As horrified viewers around the world watched the events of September 11, 2001 unfold, myriad conspiracy theories quickly spread across the internet in one of the earliest forms of modern misinformation.
These falsehoods, supported by the 9/11 "Truth" movement, reject the consensus that Al Qaeda were responsible for the attacks. Instead, they claim the US government was involved, that a missile struck the Pentagon and that explosives were planted at the World Trade Centre, among many other theories.
Conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks have since been widely debunked, but nevertheless persist, continuing to circulate online 20 years after the attacks.
Explosives planted at North and South Towers
The phrase “jet fuel can't melt steel beams” became a leading argument among “truthers” - 9/11 conspiracy theorists - after the September 11 attacks.
Conspiracy theorists claim the two hijacked planes - American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 - that flew into the North and South Towers could not have caused the buildings to collapse, and that explosives must have been planted.
A years-long investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found this claim to be untrue.
Though the steel did not melt, the institute estimated it would have lost about 90 per cent of its integrity from the fires the erupted when the planes hit the building.
The NIST investigation outlined why the North and South Towers collapsed. First, the impact of the planes critically damaged the buildings' support columns, which dislodged the fireproof insulation. This caused the jet fuel to spread across several floors, allowing the fires to spread unchecked.
Second, the columns and floors within the buildings were significantly weakened by the fires. This, the institute concluded, led to the inward bowing of the perimeter columns and the buildings' eventual collapse.
WTC 7 destroyed by controlled demolition
For truthers, World Trade Centre 7 is clear evidence that 9/11 was an “inside job".
The building housed the offices of both the secret service and the CIA, and conspiracy theorists claim that the 47-storey building was destroyed in a controlled demolition to wipe out evidence that the US government was involved in the attacks.
WTC 7 was not hit by a plane and showed no exterior damage following the attacks.
Footage of the collapse itself, which appeared to show World Trade Centre 7 descend at a free-fall speed, was given as evidence for the building's destruction by a controlled demolition.
But while there was no obvious damage to the exterior of the building, the NIST investigation found that WTC 7 was strongly affected by the aftereffects of the attacks.
Debris from the fallen North Tower sparked uncontrollable fires inside World Trade Centre 7 that lasted for hours.
The NIST found that the heat led to a chain of events that weakened the building's structural integrity, with its middle severely compromised. A rapid succession of structural failures caused the east and west sides to collapse on themselves before the building caved in.
A missile struck the Pentagon
Truthers also claim that the hole in the Pentagon building - just shy of five metres across - was too small to have been made by a Boeing 757, and conspiracy theorists point to this as evidence that the building was struck by a missile, not a plane.
But that claim ignores video evidence of the attack.
Security camera footage released in 2004 showed that American Airlines Flight 77 struck the west side of the Pentagon.
The size of the entry hole was also misreported. The official ASCE Pentagon Building Performance Report estimated that the hole was closer to 23 metres. The destruction of the plane's wings before impact accounted for the hole not being larger.
Another claim states that parts of a scrapped plane were transported to the Pentagon to give the impression that it had been hit by an aircraft. But there were dozens of eyewitnesses who saw the plane hit the building and the Pentagon received 24-hour news coverage directly following the attacks, making it impossible for anyone to plant anything.
The attack on the Pentagon killed 125 people in the building and the 59 passengers and crew on board the plane.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJesse%20Armstrong%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brian%20Cox%2C%20Jeremy%20Strong%2C%20Kieran%20Culkin%2C%20Sarah%20Snook%2C%20Nicholas%20Braun%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
The%20Afghan%20connection
%3Cp%3EThe%20influx%20of%20talented%20young%20Afghan%20players%20to%20UAE%20cricket%20could%20have%20a%20big%20impact%20on%20the%20fortunes%20of%20both%20countries.%20Here%20are%20three%20Emirates-based%20players%20to%20watch%20out%20for.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EHassan%20Khan%20Eisakhil%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMohammed%20Nabi%20is%20still%20proving%20his%20worth%20at%20the%20top%20level%20but%20there%20is%20another%20reason%20he%20is%20raging%20against%20the%20idea%20of%20retirement.%20If%20the%20allrounder%20hangs%20on%20a%20little%20bit%20longer%2C%20he%20might%20be%20able%20to%20play%20in%20the%20same%20team%20as%20his%20son%2C%20Hassan%20Khan.%20The%20family%20live%20in%20Ajman%20and%20train%20in%20Sharjah.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMasood%20Gurbaz%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20opening%20batter%2C%20who%20trains%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Academy%2C%20is%20another%20player%20who%20is%20a%20part%20of%20a%20famous%20family.%20His%20brother%2C%20Rahmanullah%2C%20was%20an%20IPL%20winner%20with%20Kolkata%20Knight%20Riders%2C%20and%20opens%20the%20batting%20with%20distinction%20for%20Afghanistan.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOmid%20Rahman%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20fast%20bowler%20became%20a%20pioneer%20earlier%20this%20year%20when%20he%20became%20the%20first%20Afghan%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE.%20He%20showed%20great%20promise%20in%20doing%20so%2C%20too%2C%20playing%20a%20key%20role%20in%20the%20senior%20team%E2%80%99s%20qualification%20for%20the%20Asia%20Cup%20in%20Muscat%20recently.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How%20champions%20are%20made
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
