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Agence France-Presse

US President Joe Biden called Monday for Americans to unite despite bitter political differences as the United States marked the 22nd anniversary of al-Qaeda’s September 11 attacks.
Bells were rung and the names of nearly 3,000 people were read out in sombre ceremonies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania where the hijacked planes struck.
“Let’s honour September 11 by renewing our faith in one another,” said Biden, speaking at a US military base in Anchorage, Alaska as he travelled back from a trip to India and Vietnam.
“We must never lose our sense of national unity, so let that be the common cause of our time.”

Speaking in front of a huge flag, Biden added that “terrorism, including political and ideological violence, is the opposite of all we stand for as a nation”.
His speech comes as the United States is increasingly polarised, with tensions likely to increase as Biden, a Democrat, heads into a likely election rematch next year with Republican former president Donald Trump.
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Trump has been indicted four times since April, including for efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, with the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack by his supporters still fresh in the public’s memory.
In New York, Vice-President Kamala Harris and current and former mayors joined victims’ families at the September 11 memorial on the site of the World Trade Center twin towers brought down by two aircraft flown by hijackers.
The names of the more than 2,600 who died in New York were read out by family members and young relatives not alive at the time of the attack.
“I wish I had a chance to really know you. Everyone in the family misses you. We will never forget,” said the grandson of firefighter Allan Tarasiewicz, who was killed at age 45 during rescue operations at the World Trade Centre.
At the Pentagon in Washington, where the attackers plunged a third aircraft into the headquarters of the US military, a sailor rang a ship’s bell for each of the 184 killed there.

And in western Pennsylvania, where a fourth hijacked plane apparently heading toward Washington was forced to crash, bells were rung for each of the 40 passengers and crew who died.
“September 11 made America a nation at war, and hundreds of thousands stepped up to serve our country in uniform,” Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon ceremony.
“I know that it aches to remember this milestone year after year … The men and women of the Department of Defence will always remember.”
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Across New York City, in Congress and elsewhere, a moment of silence was held to mark the attack, plotted by al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was found and killed nearly a decade later by US Navy Seals in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan.
Biden noted in his speech that he himself had given the order for bin Laden’s successor Ayman al-Zawahiri to be sent to the “gates of hell” last year in an air strike in Afghanistan.
“The soul of America is the fortitude we found in the fear of that terrible September day,” he added.
“The terrorists believed they could bring us to our knees, bend our will, break our resolve. But they were wrong, they were dead wrong.”


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United States

Joe Biden urges ‘national unity’ as US marks September 11 attacks

The September 11 memorial in New York. Photo: AP

US President Joe Biden at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. Photo: TNS

A US flag is unfurled from the Pentagon roof to mark the 22nd anniversary of September 11 attacks. Photo: Reuters

Afghanistan is the fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, UN drug agency says

Afghan officials destroy narcotics and other illegal substances during a ceremony in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

Afghans consume drugs, mostly heroin and methamphetamines, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: AP 

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have clamped down on the decades-old, lucrative trade in poppy tar -- the psychoactive substance in heroin. File photo: AP

US President Biden hails closer ties with Vietnam: ‘critical partners, critical time’

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Vietnam’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Hanoi on Sunday. Photo: AP

A sculpture in Vietnam depicts the capture of US Navy pilot and politician John McCain, whose plane was shot down in the Vietnam war. US President Joe Biden will also use his visit to Hanoi to pay tribute to the late McCain, ahead of the 2024 election. Photo: AFP

A T-shirt with an image of US President Joe Biden in a souvenir shop in Hanoi ahead of his visit. Photo: AFP

First 2024 Republican presidential debate: key takeaways from event Trump snubbed

Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy at the first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: AFP

Former US vice-president Mike Pence and Vivek Ramaswamy debate each other across Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Photo: Reuters

The eight Republican presidential candidates at the first debate. Photo: AP

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was the only woman. Photo: AFP

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gets his makeup touched up. Photo: Reuters

South China Sea: US, Vietnam jointly reject ‘threat or use of force’ to settle disputes

Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party (right) at a welcome ceremony for US President Joe Biden (left) in Hanoi on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party (front right), at a welcome ceremony for US President Joe Biden (front left) in Hanoi on Sunday. Photo: AP

News

World

United States & Canada

Breaking with tradition, US President Joe Biden commemorated the September 11 attacks in Alaska
On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in acts of terrorism that shocked the world


US President Joe Biden called for Americans to unite despite bitter political differences as the United States marked the 22nd anniversary of al-Qaeda’s September 11 attacks.


Joe Biden urges ‘national unity’ as US marks September 11 attacks

Breaking with tradition, US President Joe Biden commemorated the September 11 attacks in Alaska On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in acts of terrorism that shocked the world

Breaking with tradition, US President Joe Biden commemorated the September 11 attacks in Alaska

On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in acts of terrorism that shocked the world