Multiple casualties are feared in New Orleans after a vehicle reportedly drove into a crowd on the popular Bourbon Street, the BBC’s US news partner CBS has reported.
A New Orleans Police spokesman said that “initial reports show a car may have ploughed into a group of people” in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The spokesperson added that there were “reported fatalities”.
A CBS reporter saw multiple people on the ground with injuries.
Witnesses told the organisation that a vehicle ran into a crowd, and then the driver began firing a weapon, prompting police to return fire. Police have not confirmed this report.
Nola Ready, a New Orleans government agency, said on social media that there had been “a mass casualty incident on Canal and Bourbon Street” and told those nearby to “get yourself away from the area”.
Air India said that this makes the airline the first to offer in-flight Wi-Fi internet connectivity on flights within India
Air India on Wednesday said it has rolled out Wi-Fi internet connectivity services on board domestic and international flights operated by Airbus A350, Boeing 787-9 and select Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Air India said that the in-flight Wi-Fi services will be complimentary for an introductory period. (Air India)
“This makes Air India the first to offer in-flight Wi-Fi internet connectivity on flights within India, enabling travellers – flying for leisure or business – to stay connected to the internet during their flights, and to enjoy browsing, accessing social media, catching up on work, or texting friends and family,” the airline said in a statement.
It further said that the company “will progressively roll out the service on other aircraft in its fleet over time”.
Rajesh Dogra, chief customer experience officer of Air India said that passengers will be able to access the in-flight Wi-Fi on Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones running iOS or Android and that they will also be able to connect multiple devices at the same time once the aircraft reaches an altitude of 10,000 feet.
The Wi-Fi services on domestic routes follows an ongoing pilot programme on international services operated by the Airbus A350, select Airbus A321 neo and Boeing B787-9 aircraft serving international destinations including New York, London, Paris and Singapore.
The airline said that the Wi-Fi services will be complimentary for an introductory period.
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Ivory Coast is the latest West African nation to expel troops of former colonial power after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Ivory Coast has announced that French troops will leave the country this month after a decades-long military presence, becoming the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former coloniser.
In an end-of-year address to the nation on Tuesday, President Alassane Ouattara said the 43rd BIMA marine infantry battalion at Port-Bouet in Abidjan – where French troops were stationed – “will be handed over” to Ivory Coast’s armed forces as of January 2025.
“We can be proud of our army, whose modernisation is now effective. It is in this context that we have decided on the concerted and organised withdrawal of French forces” from Ivory Coast, Ouattara said.
France, whose colonial rule in West Africa ended in the 1960s, has nearly 1,000 soldiers in Ivory Coast, according to reports.
Ivory Coast is the latest West African nation to expel French troops after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In November, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad also announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.
On December 26, France returned its first military base to Chad, the last Sahel nation to host French troops.
Ivory Coast remains an important ally of France. The downscaling of military ties comes as France tries to revive its waning political and military influence on the African continent by devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence across the continent.
France has now been kicked out of more than 70 percent of African countries where it had a troop presence since the end of its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 personnel.
Analysts have described the developments as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries.
After expelling the French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia.
NEW DELHI: Air India has covered a lot of ground since privatisation and its global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, the airline’s chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. He also said the interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is underway, and will be completed by mid-2025. Loss-making Air India was acquired by the Tata Group from the government in January 2022, and is undergoing an ambitious five-year transformation plan. In 2024, Air India completed the merger of Vistara with itself as well as integration of Air India Express and AIX Connect was also done. In his New Year message, Wilson said these mergers and new aircraft deliveries have taken Air India Group’s fleet to 300 aircraft, allowing it to expand to over 100 domestic and international destinations. “Air India’s global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, not least because of the recent addition of 100 aircraft to our order book, augmenting the earlier commitment for 470 made in 2023,” he said. The Air India CEO and MD also said these new aircraft will be supported by a brand-new 12-bay maintenance facility and maintenance training school in Bengaluru (Karnataka), a new 34-aircraft flight school in Amravati (Maharashtra) and the training academy in Gurugram (Haryana). India is one of the world’s fastest growing civil aviation markets and efforts are being made to make the country a global aviation hub with Indian carriers providing direct flights to international destinations. “Air India has covered a lot of ground in the period since privatisation; we acknowledge there’s much more to be done. “All 30,000 Air Indians are fully committed to improving the quality and consistency of our services, in all areas, so that Air India becomes the world-class airline we all want it to be,” he said.
Jamal’s parents were killed in an Israeli air strike earlier this year
They are smiling now as they play together in the sand at al-Mawasi tent camp in southern Gaza, but the children of the Masri family have survived horrific events.
“Their lives were in danger, they were exposed to so much killing and destruction,” says their grandmother, Kawther al-Masri.
An Israeli bombing six weeks ago struck their home in the northern town of Beit Lahia, killing the parents of one-year-old Jamal and the mother and two young sisters of his cousins Maria, Jana and Zeina, aged from two to nine. The girls’ father was arrested by Israeli forces more than a year ago.
When the children were pulled from the rubble, they were injured and alone.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, more than 14,500 children have reportedly been killed, thousands more injured and an estimated 17,000 have been left unaccompanied or separated from the family members who would ordinarily care for them.
Some are too young to know their names and remain unidentified.
In a chaotic situation amid bombings and mass displacement, the UN’s children’s agency, Unicef, has managed to reunite just 63 children with their parents or guardians. Last month, the BBC followed the story of the four Masri cousins.
“The happiness of their return is indescribable, but it’s overshadowed with sadness – they came back without their parents,” Kawther al-Masri told us.
Unicef has managed to reunite 63 children with their parents or guardians
Initially, the news that reached Kawther in mid-November was that all of her loved ones who had remained in the family’s house in northern Gaza had been killed. But she says that after she prayed, word reached her that three of her grandchildren were still alive.
She immediately knew that she had to bring them to her. “I longed for them,” she explains. “Honestly, I wished I could go to the North and fetch them, but God’s will is above everything.”
For more than a year now, Israel has divided the northern third of the Gaza Strip from the southern two-thirds along the line of a valley, Wadi Gaza. Humanitarian workers have to carry out special co-ordination to cross the Israeli military zone bisecting the territory.
After Kawther collected the documents she needed, Unicef carried out its own welfare checks and went through a laborious process to arrange to move the Masri children.
As the four bereaved cousins underwent medical treatment, distant relatives had looked after them. Unicef filmed their emotional goodbye before it took the children away in armoured vehicles.
The short distance from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah where the convoy was heading now involves crossing an Israeli checkpoint, it takes a long time to drive and can be very risky as the war rages on. Yet Unicef says it is prioritising child reunifications.
“The challenges are multiple,” says Rosalia Bollen, a Unicef spokeswoman. “But we’re talking here about highly vulnerable children.”
“These are stories of loss – of deep mental trauma and physical trauma and for these children to recover. The fact that they’ve been reunified with one or both parents, or a family member, is extremely, extremely important.”
Kawther al-Masri had not seen her grandchildren for 14 months before the reunion
Kawther describes an agonising wait on the day the children were due to arrive until finally Unicef telephoned. She hadn’t seen her grandchildren for 14 months.
“I didn’t know who to hug first!” she exclaims. “The first one I hugged was Jana and then Zeina. I kissed her and hugged her.”
“My son’s children used to call me ‘Kuko’ and although Zeina couldn’t speak the last time I saw her, she knew this was my nickname. She kept asking: ‘Are you Kuko? Are you the one I came here for?’ And I told her I was. She felt safe.”
The story of the Masri family is not uncommon. They were split up in the early days of the war.
A week after the 7 October 2023 Hamas assault which killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel, the Israeli military ordered 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to move south, signalling that it planned to start a ground invasion.
Kawther and most of her children quickly packed up and moved to Rafah, but transportation for her two sons, Ramadan and Hamza, fell through. They ended up staying behind with their wives – one of whom was pregnant – and small children.
In November 2023, Hamza was arrested by Israeli forces in Beit Lahia. His close relatives insist that he and they are farmers with no political affiliations. The BBC has been unable to get information from the Israeli authorities about what happened to Hamza.
Israel has detained thousands of Gazans during the war, saying they are suspected of terrorism.
“This has been our fate,” Kawthar tells us despairingly. “We lost our homes, our land and our loved ones, and we were divided between the North and the South.”
With so many people unaccounted for, many turn to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help. It takes detailed information and cross-checks this with sources it can access, such as hospital lists and names of returned detainees.
More than 8,300 cases have been reported to the organisation but only about 2,100 have been closed. Of these, only a small number have led to family reunifications.
“People are in limbo – they don’t know whether their family member is alive, whether they are injured or in hospital, whether they are trapped under rubble or whether they will see them again,” says Sarah Davies from the ICRC.
Doctors and staff at hospitals also play a part in trying to connect their patients with loved ones.
Nearly a year ago, the BBC filmed a newborn baby who had been delivered by Caesarean section after her mother was killed in an Israeli air strike. Medics called the little girl “the daughter of Hanna Abu Amsha” and kept information about her in the hope her relatives could track her down.
Recently, the nursery at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah told us that the baby was eventually handed over to her father and was doing well.
Days after the Masri family’s reunion, a local journalist working with the BBC visited Kawther and her grandchildren in the al-Mawasi displaced people’s camp where they now live in a tent. With aid in short supply, Unicef had given them help to get extra food and medication.
The girls also had warm jackets – some protection against the cold temperatures which have led to several babies dying of hypothermia, including at the camp on the coast, close to the city of Khan Younis.
While Kawther is relieved to have the children with her, she still does not feel they are safe. She worries about how to care for them and their mental health.
“They are in shock,” she says. “No matter how much we try to distract the girls and avoid talking of the war, every now and then they wander off in thought.”
“When night falls, they are afraid. They say: ‘There’s a plane, there’s a strike.’ They ask me: ‘Is it dawn yet?’ and only when morning comes, they start to feel reassured.”
Kawther says she desperately hopes for a ceasefire and for her grandchildren to rebuild their lives. Not to become part of a lost generation.
ITR Filing Deadline: The Income Tax Department has extended the deadline for filing belated or revised income tax returns for the Assessment Year (AY) 2024-25 for resident individuals, as stated in a notification issued by the CBDT. Taxpayers now have until January 15, 2025, providing an additional two weeks to finalize or amend their filings. Earlier, the last date for resident individuals to make these submissions for assessment year (AY) 2024-25 was set at 31st December 2024.
ITR Filing Deadline: Relief For Late Filers And Opportunity For Corrections
The ITR deadline extension extension applies to two particular scenarios. First, it provides relief to individuals who missed the original July 31, 2024 deadline for filing their ITR and had until December 31 to submit a belated return.
Second, it grants taxpayers an extended opportunity to correct errors in previously filed returns by submitting revised filings. Individuals should verify their Form 26AS and other relevant documents to avoid any discrepancies when filing.
CBDT extends the last date for furnishing Belated/ Revised return of income for AY 2024-25 in the case of Resident Individuals from 31st December, 2024 to 15th January, 2025.
As per current regulations, taxpayers submitting belated returns are required to pay a late fee. For taxable income below Rs 5 lakh, the fee is Rs 1,000, while for taxable income exceeding Rs 5 lakh, it rises to Rs 5,000. Filing a corrected ITR helps maintain compliance with tax laws and reduces the risk of penalties or further scrutiny.
What Is Belated ITR?
Taxpayers who missed the initial deadline for filing their ITR have deadline until January 15 to submit a belated return. While filing a belated return helps avoid additional penalties and interest charges, it may still attract a late filing fee under Section 234F of the Income Tax Act.
What Is Revised ITR?
Taxpayers who have already filed their ITR but later discover errors or omissions can submit a revised return by January 15. This provides an opportunity to rectify issues, such as underreported income or incorrect deductions, without incurring significant penalties.
Confirming what many observers have concluded, Israeli paper Israel Hayom says Israel may decide to stay in south Lebanon beyond the 60-day withdrawal period specified in a ceasefire.
The failure to withdraw in 60 days would be yet another violation of the US and France-backed ceasefire agreement reached on November 27 between Lebanon and Israel.
Israel has already violated the agreement hundreds of times.
But what would Israel’s failure to withdraw from South Lebanon mean after this 60-day period? Here’s what you need to know.
What’s happening?
Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has stopped launching rockets into Israel and Israel has stopped the relentless bombing of Beirut’s suburbs, eastern Bekaa Valley and south.
But Israeli troops are still in the south, blowing up and demolishing homes and other infrastructure.
They also prevented people from returning to their homes in the south, fired at Lebanese citizens, and killed at least 33 residents of Lebanon in the last month.
Israel is supposed to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon within 60 days of November 27, to be replaced by UNIFIL troops, followed by the Lebanese army.
But Israel now claims that Hezbollah’s extensive weapons in the south and their efforts to rebuild may lead them to “reconsider” the timeline for withdrawal.
Israeli soldiers sit on a military vehicle near the Lebanese border [Shir Torem/Reuters]
What happens if they don’t live up to their promise?
Nothing.
There is no mechanism to enforce the ceasefire deal other than a reinitiation of hostilities.
Sources at a Western embassy told Al Jazeera that the only implementation guarantees were US promises that Israel would abide.
Hezbollah could ostensibly restart firing rockets into Israel but they’re unlikely to want to re-engage.
Hezbollah previously responded to Israeli violations by shooting a warning rocket at a military site in the Kfarchouba Hills on December 2 that landed in open space and had no casualties.
Israel retaliated by killing nine people in Lebanon.
A man cleans rubble and debris from buildings Israel damaged [Emilie Madi/Reuters]
What are the terms of the ceasefire?
Israel is to withdraw all its troops from south Lebanon in 60 days and Hezbollah is to move its military infrastructure north of the Litani River with the Lebanese army deploying into south Lebanon.
What about all the southerners who want to go home?
The immediate aftermath of the ceasefire agreement saw people leave the makeshift shelters – mostly set up in schools around the country – that had housed them for more than two months.
Staff at one shelter Al Jazeera visited in Sidon, south Lebanon, said that by 10am on the day of the ceasefire, all displaced people had left to go home.
But many are not yet home.
On the second day of the ceasefire, Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesperson effectively announced the entirety of the south was a no-go zone.
Some people say they visited their villages on the first day of the ceasefire only to be blocked from going back after.
Many southerners are either in villages as close as possible to their villages or are staying with family in zones that the Israelis are not occupying or barring people from.
What else has happened?
On Christmas Day, Israel struck in the Bekaa Valley between the towns of Talia and Hizzine in the Baalbek region.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for a ceasefire monitoring committee to pressure Israel to respect the terms of the ceasefire, but it has had little effect to date.
Not only has Israel violated the ceasefire by continuing to attack, but they’ve also pushed deeper into Lebanese territory.
On December 26, Israeli forces moved as far as Wadi al-Hujeir, eight kilometres (five miles) from the UN-demarcated Blue Line that separates Lebanon from Israel.
What’s UNIFIL doing about this?
UNIFIL released a statement on December 26, calling for a halt to “actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities”.
It urged the “timely withdrawal” of Israeli forces and deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in southern Lebanon, as well as the implementation of UN resolution 1701, which stipulates that Hezbollah move its forces north of the Litani River and Israel below the Blue Line.
UNIFIL also expressed “concern at continuing destruction” by Israeli forces “in residential areas, agricultural land, and road networks in south Lebanon”.
A woman reacts next to a temporary grave of a relative killed by Israel [Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]
The government will be keeping the interest rates of various small savings schemes unchanged for the fourth consecutive quarter, announced the Union finance ministry on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
The government will be keeping the interest rates on various small savings schemes like PPFY, SSY, and NSC unchanged, meaning it would be the same as the previous consecutive quarter(Representational Image/Pixabay)
“The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of FY 2024-25, starting from January 1, 2025, and ending on March 31, 2025, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter (October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024) of FY 2024-25,” the finance ministry said.
PPF
This means that the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and post office savings deposit schemes rate will remain at 7.1% and 4%, respectively, for this quarter, which runs from January 1, 2025, to March 31, 2025.
The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, which is aimed at promoting the welfare of girl children, will also continue to offer an interest rate of 8.2%, just like in the previous quarter which began from October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
The interest on a three-year term deposit will remain 7.1%.
The interest rate on the Kisan Vikas Patra will be 7.5%, with the investments getting matured in 115 months.
The interest rate on the National Savings Certificate (NSC) will remain at 7.7% for the January-March 2025 period.
Monthly Income Scheme will earn 7.4% for its investors.
The Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) will also maintain its interest rate at 8.2%. This scheme is specifically for senior citizens, offering higher returns compared to some other savings options.
Also, the five-year recurring Deposit (RD) scheme, which allows investors to deposit a fixed amount monthly, will give an interest rate of 6.7%.
Russian gas supplies to EU states via Ukraine have ended after a five-year deal between Ukraine’s gas transit operator Naftogaz and Russia’s Gazprom expired.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that his country would not allow Russia to “earn additional billions on our blood” and had given the EU a year to prepare.
The European Commission said the continent’s gas system was “resilient and flexible” and that it had sufficient capacity to cope with the end of transit via Ukraine.
Russia can still send gas to Hungary, as well as Turkey and Serbia, through the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea.
The stopping of the flow through Ukraine marks the end of an era of cheap Russian gas in the EU.
Slovakia is the most affected, while the European Commission says the impact will be limited, thanks to careful planning and alternative supplies.
However, the strategic and symbolic impact for the whole of Europe is enormous.
Russia has lost an important market but Russian President Vladimir Putin says EU countries will suffer most.
The EU has significantly reduced imports of gas from Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but a number of eastern member states still depend largely on the supplies, making Russia about €5bn ($5.2bn; £4.2bn) a year.
But several EU members, including Slovakia and Austria, continue to import significant amounts of gas from Russia.
Austria’s energy regulator said it did not forecast any supply disruption as it had diversified sources and built up reserves.
But Ukraine’s decision has already caused serious tensions with Slovakia, which is now the main entry point of Russian gas into the EU and earned transit fees from piping the gas on to Austria, Hungary and Italy.
On Friday, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico – who had just made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin – threatened to stop the supply of electricity to Ukraine.
This prompted Mr Zelensky to accuse him of helping Mr Putin “fund the war and weaken Ukraine”.
“Fico is dragging Slovakia into Russia’s attempts to cause more suffering for Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian president said.
Poland has offered to support Kyiv in case Slovakia cuts off its electricity exports – supplies that are crucial to Ukraine, whose power plants come under regular attack from Russia.
Moldova – which is not part of the EU – could be seriously affected by the end of the transit agreement. The gas fuelled a power plant on which Moldova relies for most of its electricity needs. It also supplied the Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, a small sliver of land sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine.
Moldova’s energy minister, Constantin Borosan, said the government had taken steps to ensure stable power supplies to the country but called on citizens to save energy. A 60-day state of emergency in the energy sector has been in place in Moldova since mid-December.
President Maia Sandu accused the Kremlin of “blackmail” possibly aimed at destabilising her country ahead of a general election in 2025. The Moldovan government also said it had offered aid to Transnistria.
Russia has transported gas to Europe through Ukraine since 1991.
As the EU has reduced its dependence on Russian gas, it has found alternative sources in liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar and the US as well as piped gas from Norway.
In December, the European Commission laid out plans it said would enable EU member states to entirely replace gas transiting through Ukraine.
Under the EU’s contingency plans, affected countries will be supplied with Greek, Turkish and Romanian gas from the Trans-Balkan route, while Norwegian gas will be piped through Poland. More supplies will also reach central Europe through Germany.
MUMBAI: The rupee dropped 5 paise to 85.69 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, the first session of 2025, as the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit. Forex traders said the dollar index (DXY) and US 10-year bond yields have been on an uptrend largely owing to the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance and the “Trump factor”. Additionally, global markets are expected to see low volumes as the holiday season is underway in major economies like the UK and Europe. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.63 then fell further to 85.69 against the American currency, registering a fall of 5 paise over its previous close, On Tuesday, the rupee depreciated 12 paise to close at a fresh all-time closing low of 85.64 against the US dollar. On December 27, the local currency touched its lifetime intraday low of 85.80 against the greenback. According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, the Indian rupee was protected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at 85.6450 on Tuesday. “With US markets closed on Wednesday, cash dollar demand will not be there. A lower opening on USDINR could be an opportunity for importers to buy dollars for their payables. The range for the day would be 85.40 to 85.70,” Bhansali said. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 104.48. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was quoted at USD 74.64 per barrel in futures trade. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 127.91 points or 0.16 per cent down at 78,011.10 points in morning trade, while Nifty was down 36.30 points or 0.15 per cent to 23,608.50 points. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 4,645.22 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data. On the domestic macroeconomic front, the Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of the eighth month of financial year 2024-25 touched 52.5 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Tuesday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit — the gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue — was about Rs 8.47 lakh crore during the April-November period, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
