Palestinians in Gaza escaped Israeli bombardment, mourned the loss of loved ones, and rescued what they could from their flooded tents while Israeli revelers drank in Tel Aviv.
The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and France, the United Kingdom and Germany will take place in Geneva in January, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reports, citing the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
On January 13, Gharibabadi announced on Wednesday that the new round of negotiations between Iran and three European nations would take place in Geneva.
Iran and the three European countries discussed its disputed nuclear program in November. The first discussions to occur since the US presidential election came after Tehran expressed anger over a resolution opposing Iran’s nuclear cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Tehran informed the IAEA watchdog that it intends to add more uranium-enrichment centrifuges to its enrichment facilities in response to the resolution.
Without “any credible civilian justification,” the three European nations accused Iran of increasing its stockpile of high-enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” on December 17. Additionally, they have posed the possibility of lifting Iran’s nuclear program’s sanctions to stop it from developing.
Iranian envoy Rafael Grossi, the IAEA’s chief, stated to Reuters news agency in December that Iran is “dramatically” increasing its uranium enrichment to up to 60% purity, which is more in line with the roughly 90% grade for weapons.
Tehran has consistently denied any desire to develop nuclear weapons capability, despite insisting on the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Iran’s nuclear program was halted in 2015 after it agreed to end it with other world powers, including the US, over concerns about the country developing nuclear weapons.
However, Donald Trump’s administration abruptly ended Iran’s nuclear agreement with six major powers in 2018, reversing its nuclear restrictions. Tehran has taken steps to rebuild its stockpiles of enriched uranium, increase its fissile purity, and install advanced centrifuges to speed up production.
Trump said during his election campaign in September, “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible, because indirect negotiations between US President Joe Biden’s administration and Tehran have failed.” We have to make a deal”.
In New Orleans, Louisiana, a pickup truck struck a crowd, killing at least 10 people and injuring 30 others, according to local police.
Following Wednesday’s incident on Canal and Bourbon Street, the New Orleans emergency preparedness programme, or NOLA Ready, advised people to stay away from the area.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters, “It did involve a man driving a pickup truck down Bourbon Street at a very fast pace. It was very intentional behavior.”
She continued, “This man was trying to run over as many people as he could possible… it wasn’t a DUI situation.” Kirkpatrick revealed that two police officers were shot by the perpetrator, noting that they were in “stable” condition.
Earlier, CBS News, citing witnesses, reported that a truck had crashed into the crowd at high speed, and then the driver got out and started firing a weapon, with police returning fire.
The incident, according to the mayor of New Orleans, was a “terrorist attack.”
Earlier, the New Orleans police said they were responding to the “mass casualty incident”, including deaths.
A vehicle that struck a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street is currently the subject of a mass casualty incident. There are 30 injured patients … and 10 fatalities”, NOLA Ready said in a statement.
Video obtained of the mass shooting in New Orleans, Bourbon Street. pic. twitter.com/sVIDSwpRhO
After gunshots ring out, videos that were shared online and verified by Al Jazeera show people fleeing the scene of the incident to safety.
The governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, urged people to stay away from the area where the attack took place, on Bourbon Street earlier this morning, according to a statement from the governor of Louisiana, on X.
According to NOLA Ready, the injured have been transported to at least five different hospitals.
The incident occurred just before the New Year’s Eve celebrations in New Orleans kicked off the Allstate Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Caesars Superdome, with thousands of people expected to be there.
At previous parades, there have been shootings and collisions between cars and crowds in New Orleans.
In two separate shootings along a parade route and celebration in New Orleans that were attended by thousands of people in November 2024, two people were killed and ten others were hurt, according to local media.
More than 20 people were hurt when a pickup truck driven by a man who police said appeared to be heavily intoxicated crashed into a crowd of spectators in New Orleans during the main Mardi Gras parade, injuring the crowd.
The country’s ivory coast is the newest African nation to have expelled France’s military. President Alassane Ouattara announced the “organized withdrawal” of French troops would start almost immediately in a televised address.
Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani has spoken exclusively to Al Jazeera about the new administration’s goals, orientation, and progress so far.
Al-Shibani, who was speaking to Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra on January 1st, was eager to discuss progress so far, speaking on the day after Bashar al-Assad was ousted.
The interim administration – led by the commander-in-chief, Ahmed al-Sharaa – is expected to hold talks on January 5 to discuss Syria’s future agenda at a crucial National Dialogue Conference, which will clarify a great deal about the path forward.
After a brutal wave of repression of protesters in 2011 that led to Syria spiralling into war, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States imposed sanctions on the al-Assad regime.
According to al-Shibani, the original goal was to convey a message of support to the Syrian people who were going through the oppressive regime.
But now, he argued, the main reason for them was gone, the thousands of detainees that al-Assad kept in “human slaughterhouses” around the country were free, and the country was working to repair the damage.
As such, “continuous enforcement]of sanctions] has become meaningless and ineffective”, al-Shibani noted.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the organization led by al-Sharaa, was given the $10 million reward for his contribution to the 2018 offensive against al-Assad, which may require the US to lift the sanctions.
However, Barbara Leaf, the US assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and other officials visited Damascus on December 20, after which she announced dropping the bounty and signalled Washington’s willingness to engage.
“We fully support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that results in an inclusive and representative government which respects the rights of all Syrians, including women, and Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities”, Leaf said.
According to al-Shibani, maintaining open communication and rebuilding relationships with outsiders are two of the new administration’s top priorities.
The top diplomat may be able to advance Syria’s readmission to the Arab League, according to Hashem Ahelbarra of Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia.
Relations with the US, he pointed out, would likely be crucial, but it remains to be seen how they would develop.
“Syria is open to all and ready to talk with any party today, but the US side’s decision will most likely determine how this administration develops.”
” We’re ready to enhance this relation as long as the new US administration shows willingness, “Ahelbarra said, referencing the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
He acknowledged that they had been brought up in discussions with the US, addressing the concerns non-Syrians frequently raised about the potential for violence against minorities in Syria.
However, he clarified, the new administration is determined to treat everyone as Syrians, not as groups of minorities.
“]A] n American focus on these issues, might inadvertently reinforce divisions within Syrian society and contribute to its fragmentation, “he said.
The new Syrian administration has made significant strides in terms of appealing to the international community, according to Muhanad Seloom of the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies.
He told Al Jazeera, “I think the Syrian administration has come a long way [and] also shown restraint in terms of protecting the ethnic groups in Syria,” he said.
Ahelbarra, a journalist for Al Jazeera, reported that Syrians will start asking their new caretaker government for support as al-Assad’s fall fades.
” Today is January 1, 2025, and from today, and in the upcoming days, people will start asking more questions about the challenges ahead.
“This new administration promised to increase government salaries by 40%.” However, the Assad regime’s coffers were empty when they took control of the central bank, he claimed.