Morning bird: The Alps are disappearing before our eyes, world glaciers are melting at a record pace. The youthful attacker faces up to 10 years in prison
Glaciers around the world have melted at the fastest rate in history. Climate change is especially noticeable in the Alpine glaciers, which are melting the most intensely. A youthful perpetrator, who stabbed two shopkeepers in Hradec Králové, faces a reduced sentence due to his young age. Hamas returned the dead bodies of hostages to Israel, including the remains of a four-year-old boy and his nine-month-old brother. Italian police seized dozens of counterfeit artworks attributed to famous artists such as Picasso and Rembrandt.
The Alps are melting the fastest of all glaciers
Mountain glaciers around the world are melting more than twice as fast as at the beginning of the year 2000, as climate change speeds up. According to a study published this week in the journal Nature, the world's glaciers lost about 255 billion tons of ice annually between 2000 and 2011, but this amount accelerated to 346 billion tons per year in the following decade.
In recent years, the melting has accelerated even more, and in 2023, the last analyzed year, it reached a record loss of 604 billion tons. The study drew on an international effort that included 233 estimates of changes in glacier mass. Overall, according to the study, the world's glaciers have lost more than 7 trillion tons of ice since 2000. During the last 24 years, Central European glaciers have lost the highest percentage of ice of all regions and are now 39% smaller than in 2000, the article states. The greatest concern is about the Alps, as increased temperatures could transform the nature of the well-known mountain range, reported AP agency.
A ten-year sentence for double murder threatens the perpetrator from Hradec Králové
"Approximately ten hours after the attack, regional detectives accused a 16-year-old boy of committing a double murder, whose motive is still not entirely clear. The information we currently have suggests that the choice of victims was random and that it was the act of an individual. After the accused is interrogated, the detectives will submit a proposal to the public prosecutor for remand,"
the police spokesperson Iva Kormošová said in the evening according to ČTK. Considering the status of the minor, the perpetrator is facing a maximum of ten years in prison for the cold-blooded murder. The Czech Police reported that the number of violent crimes increased by 25% in the last two years.
The oldest and youngest hostages of Hamas did not survive imprisonment
On Thursday, the bodies of some of the oldest and youngest hostages, who were taken to Gaza at the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, were handed over, bringing their total number closer to 33 people, who were supposed to be released as part of a ceasefire that started last month.
The fate of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years and 9 months old, caught the attention of Israelis from the moment they were captured during a deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Israel confirmed the identity of the boys' remains and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 at the time of the abduction, but stated that another body, thought to be the mother of the boys, does not correspond to her or any other hostage. In the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, a total of 33 hostages (including eight deceased) were to be released in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, AP agency reported.
Fakes of Picasso and Rembrandt were sold as originals on the internet in Italy
The Italian police seized dozens of counterfeit art works attributed to famous artists such as Picasso and Rembrandt, in an operation that the authorities have called a "secret painting laboratory". The investigation, which was led by the Carabinieri's command for the protection of cultural heritage, the police for art and culture, and which was coordinated with the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, began with the search for fake works that were put up for sale on the internet. The police stated that they found a total of 71 paintings, and added that the suspect was selling "hundreds of works of doubtful authenticity" on sites like eBay and Catawiki, according to CNN.
Sources: CNN, AP, ČTK
