New York marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

New York commemorated the 25th anniversary of the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001 on Friday with a ceremony marred by controversy over President Donald Trump’s absence, and right-wing outrage over the attendance of the city’s first Muslim mayor. In an unusual move, Trump paid his respects at the Pentagon, rather than joining the event in New York, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Centre and killed most of the 2,977 total victims on that world-altering day. Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s four living predecessors — Republican George W. Bush, who was in office during the attacks, and Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — were gathering at the Ground Zero site in lower Manhattan. The ceremony, which began just after 8:40am (5:40pm PKT), was designed to be apolitical, with no speeches.

(From L to R) Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former US president Bill Clinton, former first lady Michelle Obama, and former US president Barack Obama attend the 25th anniversary commemoration of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the National September 11 Memorial in New York, the US on September 11, 2026. — AFP Bereaved family members were reading out the names of all of those killed, with a bell tolling to mark major moments of the attack, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars and bitter controversy over Washington’s human rights record. “Memorials like this and discussions about those events are an important part of keeping it alive and understanding how we prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” said Robert Kafka, a Chicagoan in his 60s visiting the 9/11 Memorial. Alongside the former presidents was Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the Big Apple’s first Muslim mayor. He faced a well-organised…