Today is Thursday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2025. There are 111 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. It remains the deadliest terror attack in history.

Also on this date:

In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

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In 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.

In 1936, Boulder Dam — later renamed the Hoover Dam — began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a button in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.

In 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon.

In 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC.

In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende (ah-YEN’-day) died during a violent military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

In 1985, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds broke Ty Cobb’s MLB career hits record with his 4,192nd hit.

In 2008, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama put aside politics as they visited ground zero together on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.

In 2012, a mob armed with guns and grenades launched a fiery nightlong attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In 2023, over 4,000 people died and thousands more were missing after heavy rain from Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused two dams to collapse, flooding the city of Derna, Libya.

Today’s Birthdays:

Composer Arvo Pärt is 90.
Film director Brian De Palma is 85.
Singer-actor-dancer Lola Falana is 83.
Musician Mickey Hart is 82.
Guitarist Leo Kottke is 80.
Actor Amy Madigan is 75.
Rock musician Tommy Shaw (Styx) is 72.
Sportscaster Lesley Visser is 72.
Actor Scott Patterson is 67.
Actor/director Roxann Dawson is 67.
Actor John Hawkes is 66.
Actor Virginia Madsen is 64.
Musician-composer Moby is 60.
Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 58.
Actor Taraji (tuh-RAH’-jee) P. Henson is 55.
Rapper Ludacris is 48.
Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed is 47.
Country singer Charles Kelley (Lady A) is 44.
Actor Elizabeth Henstridge is 38.
Actor Tyler Hoechlin (HEK’-lihn) is 38.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley has canceled an event with conservative political commentator and activist Ben Shapiro — which was scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 10 — after learning that fellow conservative activist Charlie Kirk had been fatally shot earlier in the day.

Shapiro was set to appear at the library to discuss his new book, “Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics),” on Wednesday night.

The Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, however, announced the event’s cancelation after Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during a speaking engagement in Utah.

“The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is saddened to hear of events that took place today at Utah Valley University. Our prayers are with Charlie Kirk and his family,” the foundation wrote on social media. “As a mark of respect, we are cancelling our program and book signing with Ben Shapiro this evening.”

Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, rose to prominence for confronting liberals in academia, eventually winning over an influential set of conservative financiers. He was an early backer of President Donald Trump, going on to serve as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr. during the elder Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. He often espoused far-right political talking points, including racist, homophobic, and transphobic beliefs.

He was also a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, notably saying during a 2023 TPUSA faith event: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

Shapiro and Kirk, meanwhile, operated within the same political sphere. Shapiro said on social media Wednesday that he was “utterly stunned and heartbroken” about Kirk’s death.

“Charlie was a good man who believed in right and wrong, who stood by his Biblical values,” Shapiro said. “All of us will miss him, and I can’t imagine the pain of his beautiful young family, and we all must pray for them. And we must pick up the baton where Charlie left it, fighting for the things he believed in so passionately.”

The Reagan Foundation said a new date for Shapiro’s library event would be announced in the future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

By SHEIKH SAALIQ

NEW DELHI (AP) — The swelling wave of public anger first swept through the island nation of Sri Lanka in 2022 and ousted the president. Two years later, it erupted in Bangladesh as protesters toppled the ruling government. On Monday public fury exploded in Nepal, forcing its prime minister to resign a day after.

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Each protest movement began with a specific grievance that flared up, ending in the rejection of the government or its leaders.

In many ways, the protest movements share a common feature: disillusioned peoples’ resentment against the ruling elite and an entrenched political system they hold responsible for rampant corruption, deepening inequality and economic disparities.

Often led by young people, the protests have sparked deadly violence and sometimes left behind a political vacuum filled by unelected leaders and a worsening law and order situation.

“A perception of ruling elites as being both corrupt and ineffective at delivering a plausible path forward has created a structural basis for major crises,” said Paul Staniland, a politics professor specializing in South Asia at the University of Chicago.

Nepal’s public fury is largely against the political elite

The youth-led protests in Nepal began on Monday as simmering discontent over years was ignited by the government’s ban on major social media platforms. Many were particularly angry that the children of political leaders seem to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, while most of the population was dealing with economic problems, rising unemployment and widespread corruption.

The unrest has left at least 19 people dead.

Smoke billows from the parliament building after it was set on fire during a protest against social media ban and corruption in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Prakash Timalsina)

Protesters — who have not clearly spelled out their demands apart from rallying under the anti-corruption call — burned the parliament building, presidential house, and residences of several ministers and other politicians. Bending to mounting public pressure, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli reversed the social media ban and quit. However, he will still lead a caretaker government until a new one is in place.

It is unclear what the new government would look like and whether it will constitute the old political guard. Many Nepalis fear a familiar sequence of bargaining among the same political class they want to overthrow.

Nepal is fraught with frequent political instability and each prime minister’s tenure has lasted just a year or two since the new constitution came into effect in 2015. The country abolished its monarchy in 2006, after a violent uprising that forced its former king to give up his authoritarian rule.

Staniland said the violence could make it “much harder to determine who should be in charge or how they should proceed.”

“The big question now in Nepal will be whether order can be restored and new, stable political dispensation forged,” he said.

Before Nepal there was Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Those in Nepal looking for answers about its future will not find solace in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The lack of consensus on basic reform demands like elections and anti-corruption mechanisms, and an uncertain road map for the future, have dented the democratic progress in those countries and further exacerbated the problems they face.

In Bangladesh, student-led protests started with anger against rules that limited the number of civil service jobs based on merit. They morphed into a massive nationwide uprising in July last year that culminated in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests.

Hasina fled to India, and an unelected interim administration, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, was installed. He promised to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms.

One year on, Bangladesh remains mired in instability. Politic parties are bickering over election dates. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to vulnerable minority groups by religious hard-liners have surged.

In Sri Lanka, the then-Prime minister Ranil Wickremensignhe took over the country after protesters forced the powerful Rajapaksa clan out in 2022. The country later had a democratic transition of power after Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as president last year. He promised to improve standards of living, clean up government and hold corrupt politicians responsible for their actions.

Almost a year later, Sri Lanka’s problems seem far from over. Its people continue to deal with issues like economic hardships, human rights concerns and foreign-debt default.

“There is no sign of the ideals of change desired by the protesters,” said Veeragathy Thanabalasingham, a Colombo-based political expert.

Wider instability in the region

Recent popular revolts have also rocked other nations in the region.

In Indonesia, deadly protests last week over lawmakers’ perks and the cost of living forced the country’s president to replace key economic and security ministers. The protests have led to the death of at least seven people.

In Myanmar, imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi ’s democratically-elected government was ousted by the military in 2021. Resistance to the military government has grown, and the country is now in the midst of a brutal civil war.

Staniland said while “most protests come and go without such dramatic results” as those seen in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, “the kindling is there for miscalculations and unexpected events to spiral.”

“I think Nepal represents the new politics of instability in South Asia,” he said.

Associated Press writer Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed to this report.

By DANICA KIRKA and BRIAN MELLEY

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prince Harry joined his father, King Charles III, for tea on Wednesday at the monarch’s London home, the first time they’ve met in well over a year.

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The two have been distant since Harry and his wife, Meghan, left royal life and moved to California in 2020 and then publicly aired grievances about the royal family.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that Charles and Harry spent time together at Clarence House, where the king lives when he’s in the capital.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Harry was driven through the gates of the four-story mansion not far from Buckingham Palace. He was seen leaving less than an hour later, as he ducked down in the car enroute to an evening event for his Invictus Games, which supports injured and sick service members and veterans.

There had been speculation that Harry might meet his father after he arrived in the U.K. on Monday, the third anniversary of the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, for a four-day trip during which he will visit several of the charities he supports.

A meeting in July between representatives of the king, 76, and his wayward son, 40, led to suggestions that the frigid relationship between Harry and his family might be thawing.

The split had deepened over the past five years as Harry and Meghan aired their grievances with the royal family in a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey and a revealing Netflix series. Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, then fueled the tensions by revealing personal conversations in his memoir, “Spare.”

Harry and his father last met in February 2024, when the prince flew to London after receiving news that Charles had been diagnosed with cancer. Harry spent about 45 minutes with Charles before the king flew to his Sandringham country estate to recuperate from his treatment.

Harry has also had little contact with his elder brother, Prince William, heir to the throne.

Harry was last in London in April, when the Court of Appeal rejected his bid to restore a police protection detail that was canceled after he stopped being a working royal. Charles was on a state visit to Italy at the time, so a meeting then was impossible.

That case was itself an impediment to improved relations because it involved Harry criticizing the king’s government in the courts. But once it was over, change became possible.

Immediately after the case ended, Harry said he would “love reconciliation with my family.”

“There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” he told the BBC on the day the court case was resolved. “Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”

Despite that olive branch, Harry had also struck a combative tone. The prince repeatedly said the decision to withdraw his security was made at the direction of the royal household in an effort to control him and his wife while putting their safety at risk.

“What I’m struggling to forgive, and what I will probably always struggle to forgive, is the decision that was made in 2020 that affects my every single day and that is knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way,” Harry said.

But with the lawsuit out of the way, there were signs of change.

In July, the new team handling Harry and Meghan’s communications, headed by Los Angeles-based Meredith Maines, was seen on the balcony of a private members’ club in London speaking with Tobyn Andreae, the king’s press representative. The Mail on Sunday tabloid took a photo of what it called: “The secret Harry peace summit.”

Regardless of who tipped off the newspaper, it showed a change of tone since the meeting wouldn’t have happened if the principals hadn’t given their tacit consent.

Following the long-awaited meeting Wednesday, Harry dashed to his next charity appearance at an Invictus Games event across town.

When a reporter asked about his father’s health, the prince offered his firsthand opinion: “Yes he’s great, thank you.”