9/11 memorial news: Biden lays wreath at Pentagon as Trump teases 2024 run
Family members of victims read the names of those who died during the attacks
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Joe Biden visited the Pentagon to attend a wreath laying ceremony with First Lady Jill Biden. The president spent the majority of Saturday attending memorials, first at Ground Zero in New York, then at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and finally at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
Mr Biden praised former President George W Bush’s speech during an unannounced stop at a Shanksville, Pennsylvania fire department. Mr Biden commended Mr Bush for encouraging American unity, calling it “a genuinely good speech, about who we are, we’re not.” He went on to say that “he core of who we are is not divided, it’s just this notion of, I don’t know how to explain it.”
Former President Donald Trump did not visit Ground Zero Saturday to attend the 20th anniversary ceremony commemorating the 9/11 terror attacks. He did release a video earlier in the day attacking Joe Biden for the Afghanistan troop withdrawal, and later visited an NYPD precinct where he visited with police officers. During his visit to the police precinct he hinted that he would run for president again in 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President George W Bush addressed families at the United Airlines Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a memorial recognises passengers who brought down the plane after learning two others had been used to attack the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September, 2001.
An earlier ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center collapse in New York City recognised the victims who were killed, as the names of the nearly 3,000 victims were read aloud over several hours. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also attended the ceremony.
20 years of conflict and terror since 9/11
Chris Evans criticises Donald Trump for commentating on boxing match on anniversary of attacks
Captain America star Chris Evans has criticised former president Donald Trump for recording boxing commentary on the anniversary of 9/11.
Today marks 20 years since the terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre took place.
Trump is set to provide commentary at an exhibition boxing event, which will see the returns of David Haye, 40, and Evander Holyfield, 58.
Chris Evans condemns Trump for commentating on boxing match on anniversary of 9/11
‘Honestly, how, HOW do the people who support him square this?’
Watch live as New York commemorates 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks
Watch live as New York commemorates 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks
New York is marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people with a commemorative ceremony in the city.US President Joe Biden has already made an appeal to the nation to reclaim the spirit of cooperation that sprung up in the days following the terror attacks that took place in New York, Virginia as well as a plane that was downed in Pennsylvania as he commemorates those who died in the nation’s worst terror attack on their soil.
Sneha Philip: The mystery of the woman who disappeared on 9/11
Twenty years have passed since Sneha Anne Philip was last seen alive in New York City.
Within that time, she’s been included, removed and readded to the official 9/11 victims list, accounts of her actions have been given and retracted, and even her official date of death has been changed. The descriptions of her life and character given by police and her family are so markedly different, they could be about two entirely separate people.
In other words, even after after two decades, the fate of Sneha Philip remains a complete mystery, writes Helen Elfer.
Sneha Philip: The mystery of the woman who disappeared on 9/11
One of the listed victims of the terrorist attacks may not have been at Ground Zero at all
World leaders mark 9/11 anniversary with messages of support
World leaders including Emmanuel Macron and Queen Elizabeth have sent supportive messages to the US on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Mr Macron, the president of France, wrote on Twitter that his country will never forget the bombings, adding: “We will always fight for freedom.”
The Queen told Joe Biden that “my thoughts and prayers – and those of my family and the entire nation – remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty”.
Moon Jae-in, of South Korea, said earlier today his nation would remain a staunch supporter of Washington, adding that “no violence can win against peace and inclusiveness”.
In a memorial video message, Boris Johnson said: “The fact that we are coming together today, in sorrow but also in faith and resolve, demonstrates the failure of terrorism and the strength of the bonds between us.”
Voices: My firefighter fiancé dug people’s remains out the rubble after 9/11. His experience destroyed us
I met Mark* in the town we’d both grown up in during Thanksgiving in 2000. At the time, I’d just graduated from law school and my only goal was to become an attorney for children. “For once, follow your heart and not your mind,” my father said when I told him about my new love interest. “Do something for yourself. Don’t think about it — just do it.”
I moved to New York City, where Mark also lived, in April 2001, writes Dawn J Post.
It was only a few short months after I moved that I exited the subway near the Brooklyn promenade into eerie silence. The first plane had just hit the Towers across the water and I’d walked out into the immediate aftermath. The bright blue of the sky scarred by glittering glass was strangely beautiful as everyone stared up.
My firefighter fiancé dug people’s remains out the rubble after 9/11. It destroyed us
Today, despite all that happened, I choose to remember the incredible random acts of kindness from complete strangers during that time
Ceremonies to mark 9/11 in UK
Delegates from the US embassy in the UK have attended the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle where a minute’s silence was held to mark 20 years since 9/11.
Acting ambassador Philip T Reeker was among those present.
The Ministry of Defence has released a video of the US national anthem being played at the event.
Opinion: It’s been 20 years since 9/11, yet the west is still cherry-picking policy on Islamist terrorism
It’s been 20 years since the September 11 attacks, and “Islamist terrorism” and the goal of countering it have become a useful framework for governments across the globe to justify foreign and domestic policies and serve geopolitical goals, especially in the context of the Middle East.
Governments around the world have found in the notion of Islamist terrorism a convenient way to present themselves as a force of good in the face of the “evil terrorists” — and sometimes to justify pragmatic yet problematic behaviour, writes Lina Khatib.
Opinion: Two decades after 9/11, the west is still cherry-picking policy on terrorism
Today, the US is choosing to overlook the similarities between the Taliban and Isis in the name of American national interest. ‘Islamist terrorism’ is in the eye of the beholder
Sir Keir Starmer: 9/11 tragedy was ‘still so raw’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attended a private memorial service in the September 11 Memorial Garden in Grosvenor Square in London today.
He said the consequences of the attacks were “still being felt to this day”, adding the tragedy was “still so raw”.
Sir Keir said: “But as we mark this anniversary I’m convinced our resolve has never been stronger.
“We will continue to fight terror and violence, by promoting our values of justice and peace.”
In a tweet, he said that the 20th anniversary of 9/11 is a day to “remember” the 3,000 people who had died.
British 9/11 survivor: ‘I thought I was going to die'
A British survivor of the 9/11 attacks has recalled the day that she thought she was going to die in the World Trade Centre’s South Tower before escaping the building.
Janice Brooks worked for Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the tower, and had just moved to New York from London weeks before the attack. Sixty-one of her colleagues did not survive.
She said in an interview with LBC radio: “Eventually all the windows were black. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.
“I went and sat on the sofa, curled up my legs, and [I] was rocking backwards and forwards ... and I was crying. And I thought I was going to die; the building is going to fall for sure.”
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