Free Republic

At least 64 people had been shot in Chicago this weekend as of 5 a.m. Monday, and 11 of those people died.

A seemingly odd fireman is fighting fires in Guatemala—Israel. Even before Guatemala’s Vulcan del Fuego resumed its restless sleep Sunday evening, Israel issued emergency aid from its embassy including $10,000 for medical purchases. The pyroclastic flow that erupted from Vulcan del Fuego slammed into the village of El Rodeo at the base of the volcano, killing at least 69. Due to the close proximity of the volcano to Guatemala City, some 1.7 million people have been affected. In response to the tragedy, President Jimmy Morales declared three days of national mourning.

A copper awl is the oldest metal object unearthed to date in the Middle East. The discovery reveals that metals were exchanged across hundreds of miles in this region more than 6,000 years ago, centuries earlier than previously thought, researchers say.

Pioneering archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who headed the excavations at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, has died at the age of 61. Schmidt had been working on the excavations at Göbekli Tepe, sometimes called Turkey’s Stonehenge, with the German Archaeology Institute since 1995.