, lacking basic supplies and with nowhere to escape Israel’s bombs.

In response, aid groups, Arab states and the United Nations have repeatedly called for a ceasefire to allow for the delivery of food, water, medical supplies and other necessities.

Israel has so far shown no signs of scaling back its military operation, which is only widening, as it vows to eliminate Hamas once and for all.

Here’s what we know about the war.

How did the conflict start?

In an operation it called “Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas fired thousands of rockets towards Israeli towns on October 7, before breaking through the heavily fortified border fence with Israel and sending militants deep into Israeli territory.

There, gunmen killed civilians and soldiers, and took more than 200 hostages, including dozens of foreign nationals. The attacks were unprecedented in tactics and scale, as Israel hasn’t faced its adversaries on its own territory since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It has also never faced a terror attack of this magnitude that took the lives of so many civilians.

How did Israel react?

Israel responded by launching “Operation Swords of Iron,” with the goal of eliminating Hamas. It imposed a complete siege on Gaza, blocking food, water and fuel from entering, and launched a ground offensive that saw its troops enter deep into the enclave and effectively split it in two.

Amid the bombardment, Gaza residents were advised by Israel to evacuate their homes in the north and move southwards as troops sought to encircle Gaza City, which Israel described as “the fortress of Hamas’s terrorist activities.”

What is Hamas?

Hamas is an Islamist organization with a military wing that emerged in 1987 out of the Muslim Brotherhood, a non-violent Sunni Islamist group that was founded in the late 1920s in Egypt.

Hamas, like most Palestinian factions and political parties, says that Israel is an occupying power and that it is trying to liberate the Palestinian territories. It has over the years claimed many attacks on Israel and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

Unlike some other Palestinian factions, Hamas refuses to engage with Israel and does not recognize its right to exist. In 1993, it opposed the Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that saw the PLO give up armed resistance against Israel in return for promises of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. The Accords also established the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, and presents itself as an alternative to the PA.

Israel occupied Gaza from 1967 to 2005, when it unilaterally withdrew its troops and settlers, but continued to exert control over the territory’s sea, airspace and land crossings.

The vast majority of Gaza’s residents are descendants of refugees whose ancestors either fled or were forced out of their homes in what is now Israel. The enclave is one of the most densely populated places on earth.

What is the situation in Gaza?

Before the war, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade of Gaza that strictly controlled the movement of people and goods both into and out of the territory.

But Israel has now imposed an even tighter siege, banning the entry of food, water and fuel, which the United Nations has said amounts to “collective punishment.” Residents are grappling with severe shortages and power is running out as fuel dwindles, with hospitals ill-equipped to treat the wounded as Israel continues its bombardment. Doctors often operate on patients without anesthesia, and maternity and postnatal services are close to non-existent. As the water system collapses, some Gazans have been forced to drink dirty, salty water, sparking concerns of a health crisis and fears that people could start dying from dehydration.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that more than 1.4 million people in Gaza are now internally displaced. More than half a million are seeking refuge in facilities run by the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which are accommodating numbers three times their intended capacity.

Thousands of people are sheltering in hospitals and other civilian facilities, which health workers say have been targeted by Israel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it has documented at least 102 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza since October 7. Israel has said it is targeting Hamas operatives in the strip, and accused Hamas of embedding itself in civilian areas, as well as using civilians as human shields.

Out of those who have been killed in the enclave, more than 4,100 are children, according to the Gazan health ministry.

The enclave has been described by the UN as “a graveyard for children.”

What is the Rafah crossing?

Israel has shut its two border crossings with Gaza. And with aid desperately needed, the only route for its entry into the territory is through the Rafah Crossing with Egypt.

Rafah is the sole border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, falling along an 8-mile (12.8-kilometer) fence that separates Gaza from the Sinai Peninsula.

The crossing has been essential for the delivery of aid and evacuation of wounded Palestinians during previous wars with Israel.

Following intense negotiations, the crossing was finally opened more than three weeks into the war, allowing a small number of wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals to leave Gaza. Aid trucks have started entering the enclave in very small numbers

How has the international community reacted to the war?

The US has largely supported Israel’s operation in Gaza throughout the war, despite heavy criticism from some opponents at home and mass protests across the world calling for a ceasefire.

Arab leaders have delivered strong messages to Israel, especially against what they perceive as plans to expel Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt, and those in the West Bank to Jordan.

US President Joe Biden has said that it would be a “mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends.

Some of Hamas’ allies in the region, such as Iran and Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, have also warned Israel and Washington against continued bombing of Gaza.

Amid rising death tolls and an international outcry over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, however, the Biden administration has been warning Israel that its support for the carnage in the enclave is running out.

What will it take for de-escalation?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government opposes any temporary ceasefire in Gaza unless Hamas frees all the hostages it holds, adding that it will continue to block fuel from entering the strip. Netanyahu has however said he is open to short pauses taking place.

Qatar, a US ally that maintains ties with Hamas, has been trying to mediate deals to free hostages, as well as evacuate foreign nationals from Gaza.

Four hostages held by Hamas – two Israelis and two American-Israelis – have so far been freed through Qatari and Egyptian mediation.

How likely is this war to escalate into a regional conflict?

The Hamas attack raised concerns that the conflict could spread across the region, with the potential entry of Hezbollah from Lebanon as well as Israel’s arch enemy Iran.

The US has warned regional players against getting pulled into the war, calling on Iran and its proxies not to escalate.

The US military has said that a guided missile submarine has arrived in the Middle East, a message of deterrence directed at regional adversaries. The Pentagon last month ordered a second carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean and sent Air Force fighter jets to the region.

Iran, which backs Hamas, has denied involvement in the October 7 attack but has said that it morally supports the “anti-Israel resistance” – which includes Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias.

On Israel’s northern border, Iran-backed Hezbollah has engaged in an exchange of fire since the Gaza war began. Those altercations have however been confined to the border areas.

There have also been skirmishes in Syria and Iraq, from which Iran-backed militias have launched multiple drone attacks on US forces. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have attempted an aerial attack on Israel, which Israel’s military said it thwarted.

In a November 3 speech, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said his “primary goal” was to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, and said it was incumbent on the US to implement the cessation of hostilities. The speech appeared to show that Nasrallah’s immediate plans do not include broadening the conflict.

Bishop Isidoro Mora, of the Siuna church on the country’s Caribbean coast, was arrested after taking part in a mass to celebrate the anniversary of the Matagalpa church, the sources said.

The source quoted Mora as saying “we are here praying for Matagalpa church, praying for bishop Rolando.”

The source added, “Unfortunately, (Mora) was arrested the next day.”

Álvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, is serving a 26-year prison sentence on charges including conspiracy and treason. He was sentenced after refusing to leave the country along with 200 other people who had opposed the government.

Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled their homeland to avoid persecution since 2018, when Ortega’s government cracked down on widespread anti-regime protests, killing hundreds of people, injuring thousands and arbitrarily detaining many, according to Human Rights Watch.

Protesters and their families at the time sometimes sought refuge from attacks by pro-government forces inside the country’s churches and cathedrals.

Nicaragua’s authoritarian government, led by Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have since viewed the Catholic church as opposition forces and labeled the protests as an “attempted coup.”

Mora’s arrest came months after two Costa Rican nuns were expelled from Nicaragua in April, also after praying for Álvarez.

“This is part of a repressive pattern against the Catholic church,” said Yader Morazán, an expert in Nicaragua’s judiciary system and a former public servant in the country.

“They have jailed dozens of priests and laymen and have expelled or blocked the return of more than 200 people, between priests and nuns,” Morazán said.

A news release Monday by state-owned website El19digital reported the arrest of 11 people linked to Christian organizations who have been accused of money laundering.

Ortega claimed a fifth term as president in 2021. In June of that year, his government began using a vague national security law as justification to lock up opposition presidential candidates and leaders, journalists and human rights activists ahead of the elections.

It’s no surprise that Titouan Bernicot is so deeply passionate about his work. Growing up on his family’s pearl farm on the French Polynesian atoll of Ahe, the ocean is so much a part of who he is that he describes it as his best friend.

At just 18 years old, Bernicot set up Coral Gardeners, an organization focused on restoring local reefs, and in the seven years since he has gathered a team to restore and plant more than 100,000 resilient corals at atolls across the Pacific Ocean.

Bernicot, now 25, has also recruited global stars as Coral Gardeners ambassadors, including actor Jason Momoa, who met members of the group earlier this year to take part in their work.

The partnership is called “The Lost Colors” because of the coral bleaching process; usually caused by warmer water, it makes coral expel certain algae that give them their color. If temperatures remain too high, the algae are unable to return and the coral dies.

Once a coral dies, it is extremely hard for reefs to return and regrow. This is when the reef ecosystem begins to collapse — and that’s what Bernicot and Coral Gardeners are trying to prevent.

Homegrown reef restoration

Bernicot says his “connection” with the ocean started when he was a baby, learning “about the fish behaviors, the octopus, the sharks, how they co-exist.”

“When I am not feeling good, when I’m stressed, I like to just go on the water,” he adds. “There is no noise … there is only the sound of the reef, the fish.”

But with the climate crisis threatening wildlife across the globe, coral reefs are in a precarious position. Scientists have estimated that up to 70-90% of existing coral reefs across the planet could disappear within the next 20 years, with the whole ecosystem under threat of destruction by the end of the century.

Increasingly extreme weather patterns are a further cause for concern. This year’s El Nino, a natural fluctuation in temperature in the Pacific Ocean, threatens to warm oceans even more.

This rise in ocean temperature increases the risk of coral bleaching, potentially devastating this delicate environment. There are real concerns from Coral Gardeners’ founder that these reefs could become the first ecosystem on the planet to collapse.

“I want to fight for those little guys, for those fish, for the octopus, sharks and stingray,” Bernicot says. “They don’t have the voice that we have and they don’t really need it. They just need people to be there for them and I want to be one of those people (to) save their home.”

Alongside Bernicot, Coral Gardeners has a team of more than 50 people, including scientists and engineers, some of whom grew up on the very atolls they are working across.

One of the main ways they support local reefs is through “upcycling” old ropes and other waste from abandoned pearl farms that is damaging coral and using it to create coral nurseries.

These nurseries consist of small pieces of coral that can grow in a protected environment underwater. Once they reach a healthy size and condition, they are usually reintroduced to natural environments where reefs can then grow.

Last year, Coral Gardeners managed to plant more than 15,000 corals in French Polynesia, with a further 9,400 in their nurseries. In 2023, Coral Gardeners says, the total number planted has more than quadrupled, with over 70,000 corals planted this year.

The nurseries are also used to help Bernicot’s team conduct research, providing information on the best environment for coral to grow and how different species fare in various conditions. The organization’s in-house R&D center, called CG Labs, has developed tools such as underwater mapping robots, AI-powered cameras, and an app for viewers to explore a “connected reef.”

A solution for the future

Over the next few years, Coral Gardeners’ “Odyssey 2025” goal is to restore one million corals, reach one billion people, and expand internationally, with a team already at work in Fiji, says Bernicot.

The group is also working on more collaborations like the one with “Aquaman,” including partnerships with “mindful brands” to create effective conservation activism.

But at the end of the day, for Bernicot, it’s all about the community where Coral Gardeners began. Working alongside many of his former classmates, the reef restoration project is a true homegrown effort.

“No one thought that one day, we could answer to the question ‘What do you want to do?’ by saying ‘I want to become a coral gardener,’” Bernicot says. “It wasn’t a job, but now it’s real.”

“They are living proof that today you can be paid to do something meaningful, and that ocean conservation is not obliged to be a part-time job only volunteering,” he adds. “You can wake up every morning with one single priority and focus (on) how to save the most important place on Earth.”

Satellite imagery from those early days of the war reveals more than 500 impact craters over 12 meters (40 feet) in diameter, consistent with those left behind by 2,000-pound bombs. Those are four times heavier than the largest bombs the United States dropped on ISIS in Mosul, Iraq, during the war against the extremist group there.

Weapons and warfare experts blame the extensive use of heavy munitions such as the 2,000-pound bomb for the soaring death toll. The population of Gaza is packed together much more tightly than almost anywhere else on earth, so the use of such heavy munitions has a profound effect.

“The use of 2,000-pound bombs in an area as densely populated as Gaza means it will take decades for communities to recover,” said John Chappell, advocacy and legal fellow at CIVIC, a DC-based group focused on minimizing civilian harm in conflict.

Israel has come under pressure internationally over the scale of the devastation in Gaza, with even staunch ally US President Joe Biden accusing Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” of the coastal strip.

Israeli officials have argued that its heavy munitions are necessary to eliminating Hamas, whose fighters killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages on October 7. They also claim that Israel is doing all it can to minimize civilian casualties.

Hamas relies on a sprawling tunnel network that is believed to crisscross the Gaza Strip. Proponents of Israel’s campaign in Gaza argue that the heavy munitions act as bunker busters, helping to destroy Hamas’ underground infrastructure.

But 2,000-pound bombs are normally used sparingly by Western militaries, experts say, because of their potential impact on densely populated areas like Gaza. International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate bombing.

Marc Garlasco a former US defense intelligence analyst and former UN war crimes investigator, said the density of Israel’s first month of bombardment in Gaza had “not been seen since Vietnam.”

“You’d have to go back to the Vietnam war to make a comparison,” said Garlasco. “Even in both Iraq wars it was never that dense.”

The heavy munitions, mostly manufactured by the US, can cause high casualty events and can have a lethal fragmentation radius – an area of exposure to injury or death around the target – of up to 365 meters (about 1,198 feet), or the equivalent of 58 soccer fields in area.

Weapons and warfare experts blame the extensive use of heavy weaponry, such as the 2,000-pound bomb for the soaring death toll. According to authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, about 20,000 people have been killed since October 7.

Most of the dead are women and children, according to those figures.

A high-intensity offensive

For over two months, Israel has conducted a high-intensity war in Gaza, combining heavy aerial bombardment with relentless rounds of artillery fire, as well as a ground invasion that began on October 27.

The operation has wrought devastation that stretches across swathes of the besieged enclave, satellite imagery and video show.

“In two months, we’ve had about the level of strikes in this tiny little area in Gaza as what we saw in Mosul and Raqqa combined,” said Larry Lewis, research director at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) and formerly the US State Department’s senior adviser on civilian harm, referring to US-led coalition operations against two ISIS strongholds. “It is an incredible amount of strikes, period-wise.”

The US dropped a 2,000-pound bomb only once during its fight against ISIS – the most recent Western war on a militant group in the Middle East. It fell on the so-called caliphate’s self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Later that week, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf – the most senior American diplomat on the Middle East – said the death toll could be “even higher.”

“In this period of conflict and the conditions of war, it is very difficult for any of us to assess what the rate of casualties are,” said Leaf during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “We think they’re very high, frankly. It could be even higher than are being cited.”

Some of these are likely to be the 2,000-pound bombs detected in the satellite imaging of the craters. Israel has a large arsenal of the big bombs, known as MK-84s. When a GPS-guided kit is attached to the MK-84, the bomb becomes known as a GBU-31.

According to two people familiar with the matter, the US has provided Israel with more than 5,400 MK-84s since October 7.

“The devastation that we’ve seen for communities in Gaza is unfortunately, co-signed by the United States,” said CIVIC’s Chappell. “Too much of it is carried out by bombs that were made in the United States.”

Extensive big bomb attacks around Gaza City

The 2,000-pound bombs feature prominently in attacks on the perimeter of Gaza City, the epicenter of the Israeli military operation in October and much of November.

Israel’s ground forces eventually laid siege to the city in early November. The bombing pattern seen in the satellite images suggests that the heavy bombardment around Gaza City may have paved a path to its encirclement by Israeli troops.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp, satellite images showed two large craters consistent with Israel’s October 31 bombing, decried by the UN as a “disproportionate attack that could amount to war crimes.” It claimed over 100 lives, according to civilian harm watchdog Airwars, and caused catastrophic damage in the densely populated area.

One Al Jazeera employee lost 19 members of his family in the bombing, which Israel claimed targeted Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, killing him and destroying his base.

The two craters left behind by the attack, which experts described as “earthquake-like” in its impact, were 24 meters (nearly 79 feet) wide and 13 meters (nearly 43 feet) wide respectively, according to satellite imagery.

Former State Department adviser Lewis said the October 31 Jabalya strike was “something we would never see the US doing.”

“It certainly appears that (Israel’s) tolerance for civilian harm compared to expected operational benefits is significantly different than what we would accept as the US,” Lewis said.

A large crater consistent with a 2,000-pound bomb is seen on the coastal highway that runs through the Al Shati’, or Beach camp. In a neighborhood just north of the camp, 14 craters indicating 2,000-pound bombs appear in one square kilometer.

The Beach camp is one of the first areas in Gaza where Israeli ground troops established a firm foothold. Satellite images of the refugee camp from November 6 showed it to have been all but leveled by bombardment.

The lethal fragmentation zone

On October 24, Israel struck a location less than 100 meters (about 328 ft) away from Wafa Hospital. In an interview with al-Jazeera almost immediately after the strike, the hospital’s director, Fouad Najm, said the attack had “terrified the patients and medics.” The hospital has since gone out of service because of sustained nearby strikes and fuel outages.

It is unclear whether the October 24 blast caused significant damage to the hospital.

“Clearly the hospital is within the lethal fragmentation range of a 2,000-pound bomb. It would likely have caused damage,” said PAX’s Garlasco.

In one area near Beach camp, seven schools were within the lethal fragmentation zone of at least five craters. Satellite imagery captured on November 6 showed wide-scale destruction in the area. Those satellite images also showed Israeli armored vehicles in and around the schools.

“When you use a weapon so close to a civilian building, it is impossible to remove the chance of damage from the weapon. It is going to get hit by something,” said Garlasco.

On the sixth day of its offensive, the Israeli Air Force said in a tweet that it had dropped 6,000 munitions since the start of the war, averaging 1,000 bombs a day. On December 10, Israel’s military said that it had attacked more than 22,000 targets in Gaza.

Prague woke up Friday to shock and disbelief after a gunman killed 14 people and injured 25 more at Charles University, the deadliest peacetime attack in the history of the Czech Republic.

The brutal incident on Thursday was also the first-ever school or college shooting in the Czech Republic, leaving the nation and its top officials stunned.

Prague, a festive winter wonderland just 24 hour ago, felt somber and empty on Friday morning. A makeshift memorial of candles and flowers was set up at the university’s historical headquarters overnight, with people coming to pay their respects from early in the morning, despite heavy snow and rain.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the shooting “a senseless attack” and said “this Christmas will be unimaginably sad.”

“Like many of you, I am feeling a deep sorrow and disgust over this incomprehensible and brutal violence,” Fiala said. Czech President Petr Pavel said he felt “deep sadness and also helpless anger over the loss of so many young lives.”

In a press conference Friday, Prague police chief Petr Matějček also confirmed the gunman – a 24-year-old man who was a student at the university – died by suicide. Police have not yet named him.

“I went to the site of the attack and I was horrified and shaken. And I have been with the police for 40 years,” Matějček told journalists.

“When I saw the amount of ammunition, the weapons that he brought, what he was prepared for, I can only thank my officers for their quick action — they prevented many more deaths.”

Authorities are still investigating a motive in the rampage, which took place at the Faculty of Arts building of Charles University. Known in Czech as the Faculty of Philosophy, the school is one of the original colleges set up when the university was founded in 1348. Subjects including history, philosophy, art theory and languages are taught there.

Police said that as of Friday morning 11 of the 14 victims had been identified.

The Department of Musicology at the school announced that its director Lenka Hlávková was among the victims of the shooting. Hlávková was a renowned expert in the musical culture of medieval central Europe and the department said in a statement her death was “extremely cruel” news.

The identities of other victims have not been publicly announced.

According to the foreign ministry, all of the deceased identified so far were Czech nationals.

How the shooting unfolded

The police chief said authorities had information about the shooter before the university killings, saying police received a tip he was traveling to Prague from his hometown village of Hostouň with the intention to take his own life.

Some time later, the police received information that a man, believed to be the gunman’s father, was found dead in Hostouň.

Vondrášek said the police were aware the shooter had a lecture at 2 p.m. local time and evacuated the building where the lecture was meant to take place. But authorities then received a call about a shooting in a different building, according to the police chief.

The area around the building is popular with tourists and close to major attractions. It is just across the Vltava River from Prague Castle and five minute walk from the Old Town Square where Prague’s famous Christmas Markets were taking place. The historical Jewish Quarter is within a few hundred meters of the building.

Czech authorities are also working on a theory the gunman is connected to a double homicide in Klanovice, a Prague suburb, last week, where a man and a baby were found murdered in a forest.

The shooter had a gun permit and owned several weapons, Vondrášek said.

The Czech Republic has relatively liberal gun laws compared to the rest of the European Union, but gun attacks are rare. To obtain a gun legally, a person needs an official firearm license, which requires a medical examination, a weapon proficiency exam and no previous criminal record.

According to official police statistics, more than 300,000 people have a legal permit to own a gun. As of 2022, almost 1 million legally owned weapons were officially registered in the Czech Republic.

This is a developing story and will be updated.