Foreign News
Biden, Obama, Clinton Mark 9/11 in New York With Display of Unity
Three presidents and their wives stood somberly side by side at the National Sept. 11 Memorial, sharing a moment of silence to mark the anniversary of U.S. worst terror attack with a display of unity.
President Joe Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton all gathered at the site where the World Trade Center towers fell two decades ago.
They each wore blue ribbons and held their hands over their hearts as a procession marched a flag through the memorial, watched by hundreds of Americans gathered for the remembrance, some carrying photos of loved ones lost in the attacks, according to reports.
Before the event began, a jet flew overhead in an eerie echo of the attacks, drawing a glance from Biden toward the sky.
Biden was a senator when hijackers commandeered four planes and executed the attack. Now he marks the 9/11 anniversary for the first time as Commander-in-Chief.
The president will spend Saturday paying his respects at the trio of sites where the planes crashed, but he left the speech-making to others.
The White House had on Friday released a taped address in which Biden spoke of the “true sense of national unity” that emerged after the attacks, seen in “heroism everywhere – in places expected and unexpected.
“To me that’s the central lesson of Sept. 11,” he said. “Unity is our greatest strength.”
Following the ceremony in New York City, Biden visited the field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a plane fell from the sky after heroic passengers fought terrorists to prevent it from reaching its Washington destination.
He also visited the Pentagon, where the world’s mightiest military suffered an unthinkable blow to its very home.
Former President George W. Bush, who was reading a book to Florida schoolchildren when the planes slammed into the World Trade Center, paid his respects in Shanksville.
He said Sept. 11 showed that Americans can come together despite their differences.
“So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment,” said the president who was in office on 9/11.
“On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab their neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America know.
“It is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been and what we can be again.”
On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Biden now shoulders the responsibility borne by his predecessors to prevent future tragedy, and must do so against fresh fears of a rise in terror after the United States’ hasty exit from Afghanistan, the country from which the Sept. 11 attacks were plotted. (NAN)
Foreign News
Australia’s Regional Leaders to Ban Children from Social Media
The leaders of all eight of Australia’s states and territories have endorsed the prime minister’s plan to ban children younger than 16 from using social media.
Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that legislation for the world-first ban would be introduced to parliament in November after the leaders of all six states and two territories endorsed the plan.
Speaking after meeting with the state and territory leaders on Friday, Albanese said that the government of the island state of Tasmania expressed a preference to set the minimum age limit at 14.
However, they ultimately agreed with the proposed 16 to guarantee a uniform nationwide approach.
“The safety and mental health of our young people has to be a priority, and my government will do all that we can to protect our young Australians.
“Government will also provide support for parents and teachers who are dealing with these issues,’’ he told reporters in Canberra.
Albanese on Thursday committed to setting the minimum age limit at 16, having previously pledged to introduce a minimum age limit without specifying a cut-off age.
Under the proposal, the onus to ensure compliance with the minimum age limit will fall on social media companies, not parents, guardians or children.
The laws would be enforced by the office of the government’s eSafety commissioner.
Albanese and Michelle Rowland, the minister for communications, said on Friday that the ban would take effect at least 12 months after the legislation is passed by both houses of the federal parliament.
The passage is to give industry, governments and the eSafety commissioner time to implement systems and processes.
Rowland said that 16 was chosen as the cut-off age following extensive consultation to minimise harms experienced by young people during a critical development period. (Xinhua/NAN)
Foreign News
Israel Sends Two Planes to Evacuate Fans after Amsterdam Violence
Israel has sent two planes to evacuate fans from Amsterdam after violent clashes between Israeli supporter and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of Ajax versus Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa Cup match.
“The Prime Minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,.
“The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked’’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted on X on Friday morning.
The Israeli leader’s office called the incident horrifying and demanded that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens.
This clash was however unclear and yet to be unfolded.
The exact events remain unclear. The violent disturbances occurred around the Europa League football match between Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday evening. Ajax won 5-0.
There were clashes in several locations in the centre of the Dutch capital; though it was not specified which side started the violence.
Around 60 people were detained temporarily on Thursday evening, the police said.
Amsterdam TV station AT5 reported that demonstrators threw chairs at Maccabi fans.
The police’s mobile units reportedly shielded the Israelis and escorted them to their hotels.
There were also clashes in the afternoon between Israeli football fans and security forces in the city centre.
According to police, about a dozen people were arrested for disturbing public order and illegal possession of fireworks.
Even before the match, there were isolated altercations near the stadium in the south-east of the city, the police said.
More than 200 demonstrators attempted to reach the venue, according to the police.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned these “unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis’’ on X and said he had since spoken with Netanyahu.
Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders called it a pogrom.
“We have become the Gaza of Europe,’’ he said, adding that Muslims with Palestinian flags were hunting down Jews.
Israel’s UN ambassador also referred to the incident on X as a pogrom.
Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.
“Chasing and beating up Israeli soccer fans is not anti-war protest.
“It is criminal and intolerable and we must all stand against it. As a European I am ashamed to see such scenes in one of our great cities,’’ he wrote on X.
However the Reaction from the United States (U.S.).
In New York, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), described itself as the world’s largest anti-hate organisation.
He demanded that the Dutch government ensure the safety of Israeli fans, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators and apologise for the violence.
“This is exactly what ‘globalise the intifada’ looks like,’’ Greenblatt wrote on X, saying there were mobs of hate-filled people who had attacked Israelis who came to Amsterdam to enjoy a football game.
Even New York Attorney General Letitia James chimed in on X, calling the attacks against Jews in Amsterdam “deeply disturbing and horrifying.’’
New York State, particularly metropolitan New York City, has a large Jewish population.
“We must do everything in our power to protect Jews in America and across the world.
“This anti-Semitism and violence must end now,’’ she wrote. (dpa/NAN)
Foreign News
Several Israelis Injured, Missing after Violent Clashes in Amsterdam
Three Israelis are missing following clashes between Israeli football fans and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of football club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match in Amsterdam, according to Israeli authorities.
Ten people were injured in the violence, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday morning.
The degree of their injuries was initially unclear.
The ministry urged its citizens to use public transport to travel to the airport, after Israel had announced it was sending two planes to evacuate the fans.
Local security forces had been deployed, the ministry said.
The ministry had initially advised fans not to leave their hotels.
It also advised its citizens not to wear Jewish or Israeli symbols in public.
(dpa/NAN)