The community impacted by the deadly New Year's Eve attack in the U.S. city of New Orleans has expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and emphasized togetherness and resilience in their moment of grief.
Memorials for the victims have sprung up across the city to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and those who were injured, including prayer candles bearing their images and murals communicating messages of hope and love.
Less than 48 hours after the deadly attack on historic Bourbon Street in the city's French Quarter, the street was back to business as usual and the popular tourist address reopened to the public. But victim's families and the wider community say they won't forget the devastating start to 2025.
"I think we'll be okay, but it's just another loss for us. I'm saddened. I hate that our city, once again, has another crisis. Well, it will be togetherness as a city coming together. It'll be sad. That's how we come together in tragedy," said a resident.
"It's important for us to get together and to send a message to those families that we are united, we are resilient and somehow we overcome the situation," said another resident.
In the early hours of Wednesday, a man drove a pickup truck into New Year revelers in New Orleans in the southern state of Louisiana, resulting in 15 deaths.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released new details about the investigation on Sunday, including the suspect's whereabouts leading up to the attack.
Current evidence indicates that the suspect acted alone. However, the FBI is looking into potential accomplices, noting that the investigation remains in its early stages.
New Orleans communities call for unity after tragic truck attack
New Orleans communities call for unity after tragic truck attack
China's service industry maintained steady growth in the first 11 months of the year, with the services production index up 5.6 percent year on year, official data showed.
As investors pile into high-tech services and the potential of service consumption continues to be unleashed, the tertiary sector is playing an increasing role in supporting the national economic growth, according to the authorities.
The business activity indices for rail transport, monetary financial services and other industries were all above 55 percent in the expansion range in November.
Investment in high-tech services industries rose by 4.1 percent in the first 11 months, which is 0.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the same period last year.
Particularly, investment in information services industries surged by 29.6 percent in the period.
From January to November, the retail sales of services grew faster than the retail sales of goods, seeing a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percent and a growth rate recovery for three consecutive months.
The retail sales of cultural, sports and recreational services, and communication and information services both recorded double-digit year-on-year growths in the period.
"The structural upgrading of industries, especially the continuous growth of new industrial drivers, has effectively driven the expansion of modern producer services. In the meantime, the sustained release of service consumption demand has also driven the overall upgrading of modern consumer services. Currently, the added value of China's service sector accounts for about 60 percent of GDP and contributes also about 60 percent to national economic growth, providing strong support for the stable operation of the entire national economy," said Zou Yunhan, deputy director of the Macroeconomic Research Office of the State Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission.
China’s service industry maintains steady growth in Jan-Nov
