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Saturday marks 20 years since hijacked airliners crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people. Honouring those who lost their lives, the US is holding ceremonies to reflect on how the event has shaped the world. Follow today’s events on FRANCE 24 and our liveblog here.
Heart-wrenching commemorations will unfold at each of the three sites where 19 al Qaeda hijackers – mostly from Saudi Arabia – crashed packed airliners, striking the cultural, financial and political hearts of the United States and changing the world forever.
US President Joe Biden will be attending the memorials at ground zero in lower Manhattan, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after passengers tried to regain control of the hijacked plane.
The ceremonies come just as US troops have finally pulled out of Afghanistan, but national discord – and for Biden, political peril – are overshadowing any sense of closure.
For all the latest, follow our liveblog here:
