US commemorates 9/11 attacks with victims in focus and politics in view

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US President Joe Biden has issued a proclamation honoring those who died as a result of the attacks, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Americans who volunteered for military service afterwards. (Reuters)
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US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, US President Joe Biden, former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and US Senator from Ohio and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance attend a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 terror attack, in New York on Sept. 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 11 September 2024
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US commemorates 9/11 attacks with victims in focus and politics in view

  • Fresh off their first-ever debate Tuesday night, Harris and Trump met again at the 9/11 observances at the World Trade Center in New York
  • Biden and Trump shook hands, and then the president and Harris stood only a few feet from Trump and Vance, with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg between them

NEW YORK: The US is remembering the lives taken and those reshaped by 9/11, marking an anniversary laced with presidential campaign politics as President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris stood together in the plaza where the twin towers once stood.
Sept. 11 — the date when hijacked plane attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001 — falls in the thick of the presidential election season every four years, and it comes at an especially pointed moment this time.
Fresh off their first-ever debate Tuesday night, Harris and Trump met again at the 9/11 observances at the World Trade Center in New York and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Trump and running mate Sen. JD Vance arrived at the trade center site around 8 a.m. and posed for photographs with some in the audience. Harris arrived with Biden about a half-hour later, to cheers of “Kamala!” from some audience members.
Biden and Trump shook hands, and then the president and Harris stood only a few feet from Trump and Vance, with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg between them.
But the political backdrop wasn’t top-of-mind for victims’ relatives such as Cathy Naughton, who came to the ceremony to honor her cousin Michael Roberts, one of hundreds of firefighters killed in the attack.
Twenty-three years later, “it’s just so raw,” she said. “We want to make sure people remember always, and say the names always and never forget.”
“Every year, it just doesn’t get easier,” she added.
Regardless of the campaign calendar, organizers of anniversary ceremonies have long taken pains to try to keep the focus on victims. For years, politicians have been only observers at ground zero observances, with the microphone going instead to relatives who read victims’ names aloud.
If politicians “care about what’s actually going on, great. Be here,” Korryn Bishop, who lost her cousin John F. McDowell Jr., said on her way into the ceremony. “If they’re just here for political clout, that upsets me.”
Biden, on the last Sept. 11 of his term and likely his half-century political career, was headed with Harris later to ceremonies in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, the three sites where commercial jets crashed after Al-Qaeda operatives took them over on Sept. 11, 2001. Trump also was due at the Flight 93 National Memorial near rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Officials later concluded that the aircraft that crashed there was headed toward Washington. It went down after crew members and passengers tried to wrest control from the hijackers.
The attacks killed 2,977 people and left thousands of bereaved relatives and scarred survivors. The planes carved a gash in the Pentagon, the US military headquarters, and brought down the trade center’s twin towers, which were among the world’s tallest buildings.
The catastrophe also altered US foreign policy, domestic security practices and the mindset of many Americans who had not previously felt vulnerable to attacks by foreign extremists.
Effects rippled around the world and through generations as the US responded by leading a ” Global War on Terrorism,” which included invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Those operations killed hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis and thousands of American troops, and Afghanistan became the site of the United States’ longest war.
As the complex legacy of 9/11 continues to evolve, communities around the country have developed remembrance traditions that range from laying wreaths to displaying flags, from marches to police radio messages. Volunteer projects also mark the anniversary, which Congress has titled both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
At ground zero, presidents and other officeholders read poems, parts of the Declaration of Independence and other texts during the first several anniversaries.
But that ended after the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum decided in 2012 to limit the ceremony to relatives reading victims’ names. Bloomberg was board chairman at the time and still is.
Politicians and candidates still have been able to attend the event. Many do, especially New Yorkers who held office during the attacks, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was then a US senator.
She and Trump overlapped at the ground zero 9/11 remembrance in 2016, and it became a fraught chapter in the narrative of that year’s presidential campaign.
Clinton, then the Democratic nominee, abruptly left the ceremony, stumbled while awaiting her motorcade and later disclosed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia a couple of days earlier. The episode stirred fresh attention to her health, which Trump had been questioning for months.
In 2008, then-senators and presidential campaign rivals John McCain and Barack Obama made a visible effort to put politics aside on the anniversary. They visited ground zero together to pay their respects and lay flowers in a reflecting pool at what was then still a pit.
To be sure, victims’ family members occasionally send their own political messages at the ceremony, where readers generally make brief remarks after finishing their assigned set of names.
Some relatives have used the forum to bemoan Americans’ divisions, exhort leaders to prioritize national security, acknowledge the casualties of the war on terror, complain that officials are politicizing 9/11 and even criticize individual officeholders.
But most readers stick to tributes and personal reflections. Increasingly they come from children and young adults who were born after the attacks killed a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle.
“Even though I never got to meet you, I feel like I’ve known you forever,” Annabella Sanchez said last year of her grandfather, Edward Joseph Papa. “We will always remember and honor you, every day.
“We love you, Grandpa Eddie.”


EU sanctions Iran over ballistic missiles for Russia

Updated 2 sec ago
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EU sanctions Iran over ballistic missiles for Russia

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and three airlines over allegations that they supplied drones, missiles and other equipment to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari is one of seven senior officials now banned from traveling in Europe and whose assets in the bloc were frozen. The EU said he “is involved in the development of Iran’s (drone) and missile program,” given his high-level defense role.
Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines had their assets frozen. The EU said their planes were “used repeatedly to transfer Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies to Russia, which have been used in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
EU foreign ministers endorsed the sanctions at a meeting in Luxembourg.
In March, the bloc had warned that “were Iran to transfer ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia for use against Ukraine, the EU would be prepared to respond swiftly, including with new and significant restrictive measures.”
EU member countries, with the exception of Hungary, have been supplying weapons and ammunition as well as economic and other support to Ukraine worth some 118 billion euros ($129 billion) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

UN refugee chief urges states to drop border controls even as displacement crises worsen

Updated 3 min 15 sec ago
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UN refugee chief urges states to drop border controls even as displacement crises worsen

  • More than 123 million people displaced around the world
  • Continued air strikes set to worsen Lebanon displacement
  • Calls for drastic increase in support for Sudanese refugees

GENEVA: The head of the UN refugee agency warned on Monday that displacement crises in Lebanon and Sudan could worsen, but said tighter border measures were not the solution, calling them ineffective and sometimes unlawful.
Addressing more than 100 diplomats and ministers in Geneva at UNHCR’s annual meeting, Filippo Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are now displaced around the world by conflicts, persecution, poverty and climate change.
“You might then ask: what can be done? For a start, do not focus only on your borders,” he said, urging leaders instead to look at the reasons people are fleeing their homes.
“We must seek to address the root causes of displacement, and work toward solutions,” he said. “I beg you all that we continue to work — together and with humility — to seize every opportunity to find solutions for refugees.”
Without naming countries, Grandi said initiatives to outsource, externalize or even suspend asylum schemes were in breach of international law, and he offered countries help in finding fair, fast and lawful asylum schemes.
Western governments are under growing domestic pressure to get tougher on asylum seekers and Grandi has previously criticized a plan by the former British government to transfer them to Rwanda.
In the same speech he warned that in Lebanon, where more than one million people have fled their homes due to a growing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the situation could worsen further.
“Surely, if airstrikes continue, many more will be displaced and some will also decide to move on to other countries.”
He called for a drastic increase in support for refugees in Sudan’s civil war, saying lack of resources was already driving them across the Mediterranean Sea and even across the Channel to Britain.
“In this lethal equation, something has got to give. Otherwise, nobody should be surprised if displacement keeps growing, in numbers but also in geographic spread,” he said.
The UNHCR response to the crisis that aims to help a portion of the more than 11 million people displaced inside Sudan or in neighboring countries is less than 1/3 funded, Grandi said.
The number of displaced people around the world has more than doubled in the past decade.
Grandi, set to serve as high commissioner until Dec. 2025, said the agency’s funding for this year had recently improved due to US support but remained “well below the needs.”


Scottish nationalist politician expelled by party over ‘utterly abhorrent’ Gaza remarks

Updated 26 min 3 sec ago
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Scottish nationalist politician expelled by party over ‘utterly abhorrent’ Gaza remarks

  • John Mason: Israel would have ‘killed 10 times as many’ people if it wanted to commit genocide
  • SNP spokesperson: ‘To flippantly dismiss the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable’

LONDON: A Scottish National Party politician has been expelled for “utterly abhorrent” comments about the war in Gaza, The Guardian reported.

John Mason, the member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Shettleston, said on social media in August: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed 10 times as many.”

It came in response to a post by former SNP colleague Sandra White, who wrote: “We know what Israelis hope to achieve they are already committing genocide in Gaza.” She added that “innocent children are being massacred.”

A party spokesperson said of Mason’s remarks: “To flippantly dismiss the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable. There can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance.”

Mason’s comments prompted a furious backlash from party supporters and colleagues, with former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford posting on X: “You are not fit for public office. You are an embarrassment and not fit to represent anyone.”

On Sunday, Mason said on X: “Very disappointed to be expelled from the SNP over my comments on Israel, Gaza, and whether or not there has been genocide.

“I continue to believe that we should be able to tolerate a variety of views within the party as long as we are all committed to Scottish independence.”

Mason posted on Facebook that he stood by his remarks, but that his “primary desire” for the conflict is “peace talks, negotiations, and eventually peace.”

He added: “Too many lives have already been lost in Israel, Gaza, and beyond and, as I said when I spoke in parliament, many people feel that Israel has moved from a position of self-defence to seeking revenge.

“However, I personally do not believe that Israel has tried to commit, has committed, or is committing genocide.

“They certainly have the ability to kill many more Palestinians than they have done. That is not to say that the loss of life already is not too many.”
 


Philippines seeks to enhance energy security with new Saudi cooperation

Updated 14 October 2024
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Philippines seeks to enhance energy security with new Saudi cooperation

  • Under national energy plan, Manila wants to increase renewable sources to 50 percent by 2040 
  • Saudi-Philippine cooperation can also explore tech, solutions related to climate change mitigation 

MANILA: The Philippines wants to expand its international energy partnerships and improve energy security with a new cooperation with Saudi Arabia, its Department of Energy said on Monday ahead of an official trip to the Kingdom.

Manila has been exploring clean and sustainable options to generate power as the country regularly suffers outages and faces high tariffs. Coal remains the main source of electricity in the Southeast Asian nation, accounting for more than half of its power generation. 

A Philippine energy mission was headed to Saudi Arabia on Monday for a two-day trip “aimed at enhancing energy security, driving economic growth, and fostering sustainable development,” the DoE said in a statement. 

“A major highlight of the mission is the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy of the KSA.” 

The latest mission follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trip to Riyadh last October, during which a $4.26 billion investment agreement was signed with Saudi business leaders. 

At the time, some Saudi state-owned enterprises had expressed interest in investing in the Philippine energy sector, the DoE said. 

The preliminary agreement will provide “a framework for cooperation on key areas,” including renewable energy and natural gas, as well as relevant technologies and solutions related to climate change mitigation. 

Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the government aims to increase the share of renewable sources in the energy mix from 22 percent currently to 50 percent by 2040. 

Philippine authorities expect the country’s power demand to increase almost fourfold from 2020 to 2040, especially as it remains dependent on imported fossil fuels and has insufficient renewables.

“Partnerships with Saudi Arabia extend beyond addressing the current energy needs,” the energy department said, adding that the two countries can explore possibilities for joint research and development projects, policy exchange, and capacity building in areas such as carbon capture, use and storage, and hydrogen.

“As global efforts to transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources intensify, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia can cooperate in the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies.”
 


Three Pakistani policemen killed in attack at police HQ

Updated 14 October 2024
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Three Pakistani policemen killed in attack at police HQ

  • Three assailants were killed by police

PESHAWAR: At least three policemen were killed in northwest Pakistan when Islamist militants stormed a district police headquarters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, a police source told Reuters.
The attack on the complex, which houses both the district police headquarters and a residential complex, was ongoing, the high-ranking police source said, adding that the assailants, who included suicide bombers, had been “pinned down” in the area.
Three assailants were killed by police, he added.
The source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said three policemen were killed while resisting the assault on the Police Lines of District Bannu, which borders the restive North Waziristan tribal district on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, a spokesperson for the group said.
The roads around the complex have been closed to traffic as security forces moved to neutralize the remaining attackers, the police source added.
Bannu is about 350 kilometers from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which is under strict security lockdown due to the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday ahead of a regional leaders’ meeting this week.