Politics
New York marks 24 years since 9/11 attacks against divided backdrop

- VP Vance and victims’ families attend memorial events at Ground Zero.
- Nearly 3,000 people killed in coordinated attacks on World Trade Centre.
- Moment of silence, bell tolls at 8:46am to mark time Flight 11 hit North Tower.
New York prepared to mark the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001 on Thursday, 24 years after the deadly plane hijackings that claimed almost 3,000 lives and forever changed the United States.
Vice President JD Vance was expected to attend memorial events at Ground Zero in Manhattan where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed in coordinated attacks that also saw a jetliner crashed into the nerve center of American military power, the Pentagon in Washington.
Another jet, Flight 93, crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside when passengers overran the hijacker and took control of the aircraft.
This year’s gathering takes place against a backdrop of sharp political division both in the city and nationally.
New York is in the grip of an unprecedented mayoral election campaign in which socialist Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing off against former governor Andrew Cuomo and sitting mayor Eric Adams.
New Yorkers go to the polls on November 4.
It was unclear which of the mayoral candidates would attend the ceremony that is always attended by the sitting mayor as well as community leaders.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, a Muslim and naturalised US citizen, calling him a “communist lunatic,” while one Republican lawmaker has called for the race’s frontrunner to be deported.
Mamdani holds a 22 point lead in the race, according to the latest polling from The New York Times and Siena.
“It was this horrific day that was also for many New Yorkers the moment at which they were marked an ‘other’,” Mamdani told The Times, describing the surge in Islamophobic attacks that followed 9/11.
It was unclear if Trump would attend New York’s commemorative events as he has in years past.
The United States has faced a rash of political violence in recent months, with the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk following the targeted killing of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and the firebombing of a Democratic governor’s residence.
New York will mark a citywide moment of silence at 8:46am (1246 GMT), the time that hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Centre.
Places of worship across the city will sound their bells to mark the impact as families of the victims read the names of those killed at ground zero.
The official death toll was 2,977 including the passengers and crew of the four hijacked planes, victims in the twin towers, firefighters, and personnel at the Pentagon. The death toll excludes the 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers.
Politics
Higher US tariffs on imported furniture

Steeper US tariffs on some imported furniture items took effect Thursday, in a move that could add pressure on households already feeling the pinch from elevated costs of living.
The increase was planned under an earlier tranche of sector-specific tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, as the US leader widened a slate of duties he has rolled out since returning to the White House.
Trump’s tariffs in 2025 have affected goods ranging from steel to autos, and more investigations — that could lead to even more levies — are underway.
In October, a 10-percent duty on imported softwood timber and lumber came into effect, along with a 25-percent duty on certain upholstered furniture and kitchen cabinets.
These tariffs, justified by the Trump administration as a means to boost US industries and protect national security, also included a planned increase come January 1, 2026.
Effective Thursday, the rate on certain upholstered furniture rises to 30 percent, while that on kitchen cabinets and vanities doubles to 50 percent.
The measure is likely to impact imports from countries like Vietnam and China, which have been key suppliers of imported furniture to the United States.
But the tariff levels for wood products from Britain will not exceed 10 percent, while those from the European Union and certain other trading partners who reached deals with Washington face a 15-percent ceiling.
Products subject to sector-specific tariffs are also not doubly hit by countrywide “reciprocal” levies that Trump has separately imposed, which are in some cases higher.
The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of these countrywide tariffs, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
But the high court’s eventual decision does not affect sector-specific duties.
Politics
Several dead in explosion at Swiss ski resort town Crans Montana

GENEVA: Several people were killed and others injured when an explosion ripped through a bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans Montana, Swiss police said early Thursday.
“There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesman in Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland told AFP.
“There are several injured, and several dead.”
He said the explosion took place at around 1:30am (0030 GMT) in a bar called Le Constellation, which is popular with tourists, as revellers rang in the new year.
Images published by Swiss media showed a building in flames, and emergency services nearby.
“The intervention is still ongoing,” he said.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.
Politics
Fireworks light up skies worldwide as 2026 begins
Fireworks lit up midnight skies above landmarks from Sydney Harbour Bridge to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, as cities around the world rang in the New Year and welcomed 2026 with dazzling displays watched by huge crowds.
Night skies are lighting up with New Year’s fireworks as people across the globe usher in 2026.
It takes roughly 26 hours for the new year to be welcomed across 39 different time zones.
































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