Twenty years after hijackers slammed airplanes into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington, Americans came together on Saturday to remember the nearly 3,000 killed on Sept. 11, 2001, and reflect on how the attacks reshaped society and tipped the country into an intractable war. As a first responder struck a silver bell, the ceremony at the Sept. 11 Memorial in lower Manhattan began with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT (1246 GMT), the exact time the first of two planes flew into the World Trade Center's twin towers. President Joe Biden was in attendance, his head bowed. Mike Low, the first speaker of the day, described the "unbearable sorrow" caused by the death of his daughter, Sara, a flight attendant on the airliner that hit the North Tower. "My memory goes back to that terrible day when it felt like an evil specter had descended on our world, but it was also a time when many people acted above and beyond the ordinary," he said. "A legacy from Sara, that burns like an eternal flame." Relatives then began to read aloud the names of 2,977 victims to the thousands who had gathered on the cool, clear morning, among them former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, New York's junior senator at the time of the attacks. Bruce Springsteen sang "I'll See You in My Dreams". Uptown at Lincoln Center dancers performed in silver and white robes, signifying the ashes and purity of those who perished in the deadliest attack on US soil. Story has more details.<br/>
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Among the major measures President Joe Biden announced this week to get more Americans vaccinated, one high-profile move was missing: requiring vaccines or negative tests to get on an airplane.<br/>Countries including France, Italy and Canada have imposed requirements, or will, for domestic travel as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus and its emerging variants. Vaccine and testing requirements have taken hold widely for international flights, and the US is weighing further restrictions on visitors, including a vaccine requirement for all foreign nationals. But, at home, the US still only requires a mask for domestic flights, despite calls from some health experts to raise the bar and require proof of vaccines or a negative test. Biden stopped short of tightening the rules when he unveiled a new series of vaccine mandates on Thursday that will affect millions of federal and health care workers, as well as a vaccine-or-testing requirement for any business with 100 or more staff. Instead, the administration doubled fines for people who refuse to wear masks on planes. Biden has walked a fine line to avoid triggering more backlash at home, where public health measures and restrictions have become political lightning rods. A top aide signaled Friday that the administration isn’t interested in mandates aimed at consumers. <br/>
European aviation may be on the cusp of a new order. The revelation on Thursday of a bid by Wizz Air for rival budget carrier easyJet marks the first sign of a potential wave of consolidation in the region’s airline industry as it emerges from the pandemic. The rejected offer highlights the tale of two carriers, both ambitious and hoping to expand. But Wizz has been by far the most aggressive through the crisis, while easyJet also unveiled a new GBP1b-plus rights issue to help bolster its balance sheet for the post-Covid world. Other airlines are also jostling for position in what could be a fundamental reshaping of Europe’s fragmented airline market that had already experienced a clutch of bankruptcies before the coronavirus crisis. British Airways, for example, has asked unions to back a plan to make sweeping changes to its short-haul Gatwick operations to match easyJet’s more flexible and seasonal model. In short, airlines are looking beyond the pandemic to prepare for a new business cycle, said Ross Harvey, an analyst at Davy Research. “The major carriers are now moving to position themselves for the post-Covid world,” he added. But it has been Wizz CE Jozsef Varadi and rival boss Michael O’Leary at Ryanair who have been the most bullish, talking up their airlines as the potential winners in a post-pandemic endgame. Story has more.<br/>
While summer saw much of Europe open up to American visitors, offering them the chance to fulfill lockdown dreams of eating gelato in Italy or touring the art museums of Paris, the season's end has brought with it new restrictions, and the doors to the continent begin to close. Earlier in September the European Union recommended that US visitors should be banned from nonessential travel to its member states due to rising Covid-19 cases in the States. The news has prompted various European countries to update travel restrictions for Americans, while some have prohibited entry to US travelers completely. Unsurprisingly, the changes have prompted widespread confusion, particularly for those planning to travel to Europe in the coming months. Story looks at the tightened rules and what they mean for American travelers.<br/>
More than 150 Israelis suspected of using fake negative coronavirus test results to board flights home after a pilgrimage to Uman, Ukraine, have been summoned for questioning by the Israeli police in accordance with a strict, new government directive. Offenders could be charged with fraud, forgery and spreading disease in aggravated circumstances, the Ministry of Public Security warned in a statement this weekend — criminal offenses that can lead to prison sentences of up to five years. About 25,000 to 30,000 Israelis, most of them male Hasidic Jews, traveled to Uman to celebrate the Jewish New Year last week with a visit to the burial site of a revered 18th-century rabbi, Nachman of Breslav. Israel’s Health Ministry reported late last week that dozens of them had arrived back in Israel infected with the virus despite carrying documents indicating that they had tested negative. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said in a statement that it “views with utmost gravity” the entry of people with forged documents, “willfully spreading a disease,” adding that severe action would be taken against offenders.<br/>
Heavy rains delayed flights and disrupted traffic in India's capital New Delhi on Saturday, inundating several places including the forecourt of Indira Gandhi International Airport. Delhi has received a 46-year high 1.0 metre of rain this monsoon season, said the Indian Meteorological Department. The season runs until the end of the month. Vistara, SpiceJet, IndiGo and other airlines issued travel advisories, asking passengers to check the status of their flights. "Due to waterlogging on account of heavy rains in Delhi, traffic congestion is expected. Customers travelling are advised to allow more time for their journey to the airport," Vistara tweeted. Airport authorities later tweeted that they had drained the water "and the issue has been resolved". Social media users posted videos of waterlogging of streets and the airport, as well as stranded busses.<br/>
Authorities in Shanghai and neighbouring coastal regions cancelled flights, and suspended schools, subways and trains as Typhoon Chanthu approached China after drenching Taiwan though causing little damage there. The storm, with winds of more than 170 kilometres per hour near its eye, had been downgraded from a super typhoon to a strong typhoon on Sunday evening and was expected to gradually weaken, Shanghai city authorities said in a post on their official WeChat account. But it was still expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to coastal regions. The province of Zhejiang near Shanghai raised its emergency response to the highest level on Sunday, closing schools and suspending flights and rail services in some cities, Xinhua reported. In Shanghai, home to about 26 million people, all flights at the city's larger Pudong International Airport were to be cancelled from 11 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), while flights from the smaller Hongqiao airport in the west of the city were to be cancelled from 3 p.m., the Shanghai government announced on WeChat.<br/>
Airline flights, ferries and train service were canceled as Typhoon Chanthu roared toward Taiwan on Saturday and authorities warned of high wind and heavy rain along the island’s south and east coast. Chanthu’s center was forecast to pass Taiwan’s east coast on Sunday, but its edge should dump rain on land, the Central Wealth Bureau announced. Chanthu was southeast of Taiwan’s southern tip, moving north with winds of 173 kph and gusts up to 209 kph, according to the CWB. Earlier, the storm grazed the northeastern coast of the major island of Luzon in the Philippines, but no flooding or damage was reported. The southern part of Taiwan was under a typhoon warning issued Friday. Dozens of domestic and international flights were canceled, the Central News Agency reported. <br/>
More than 20,000 passengers have boarded "international sightseeing flights" operated by domestic airlines, which take passengers over other countries and then return to Korea. The special services were launched in December last year to generate profits for airlines and duty-free stores amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Passengers using these flights are given the same duty-free benefits as other passengers using regular international flights. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Customs Service, a total of 216 special flights have operated between Dec. 12 and Aug. 31, with the number of passengers tallied at 22,551. The passengers have spent a total of $28m at duty-free shops and the most popular products were cosmetics, whose sales reached 8.2b won. The flights, which departed only from Incheon International Airport at the beginning, began departing from other domestic airports such as Gimpo, Gimhae and Daegu international airports, starting in May.<br/>
A sale of Australia’s biggest airport moved closer on Monday as an infrastructure investor group won permission to conduct due diligence on Sydney Airport Holdings, after sweetening its takeover offer to A$23.6b ($17.4b). The move sent the airport’s shares up 5%, with analysts saying a rival bid appeared unlikely given the scale of the funding needed and foreign ownership rules that mean the airport must remain 51% Australian owned. “We assign a high probability of a deal succeeding given the board’s commitment to unanimously recommend the (consortium’s) offer if there is no alternative higher offer,” Credit Suisse analysts said in a note. Sydney Airport is Australia’s only listed airport operator and a purchase would be a long-term bet on the travel sector which has been battered by the pandemic. The country plans to gradually open its borders once 80% of adults are fully vaccinated, a milestone expected by the end of the year. A successful takeover would be among the largest buyouts ever of an Australian firm and underline a year of stellar deal activity, that has already seen a mega $29b buyout of Afterpay by Square.<br/>