US Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks

The United States on Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with memorial ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed four commercial jets into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. President Donald Trump plans to attend the Pentagon observance, where he is expected to deliver remarks, while Vice President JD Vance joins the ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan alongside four former presidents: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. Other administration officials are headed to the Pennsylvania site. The White House has not given an official explanation for Trump's choice of venue; reporting by The New York Times, cited by other outlets, said he originally wanted to speak at the Ground Zero ceremony, where organizers traditionally bar speeches to keep the event nonpartisan. This year's New York ceremony adds a first-ever seventh moment of silence, honoring people who died of illnesses linked to the toxic dust released by the towers' collapse.