NEW YORK: It is a typical late summer weekend in New York’s Times Square, and tourists from around the world are snapping pictures beneath the commercial hub’s iconic neon billboards — watched closely by a heavy contingent of police.
Four cruisers are parked in the middle of the busy intersection, and pedestrian zones have been surrounded by barriers to stop cars from ramming the crowd, a mode of attack favored by violent extremists in recent years.
“I don’t like to come to places like this,” says Sue Garcia, a massage therapist from Brooklyn. “Or anywhere where incidents have happened repeatedly — the fear comes to mind.”
Fear of an attack. Fear of another 9/11, the deadliest terrorist assault in history, when almost 3,000 lives were extinguished, many in the rubble of the World Trade Center (WTC).
For New Yorkers who lost loved ones, narrowly survived or just witnessed the event, memories remain fresh and old wounds are re-opened on its anniversary. And a perpetual state of high alert is the new normal.
Garcia, now 33, was a high schooler when the planes slammed into the Twin Towers. She saw them burn then collapse, and walked all the way home like hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers that day after metro services were suspended.
“I was there, I saw it over and over again, I don’t need to think about it,” she says.
But her mind always drifts toward the horrors of that day, whenever it is mentioned on TV, or even “when I hear an airplane: It is like the trigger to the thought. It has subsided over the years but it is still there” she adds.
Or while waiting to meet her sister in Times Square, “The Crossroads of the World,” that symbolizes the spirit of New York.
Twice in recent years, catastrophe loomed. In May 2010, police discovered a car packed with explosives and primed for carnage.
In May, a mentally ill ex-soldier deliberately drove his sedan into 23 pedestrians, killed a young American tourist.
The episodes of anxiety described by Garcia are a burden borne by many New Yorkers.
For those directly affected, the anniversary of the attacks are the “most dreaded date” of the year and post-traumatic stress can remain for an individual’s entire life, says Charles Strozier, a psychoanalyst and author of a book that documents the experiences of survivors and witnesses.
“There was a collective trauma, the sense of having been proven to be not invulnerable,” he says.
“To say that New Yorkers are still traumatized is an exaggeration. But they think about it, they are aware of it, they do have active fears just below the surface of consciousness about things like bombs in the subways,” adds the professor, who watched the destruction of the WTC from his office just off Union Square.
Many are also convinced that, even though recent terror attacks have focused on Europe, it is New York, the beating heart of the Western world that remains the prime target.
“What better target, unfortunately, than NYC?” asks Tim Lambert, an IT consultant.
Then, as now, he worked on the southern tip of Manhattan near the WTC site. The city, he says, is a “magnet for people from all over the world... It symbolizes the freedoms that we have, the money that we have. What better way to make a statement?”
The 52-year-old says a heavier police presence is now a fact of life that people have come to expect.
“I am not comfortable with it, but it is the new norm. The world is changing and the terrorist threat is part of that change,” he adds.
They are apprehensions shared by the city’s leaders.
“Thank God this is not an act of terrorism. It is an isolated incident,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in June when a doctor went on a shooting rampage in a hospital where he used to work in Bronx, killing one and injuring six.
When the car-ramming incident happened in May, police chief James O’Neill admitted, “The worst went through my mind.”
To protect its 8.5 million inhabitants, New York has to remain fully prepared.
A 38,000 strong police force that keeps watch over the city’s public spaces, a massive network of cameras providing round-the-clock surveillance and a ubiquitous campaign to remind denizens “If you see something, say something,” are all reminders of the cost of security.
Since 2001, the city has had its own anti-terrorist unit, which today has about 2,000 personnel and representatives in several foreign capitals, according to Robert Strang, president of the New York-based Investigative Management Group.
The agency has at times courted controversy, notably for its program that monitored citizens frequenting the city’s mosques which was criticized for being discriminatory.
But the intelligence network is essential and overall and has been successful in preventing major new attacks, said Strang.
The US financial capital also wants to set an example when it comes to honoring the victims of terror abroad.
After recent attacks in Europe, authorities were quick to offer their condolences and assistance, and turned off the lights at the Empire State Building in a mark of solidarity.
And the Sept. 11 Memorial, with its two immense black granite craters, built on the site of the Twin Towers, has become a site of meditation and mourning not just for New York but for the entire world.
It is “a memorial to all the terror victims in a way,” said Monique Mol, a 52-year-old Dutch tourist.
“It is like these people will live forever — like the pyramids and the mummified pharaohs in Egypt.”
16 years after 9/11, ever-vigilant New Yorkers on edge
16 years after 9/11, ever-vigilant New Yorkers on edge
Explosion damages canal feeding Kosovo’s main power plants
- Faruk Mujka, the head of water company Ibar-Lepenci, told local news portal Kallxo that an explosive device was thrown into the canal and damaged the wall of a bridge
PRISTINA: An explosion on Friday evening damaged a canal in northern Kosovo supplying water to two coal-fired power plants that generate nearly all of the country’s electricity, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said, blaming what he called “a terrorist act” by neighboring Serbia.
There were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the blast, which also impacted drinking water supplies, was not clear. Serbian officials did not respond to requests for comment, and Reuters found no immediate evidence of Belgrade’s involvement.
“This is a criminal and terrorist attack with the aim to destroy our critical infrastructure,” Kurti said in a televised address. He said that some of the country could be without power if the problem is not fixed by morning.
In a sign of ethnic tensions between the two Balkan countries, Kurti echoed Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani by blaming Serbian criminal gangs without providing proof.
Earlier on Friday, Kosovo police announced increased security measures after two recent attacks where hand grenades were hurled at a police station and municipality building in northern Kosovo where ethnic Serbians live. It was not clear if the incidents were linked.
Local media showed pictures of part of the canal destroyed and leaking water and a heavy police presence at the site.
Faruk Mujka, the head of water company Ibar-Lepenci, told local news portal Kallxo that an explosive device was thrown into the canal and damaged the wall of a bridge.
He said the water supply, which also feeds drinking water to the capital Pristina, must be halted to fix the problem as soon as possible since it was the main channel for supplying Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK), the country’s main power provider.
Independence for ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo came in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against Serbian rule. However tensions persist, mainly in the north where the Serb minority refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and still sees Belgrade as their capital.
The EU’s Kosovo ambassador, Aivo Orav, condemned the attack that he said was already “depriving considerable parts of Kosovo from water supply.”
Senior Russian diplomat says possibility of new nuclear tests remains open question
- Moscow has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1990, the year before the collapse of the Soviet Union
MOSCOW: A possible resumption of nuclear weapons tests by Moscow remains an open question in view of hostile US policies, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying early on Saturday.
“This is a question at hand,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS news agency when asked whether Moscow was considering a resumption of tests.
“And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects.”
In September, Ryabkov referred to President Vladimir Putin as having said that Russia would not conduct a test as long as the United States refrained from carrying one out.
Moscow has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1990, the year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But Putin this month lowered the threshold governing the country’s nuclear doctrine in response to what Moscow sees as escalation by Western countries backing Ukraine in the 33-month-old war pitting it against Russia.
Under the new terms, Russia could consider a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack on Russia or its ally Belarus that “created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity.”
The changes were prompted by US permission to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles against targets inside Russia.
Russia’s testing site is located on the remote Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, where the Soviet Union conducted more than 200 nuclear tests.
Putin signed a law last year withdrawing Russia’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. He said the move sought to bring Russia into line with the United States, which signed but never ratified the treaty.
Ireland headed for coalition government following parliamentary election, exit poll suggests
DUBLIN: An exit poll in Ireland’s parliamentary election released late Friday suggests the three biggest parties have won roughly equal shares and the country is headed for another coalition government.
A poll released as voting ended at 10 p.m. (2200GMT) said center-right party Fine Gael was the first choice of 21 percent of voters, with its center-right coalition partner in the outgoing government, Fianna Fail at 19.5 percent. Left-of-center opposition Sinn Fein was at 21.1 percent in the poll.
Pollster Ipsos B&A asked 5,018 voters across the country how they had cast their ballots. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
The figures only give an indication and don’t reveal which parties will form the next government. Counting of ballots starts Saturday morning and because Ireland uses a complex system of proportional representation known as the single transferrable vote, it can take between several hours and several days for full results to be known.
The result will show whether Ireland bucks the global trend of incumbents being ousted by disgruntled voters after years of pandemic, international instability and a cost-of-living pressures.
Sinn Fein, which had urged people to vote for change, hailed the result.
“There is every chance that Sinn Fein will emerge from these elections as the largest political party,” Sinn Fein director of elections Matt Carthy told broadcaster RTE.
Though Sinn Fein, which aims to reunite Northern Ireland with the independent Republic of Ireland, could become the largest party in the 174-seat Dail, the lower house of parliament, it may struggle to get enough coalition partners to form a government. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have refused to form alliances with it.
Here’s a look at the parties, the issues and the likely outcome.
Who’s running?
The outgoing government was led by the two parties who have dominated Irish politics for the past century: Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. They have similar center-right policies but are longtime rivals with origins on opposing sides of Ireland’s 1920s civil war.
After the 2020 election ended in a virtual dead heat they formed a coalition, agreeing to share Cabinet posts and take turns as taoiseach, or prime minister. Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin served as premier for the first half of the term and was replaced by Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar in December 2022. Varadkar unexpectedly stepped down in March, passing the job to current Taoiseach Simon Harris.
Opposition party Sinn Fein achieved a stunning breakthrough in the 2020 election, topping the popular vote, but was shut out of government because Fianna Fail and Fine Gael refused to work with it, citing its leftist policies and historic ties with militant group the Irish Republican Army during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
Under Ireland’s system of proportional representation, each of the 43 constituencies elects multiple lawmakers, with voters ranking their preferences. That makes it relatively easy for smaller parties and independent candidates with a strong local following to gain seats.
This election includes a large crop of independent candidates, ranging from local campaigners to far-right activists and reputed crime boss Gerry “the Monk” Hutch.
What are the main issues?
As in many other countries, the cost of living — especially housing — has dominated the campaign. Ireland has an acute housing shortage, the legacy of failing to build enough new homes during the country’s “Celtic Tiger” boom years and the economic slump that followed the 2008 global financial crisis.
“There was not building during the crisis, and when the crisis receded, offices and hotels were built first,” said John-Mark McCafferty, chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Threshold.
The result is soaring house prices, rising rents and growing homelessness.
After a decade of economic growth, McCafferty said “Ireland has resources” — not least 13 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in back taxes the European Union has ordered Apple to pay it — “but it is trying to address big historic infrastructural deficits.”
Tangled up with the housing issue is immigration, a fairly recent challenge to a country long defined by emigration. Recent arrivals include more than 100,000 Ukrainians displaced by war and thousands of people fleeing poverty and conflict in the Middle East and Africa.
This country of 5.4 million has struggled to house all the asylum-seekers, leading to tent camps and makeshift accommodation centers that have attracted tension and protests. A stabbing attack on children outside a Dublin school a year ago, in which an Algerian man has been charged, sparked the worst rioting Ireland had seen in decades.
Unlike many European countries, Ireland does not have a significant far-right party, but far-right voices on social media seek to drum up hostility to migrants, and anti-immigrant independent candidates are hoping for election in several districts. The issue appears to be hitting support for Sinn Fein, as working-class supporters bristled at its pro-immigration policies.
What’s the likely outcome?
The exit poll bears out earlier opinion poll findings that voters’ support is split widely among Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein, several smaller parties and an assortment of independents.
Before polling day, analysts said the most likely outcome is another Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition, possibly with a smaller party or a clutch of independents as kingmakers. That remains a likely option.
“It’s just a question of which minor group is going to be the group that supports the government this time,” said Eoin O’Malley, a political scientist at Dublin City University. “Coalition-forming is about putting a hue on what is essentially the same middle-of-the-road government every time.”
France on the back foot in Africa after Chadian snub
- Chad abruptly ended its defense cooperation pact with France
- Experts say that without Chad, French army will struggle to run other Africa operations
NAIROBI/GENEVA: A French plan to significantly reduce its military presence in West and central Africa risks backfiring and further diminishing the former colonial power’s influence in the region at a time when Russia is gaining ground.
A French envoy to President Emmanuel Macron this week handed in a report with proposals on how France could reduce its military presence in Chad, Gabon and Ivory Coast, where it has deployed troops for decades.
Details of the report have not been made public but two sources said the plan is to cut the number of troops to 600 from around 2,200 now. The sources said Chad would keep the largest contingent with 300 French troops, down from 1,000. However, in a surprise move that caught French officials on the hop, the government of Chad — a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants in the region — on Thursday abruptly ended its defense cooperation pact with France. That could lead to French troops leaving the central African country altogether.
“For France it is the start of the end of their security engagement in central and Western Africa,” said Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel Programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali.
“Chad was the aircraft carrier of the French army, its logistical headquarters. If Chad doesn’t exist, the French army will have a huge problem to keep running its other operations.”
In a further blow to France, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye told French state TV on Thursday it was inappropriate for French troops to maintain a presence in his country, where 350 French soldiers are currently based. France has already pulled its soldiers out from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, following military coups in those West African countries and spreading anti-French sentiment. Paris is also shifting more attention to Europe with the war in Ukraine and increasing budgetary constraints, diplomats said.
The review envisions the remaining French soldiers in the region focusing on training, intelligence exchange and responding to requests from countries for help, depending on their needs, the sources said. Chad’s move to end the cooperation deal had not been discussed with Paris and shocked the French, according to the two sources and other officials. France, which wants to keep a presence in Chad in part because of its work to help ease one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises unfolding now in neighboring Sudan, responded only 24 hours after Chad made its announcement.
“France takes note and intends to continue the dialogue to implement these orientations,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
One of the two sources, a French official with knowledge of Chadian affairs, said Chad’s government appeared to have seen the French decision to more than halve its military presence there as a snub. Chad also felt the French would no longer be in a position to guarantee the security of the military regime led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, this source said.
Macron had backed Deby despite criticism since Deby seized power following the death of his father, who ruled Chad for 30 years until he was killed in 2021 during an incursion by rebels. Deby won an election held this year.
In its statement on Thursday evening, released hours after the French foreign minister had visited the Sudanese border in eastern Chad with his counterpart, Chad’s foreign ministry said N’djamena wanted to fully assert its sovereignty after more than six decades of independence from France. It said the decision should in no way undermine the friendly relations between the two countries. Earlier this year, a small contingent of US special forces left Chad amid a review of US cooperation with the country.
The French drawdown, coupled with a US pullback from Africa, contrasts with the increasing influence of Russia and other countries, including Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, on the continent. Russian mercenaries are helping prop up the military governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, and are also fighting alongside them against Islamist militants. However, French officials and other sources played down Russia’s ability to take advantage of the French setback in Chad, at least in the short term. The French source familiar with Chadian affairs noted that Russia and Chad back rival factions in Sudan’s war. Russia also has major military commitments in Syria and the war in Ukraine.
Ireland votes in closely fought general election
DUBLIN: Voting got under way in Ireland Friday in a general election with the two center-right coalition partners neck-and-neck with opposition party Sinn Fein, following a campaign marked by rancour over housing and cost-of-living crises.
Polls opened at 0700 GMT and will close at 2200 GMT as voters choose new members of the 174-seat lower chamber of parliament, the Dail.
Final opinion polling put the three main parties — center-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, and the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein — each on around 20 percent.
Counting is not due to start until Saturday morning, with partial results expected throughout the day. A final result, however, may not be clear for days as EU member Ireland’s proportional representation system sees votes of eliminated candidates redistributed during multiple rounds of counting.
Prime Minister Simon Harris was among the first to vote, in his constituency of Delgany, south of Dublin. The Fine Gael leader, who became Ireland’s youngest-ever taoiseach (prime minister) when he took over in April, held a solid lead entering the campaign.
But the party lost ground, in particular after Harris was seen in a viral clip appearing rude and dismissive to a care worker on the campaign trail.
“I’ve enjoyed putting forward my policy vision as a new leader, as a new Taoiseach,” Harris, 38, told reporters after voting.
“Now I’m looking forward to the people having their say.”
Some in his constituency did not share his optimism. IT worker Kevin Barry, 41, said he was unsure about voting “as all the options seem so terrible.”
He cited the housing crisis, in which a shortage is driving up rents. While leaning toward the governing coalition, Barry told AFP: “I am not really happy with them as they are responsible for the mess that we are in, particularly with regard to housing.”
For Peta Scott, 54, a health care worker and mother of four, housing woes meant it was “a challenge” for her children to stay in Ireland.
At the last general election in 2020, Sinn Fein — the former political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army — won the popular vote but could not find willing coalition partners.
That led to weeks of horsetrading, ending up with Fine Gael, which has been in power since 2011, agreeing a deal with Fianna Fail, led by the experienced Micheal Martin, 64.
The role of prime minister rotated between the two party leaders. The smaller Green Party made up the governing coalition.
Harris has had to defend the government’s patchy record on tackling a worsening housing crisis and fend off accusations of profligate public spending.
A giveaway budget last month was also aimed at appeasing voters fretting about sky-high housing and childcare costs.
Both center-right parties stress their pro-business credentials and say returning them to power would ensure stability, particularly with turmoil abroad and the risk of external shocks.
Ireland’s economy depends on foreign direct investment and lavish corporate tax returns from mainly US tech and pharma giants.
But threats from incoming US president Donald Trump to slap tariffs on imports and repatriate corporate tax of US firms from countries such as Ireland have caused concern for economic stability.
Mary Lou McDonald’s Sinn Fein has seen a dip in support because of its progressive stance on social issues and migration policy, as immigration became a key election issue.
But it has rallied on the back of a campaign heavily focused on housing policy and claims it is the only alternative to the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who have swapped power since Irish independence from Britain in 1921.
After voting in her central Dublin constituency, McDonald called Friday “a historic day where we can elect a new government for change.”
Asked if voting for Sinn Fein was a vote for a united Ireland, including British-ruled Northern Ireland, she replied: “Of course it is.”
“We are united Irelanders. We have an ambitious plan for a new Ireland.”
Retiree William McCarthy voted for the party but was unconvinced they would win.
