Algeria buries independence hero Hocine Ait-Ahmed

The ceremony near the mountain village in the Kabyle region was converted into a scene of chaos by surging crowds of chanting mourners. 

Hocine Ait-Ahmed was one of the first to rebel against French rule in 1954, sparking the war of independence. 

Years later, he was forced into exile. He died on Wednesday in Switzerland aged 89.

Ait-Ahmed was the last of nine heroes of the independence war to die.

A state funeral was held in the Algerian capital on Thursday, which was broadcast live on TV.

However, his family refused to allow him to be buried alongside the other heroes in Algiers.

Instead, the burial took place in his home village 110km (70 miles) east of Algiers.

Ait-Ahmed had been a prominent critic of the military's control over the political system after independence from France in 1962.

Crowds attending his burial shouted "Algeria free and democratic", the slogan of the Front of Socialist Forces party founded by Ait-Ahmed.

The party remains active in the political opposition.

New Delhi starts limiting cars for 2 weeks to clear air

The Indian capital on Friday kicked off a sweeping plan to reduce its record-high air pollution by limiting the numbers of cars on the streets for two weeks.

On Friday morning, the average PM2.5 levels for New Delhi were over 297. That is a relatively low number for New Delhi in winter, but is still about 15 times higher than the WHO standard of 20.

These inhalable particles are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, small enough to penetrate deep into lungs and cause maximum damage.

New Delhi is testing a formula where private cars will be allowed on the roads only on alternate days from Jan. 1-15, depending on whether their license plates end in an even or an odd number.

On Friday, most cars appeared to be following the rules and traffic was a trickle compared to the usual rush-hour chaos. But with schools and colleges shut, and many offices closed for the New Year's holiday, it was not clear how much of the reduced traffic was the result of the new regulations.

Monday, the first regular workday since the plan began, will be a clearer test of whether New Delhi's notoriously rule-averse drivers will comply, and how much the city's already-overburdened public transit system can help.

The city government last week announced a number of exemptions to the new rules, including top politicians, judges, police officials, women, sick people and motorcycles. Still, the plan represented the most dramatic effort the city has undertaken to combat pollution since a court order in 1998 mandated that all public transport use compressed natural gas.

Police appeared to be purposefully keeping a low profile Friday. Except for a handful of major intersections, where police and civil defense volunteers set up checkpoints to watch for wrong-numbered license plates, there was little official presence on the roads at all.

When cars were pulled over, the result was almost always a warning, not the $30 fine that has been announced.

"Today we are just educating drivers," Assistant Sub Inspector Krishan Singh told the driver of an Associated Press vehicle — with the wrong license plate number — when it was eventually pulled over.

Police officials said they do not have enough staff to properly enforce the rule.

Arvind Kejriwal, the city's top elected official and the architect of the plan, told reporters that he was "overwhelmed" by the response to the new rules.

People "seem to have accepted this anti-pollution drive with an open heart," said Kejriwal, who said recently that the plan would be scrapped if it inconvenienced too many people.

The World Health Organization last year named New Delhi the world's most polluted city. The pollution is at its worst in the winter, when winds die down and dense smog often engulfs the city in the morning.

Delhi has an estimated 7.5 million registered vehicles, including many that run on highly polluting diesel. The pollution is fed by construction dust, ash from crop waste burned in nearby farming areas and sand from the Thar desert.

Plans to lower the city's pollution levels included shutting down one of the oldest and least-efficient power plants, a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel vehicles and a stiff toll for pollution-spewing trucks entering the Indian capital.

The Supreme Court earlier this month also banned trucks from entering the city if they are over 10 years old. In addition, taxis have to switch to compressed natural gas by March 31.

Environmental expert Anumita Raichaudury said that it was good that the city at least now has a plan to react to high pollution levels.

"It's important to clamp down by taking at least 50 percent of the vehicles off the roads for an immediate impact," Raichaudury said.

However, it remains unclear if the city would use the rules to improve air quality when pollution reaches hazardous levels.

Facebook glitch invites young people to celebrate '46 years of friendship'

Facebook's making some of its users feel a lot older than they really are.

The social network sent automated messages Thursday inviting some users to celebrate "46 years of friendship on Facebook" with one or more of their online friends.

That's odd, since Facebook only started in 2004. And some people who got the message are in their 20s and 30s.

Facebook blamed a software bug. It didn't offer details, but computer experts speculate the problem stems from a quirk in Unix, an operating system used in big data centers where companies like Facebook store information. The glitch starts the internal calendar on some computers at midnight, Greenwich Mean Time, Jan. 1, 1970.

Facebook said its engineers are fixing the problem "so everyone can ring in 2016 feeling young again."

31,000 Louisianans set to lose food stamp benefits on Jan. 1

Joanika Davis relies on the $194 per month she receives in food stamp benefits every month to help her get by as she searches for employment.

But on Jan. 1, Davis is set to lose that financial lifeline — one of approximately 31,000 Louisianians set to suffer as a result of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s decision to reinstate the work requirement for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in his state.

SNAP rules typically allow full benefits to single able-bodied adults only if they have jobs or are enrolled in a job-training program. Otherwise, they may access food stamp benefits for no more than three months every three years. States with high unemployment can apply for a federal waiver, dropping that work requirement and allowing single adults to access full benefits regardless of their job status.

Since the beginning of the Great Recession, nearly every state in the country sought and was granted a federal waiver at some point. But recently, a number of states with Republican governors have allowed their waivers to expire, citing improved economic circumstances and a desire to get their food stamp recipients back to work. Jindal, a Republican, allowed Louisiana’s waiver to lapse on Oct. 1.

“We continue to seek opportunities for SNAP recipients to increase their self-sufficiency. Engaging in work activities is a key step in that transition,” said Suzy Sonnier, the head of Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services, in a Sept. 30 statement.

Starting in January, Davis, who told Al Jazeera that she is still hunting for a job, will have to find ways to make up a monthly shortfall of nearly $200. “Why should I have to fight for food right now?” she asked. “Why should I have to fight to drink water?"

And it is not only people in Louisiana who are losing out.

Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming have recently allowed the work requirement to be reimposed, leaving 28 states with their food stamp waivers intact in fiscal year 2016.

The people affected by the reinstatement of the work requirement tend to be among the poorest of the poor, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an economic think tank. In 2014 able-bodied, childless, unemployed adults on food stamps had an average of $2,200 in gross income, the center found.

It also found that states that reimpose the work requirement tend to see a sudden sharp drop in SNAP participants, suggesting that thousands of unemployed recipients are unable to find work and maintain their eligibility.

“The idea that anybody is choosing not to work because of $190 dollars a month in food stamps — that’s really kind of a stereotype,” said Steve Spires, a senior policy analyst for the Louisiana Budget Project. “The reality is a lot of people want to work. There simply aren’t jobs. And with the price of oil going down and more job losses, it’s getting worse.”

In Louisiana, at least, the reimposition of the work requirement may prove temporary. John Bel Edwards, the Democrat who will succeed Jindal as governor on Jan. 11, has vowed to request a federal waiver on his first day in office. He has written to Sonnier and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, asking that they work to prevent childless unemployed adults in Louisiana from experiencing a gap in their benefits.

Syria underground theatre tells stories of hope

In the Syrian city of Aleppo, battered by air strikes, actors invite people to a secret underground hiding place to put on their latest work.

It is a play about the dreams of a nation hoping for a brighter future. But it ends up being a portrayal of helpless Syrians left on their own facing death at home or uncertainty in exile.

NY man arrested for ISIL support, case built on confidential sources

On the last day of a year in which an unprecedented number of people have been charged with crimes linked to terrorism, federal authorities announced the arrest of a 25-year old man from western New York State for allegedly attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Emanuel Lutchman, of Rochester, New York, was arrested Dec. 30 for allegedly swearing allegiance to ISIL and claiming responsibility for an upcoming attack.

He could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

“He planned to kill innocent civilians on New Year’s Eve in the name of the terrorist organization,” said U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin. “Thankfully, law enforcement was able to intervene and thwart Lutchman's deadly plans.”

Law enforcement has been criticized in the past for allegedly using informants with problematic histories to help individuals under suspicion devise and attempt criminal activities and for appearing to target suspects who have a history of mental illness or are otherwise vulnerable.

The case of Emanuel Lutchman appears on the surface to raise some of those concerns and to hinge on the work of at least three confidential informants.

Undated photo of Emanuel Lutchman, of Rochester, N.Y. 

New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision / AP

According to the criminal complaint, Lutchman was communicating with an “overseas individual”  — a “brother” with ISIL. Because Lutchman did not have someone who could vouch for him with the organization, he would have to “prove” himself and could do this by planning an operation on New Year’s Eve or “whenever he can, and kill 1,000,000s [millions] of kuffar,” or nonbelievers.

Lutchman indicated that he wanted to target a club or bar and said he and one of the individuals identified in the complaint as a confidential source could “sneak a bomb” in or could kidnap a “couple of people and kill them,” the complaint said.

Lutchman said he “does not have any funds,” although he said he could buy masks for disguise for $5. One of the confidential sources though spent $40 on supplies for the operation, including “ski masks, zip-ties, 2 knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves,” the complaint said.

Confidential sources or informants provided “reliable” information in the case, the complaint said. The footnotes to the complaint noted, however, that one confidential source identified was paid $19,784 by law enforcement.

A second source, the person who bought the supplies, was paid $7,400. This source has a prior felony conviction and a prior misdemeanor conviction, but his information was said to be “corroborated” and “accurate.”

A third source told Lutchman he would not take part in the operation, which made Lutchman think about “stopping the operation cuz (sic) I was trusting” this source, the complaint quoted Lutchman as saying.

Lutchman, a Muslim convert, has a criminal history dating back to 2006, including serving about five years in prison for robbery. He also has previous arrests related to mental health issues.

It remains to be seen if Lutchman’s arrest was “the excellent work” of law enforcement, as U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York said. Or if this is a case of the government overstating the threat that Lutchman posed.

Indian Air Force base attacked by gunmen in Punjab

Combing operation is under way at the base located about 50km from the Pakistan border [Reuters]

A group of gunmen has attacked an Indian Air Force (IAF) base in the northwestern state of Punjab that borders Pakistan, local officials said.

Four of the gunmen were killed in a shoot-out with security forces early on Saturday morning. Exchange of fire has ended and combing operation is under way at the base, located about 50km from the Pakistan border.

The air base has been cordoned off and heavy police deployment is in the area, with elite paramilitary force of National Security Guard (NSG) and the Guard Commando Force called in at the spot. 

Helicopters have also been dispatched to the IAF base for assistance in the operation.

It is believed that at least two Indian soldiers were also killed.

A senior Indian police officer said that red alert has been issued across Punjab state, where the incident occurred.

Al Jazeera's Faiz Jamil, reporting from New Delhi, said the attack began at around 3.30am local time (22:00 GMT) and that the attackers had entered the base wearing military uniforms.

"Officials are not sure yet who these gunmen are," he said, adding that officials were saying that the remaining attackers had been contained to a non-operational area of the base.

According to early accounts, the attack resembled a similar raid last year by gunmen on a border town in Punjab that killed nine people.

India blamed that attack on assailants who had infiltrated from Pakistan.

The latest attack is likely to deal a blow to attempts to revive political dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impromptu visit to Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in late December.

One Indian home ministry official said Punjab and Jammu states were on high alert and all defence bases had been sealed.

"Attacking an air base is a serious security threat. The new strategy of the terrorists is to identify defence bases near the border and launch attacks," said the official, who was not authorised to comment on the record.