World

Tears, Tributes As Americans Remember 9/11

Published

1 year ago

September 12, 2023

Eric

From ground zero to small towns, Americans looked back Monday on 9/11 with moments of silence, tearful words and appeals to teach younger generations about the terror attacks 22 years before.

“For those of us who lost people on that day, that day is still happening. Everybody else moves on. And you find a way to go forward, but that day is always happening for you,” Edward Edelman said as he arrived at New York’s World Trade Center to honor his slain brother-in-law, Daniel McGinley.

President Joe Biden was due at a ceremony on a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. His visit, en route to Washington from a trip to India and Vietnam, is a reminder that the impact of 9/11 was felt in every corner of the nation, however remote. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes crashed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, in an attack that reshaped American foreign policy and domestic fears.

On that day, “we were one country, one nation, one people, just like it should be. That was the feeling — that everyone came together and did what we could, where we were at, to try to help,” Eddie Ferguson, the fire-rescue chief in Virginia’s Goochland County, said in an interview before the anniversary.

The predominantly rural county of 25,000 people, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Pentagon, has a Sept. 11 memorial and holds two anniversary commemorations, one focused on first responders and another honoring all the victims.

At ground zero, Vice President Kamala Harris joined other dignitaries at the ceremony on the National Sept. 11 Memorial plaza. Instead of remarks from political figures, the event features victims reading the names of the dead and delivering brief personal messages.

Some included patriotic declarations about American values and thanked first responders and the military. One lauded the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader and 9/11 plotter Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Another appealed for peace and justice. One acknowledged the many lives lost in the post-9/11 “War on Terror.” And many shared reflections on missing loved ones.

“Though we never met, I am honored to carry your name and legacy with me,” said Manuel João DaMota Jr., who was born after his father and namesake died.

Jason Inoa, 20, found it nerve-wracking to tell the crowd about his grandfather, Jorge Velazquez. But Inoa did it for his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

“The one thing she does remember is her husband,” he said afterward.

Biden, a Democrat, will be the first president to commemorate Sept. 11 in the western U.S. He and his predecessors have gone to one or another of the attack sites in most years, though Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama each marked the anniversary on the White House lawn at times. Obama followed one of those observances by recognizing the military with a visit to Fort Meade in Maryland.

First lady Jill Biden is due to lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon, where a giant American flag hung over the side of the building, bells tolled, and musicians played taps at 9:37 a.m., the time when one of the hijacked jets hit the military headquarters.

“As the years go by, it may feel that the world is moving on or even forgetting what happened here on Sept. 11, 2001,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who deployed to Iraq in the war that followed the attack. “But please know this: The men and women of the Department of Defense will always remember.”

Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is expected at an afternoon ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where another plane crashed after passengers tried to storm the cockpit.

At a morning observance, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 worshippers in 2018, called for ensuring that younger people know about 9/11.

“With memory comes responsibility, the determination to share our stories with this next generation, so that through them, our loved ones continue to live,” he told the gathering.

The National Park Service-run memorial site is offering a new educational video, virtual tour and other materials for classroom use. Educators with a total of more than 10,000 students have registered for access, organizers say.

Many Americans did volunteer work on what Congress has designated both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Others gathered for anniversary events at memorials, firehouses, city halls, campuses and elsewhere.

In Iowa, a march set off at 9:11 a.m. Monday from the Des Moines suburb of Waukee to the state Capitol. In Columbus, Indiana, observances include a remembrance message sent to police, fire and EMS radios. Pepperdine University’s campus in Malibu, California, displays one American flag for each victim, plus the flags of every other country that lost a citizen on 9/11.

New Jersey’s Monmouth County, which was home to some 9/11 victims, this year made Sept. 11 a holiday for county employees so they could attend commemorations.

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts raise and lower the flag at a commemoration in Fenton, Missouri, where a “Heroes Memorial” includes steel from the World Trade Center’s fallen twin towers and a plaque honoring Jessica Leigh Sachs, a 9/11 victim with relatives among the St. Louis suburb’s 4,000 residents.

“We’re just a little bitty community,” Mayor Joe Maurath said by phone before the anniversary, but “it’s important for us to continue to remember these events. Not just 9/11, but all of the events that make us free.”

– Agency Report

USA

Former US President, Jimmy Carter, Dies at 100

Published

19 hours ago

December 29, 2024

Eric

A former President of the United States, the 39th in the series, who was also a former peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter, has died at the age of 100.

According to FOX News, his death, which was announced by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, comes months after he entered hospice care in February 2023.

Carter’s passing follows that of his wife, Rosalynn, who died on 19 November 2023 at the age of 96.

The former president battled health challenges for years, including liver cancer diagnosed in 2015, which had spread throughout his body.

His survival defied expectations, despite a family history of cancer. His father, brother, and two sisters died from pancreatic cancer, while his mother’s breast cancer eventually spread to her pancreas.

Jason Carter, his grandson, revealed in May that the former president was nearing the end of his life’s journey, but Jimmy Carter continued to endure.

Africa

Mozambique Prison Break: 33 Persons Killed, 1500 Inmates Escape

Published

4 days ago

December 26, 2024

Eric

A suspected riot inside a jail in Mozambique’s capital has left at least 33 people dead and 15 injured, while more than 1,500 prisoners escaped, authorities said.

Police General Commander, Bernardino Rafael, confirmed on Wednesday that 150 of the prisoners who fled the prison in Maputo have been recaptured.

Mozambique is experiencing escalating civil unrest linked to October’s disputed election, which extended long-ruling party Frelimo’s stay in power. Opposition groups and their supporters claim the vote was rigged.

While Rafael blamed protests outside the prison for encouraging the riot, Justice Minister Helena Kida told local private broadcaster Miramar TV that the unrest was started inside the prison and had nothing to do with protests outside.

“The confrontations after that resulted in 33 deaths and 15 injured in the vicinity of the jail,” Rafael told a media briefing.

The identities of those killed and injured were unclear.

A report by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said the prisoners overpowered guards and seized AK-47 rifles, allowing them to escape the correctional facility.

Mozambican journalist, Clemente Carlos, told SABC that the escapees likely took advantage of the Christmas holiday season, when fewer guards were on duty compared with regular working days.

“This shocking incident raises urgent questions about the state of security and the justice system in Mozambique,” Adriano Nuvunga, director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, wrote on X on Wednesday.

“Now, more than ever, it is critical for authorities, civil society, and international partners to collaborate to ensure public safety and address the systemic challenges that led to this situation.”

Meanwhile, at least 21 people, including two police officers, were confirmed dead during two days of violence over election results on Monday and Tuesday, including attacks on petrol stations, police stations, and banks.

The fatalities brought the death toll in the country to 151 since October 21, according to Plataforma Decide, an election monitoring group.

Al Jazeera

USA

Trump Insists on Mass Deportation, Unveils Early Agenda

Published

3 weeks ago

December 11, 2024

Eric

The President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has vowed to make good on his election promises of mass deportations and new tariffs in his first television interview since his re-election.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump reiterated his intention to deport every person who had entered the US without authorisation.

“I think you have to do it, and it’s a very tough thing to do, but you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally,” Trump said.

“You know, the people who have been treated unfairly are the people who have been waiting on line for 10 years to come into the country.”

Trump said he was willing to work with Democrats to keep so-called “Dreamers”– undocumented people who came to the US as children and have lived in the US most of their lives – in the country but also suggested that US citizens could be deported along with their undocumented family members.

“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” Trump said. “So the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”

Trump also reiterated his intention to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.

Amending the Constitution is a lengthy and difficult process involving Congress and all 50 states, but Trump said he was exploring options including an “executive action” to end what he called a “ridiculous” right.

“I’m looking to make our country great. I’m looking to bring down prices because I won on two things… I won on the border, and I won on groceries,” he said.

Trump said that while he “can’t guarantee” that his plan to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico would not push up prices, tariffs would ultimately help the US economy.

“I’m a big believer in tariffs. Tariffs are beautiful. They’re going to make us rich,” he said.

“Why are we subsidising these countries? If we’re going to subsidise them, let them become a State.”

During the interview, Trump also discussed plans to pull back on US support for Ukraine and said Kyiv should “probably” prepare for less aid.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Washington has approved nearly $183bn in military, humanitarian and other assistance to Ukraine, according to US government data.

Outgoing President Joe Biden has pledged a further $988m in aid and an additional $925m before he leaves office on January 20.

The Republican said he was “actively” trying to end the war in Ukraine but would not confirm how recently he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has spoken about with admiration in the past.

“I don’t want to say anything that could impede the negotiation,” he said.

Trump said that the US would only remain in NATO if members “pay their bills” and if its majority European members “treat the US fairly” by expanding bilateral trade.

The president-elect also said that if he had remained in the White House after the 2020 election, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza would have never happened.

Trump and many of his supporters claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” by Biden and the Democrats.

Anger over the election results later led Trump supporters to storm the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, in a failed bid to overturn the vote.

During his interview, Trump said he would consider pardoning the 944 people who received criminal sentences for their role in the uprising.

Among them, 562 had been sentenced to prison time as of August, according to the US Justice Department.

“I’m going to look at everything. We’ll look at individual cases, but I’m going to be acting very quickly… the first day,” Trump said.

“These people have been in prison three to four years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”

Trump said that lawmakers who took part in a Congressional investigation into the events of January 6 should go to prison, although he stopped short of saying he would direct the FBI to investigate.

Trump also said he would not stop his chosen FBI director, Kash Patel, from investigating the so-called “deep state”.

“If they think that somebody was dishonest or crooked or a corrupt politician, I think he probably has an obligation to do so,” Trump said.

Trump sidestepped questions about whether he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden, although he separately accused the outgoing president of weaponising the justice system against him.

“I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success,” Trump said.