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A court in India has acquitted all seven accused in a deadly bombing that struck a Muslim-majority town in Maharashtra state nearly 17 years ago, BBC reported.

At least six people were killed and nearly a hundred injured in the blasts that hit Malegaon in September 2008. 

Among the seven acquitted are Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a former MP of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and a serviceman, Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit. 

According to legal portal Live Law, the judge noted that the prosecution failed to prove the motorbike that allegedly triggered the blasts belonged to Thakur, according to BBC.

Israeli gunfire killed at least 30 Palestinianswaiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency, BBC reported.

A Gaza civil defence spokesperson told the AFP news agency that Israeli fire wounded around 300 more people. Israel said details of the incident "are still being examined".

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they fired "warning shots" after Gazans gathered around aid trucks 3km southwest of the Zikim crossing, but they were "not aware of any casualties" from IDF gunfire.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility had received 35 bodies following the incident, according to AFP.

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates unchanged at 4.25–4.5 percent on Wednesday, resisting pressure from President Trump to lower them. The decision came after a regular policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)—the Fed’s rate-setting body, Xinhua reported.

The Fed noted moderate economic growth, strong job market conditions, and slightly elevated inflation. US GDP grew 3 percent in Q2 after a 0.5 percent contraction in Q1, while consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in June, partly due to tariffs.

Two FOMC members supported a rate cut, and one abstained. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said no decision has been made for September and reaffirmed the Fed’s independence from political or fiscal pressures, according to Xinhua.

Australia’s parliament on Thursday passed a law to cut student loans by 20%, wiping more than A$16 billion ($10.31 billion) in debt for 3 million people, and fulfilling a key election promise to help mitigate the rising cost of living, Reuters reported.

The law is the first passed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party since being re-elected in May with one of the country's largest-ever majorities.

“We promised cutting student debt would be the first thing we did back in parliament – and that’s exactly what we've done,” Albanese said in a statement, according to Reuters.

“Getting an education shouldn't mean a lifetime of debt.”