What Caught My Eye Today

September 11 - Victims' families gathered in a park to mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the first remembrance ceremony not held at ground zero, an event that failed to evoke the same emotions as the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center site. The Manhattan ceremonies were held largely in a public park because of rebuilding at ground zero. First responders, volunteers and firefighters who helped rescue New Yorkers from the collapsing twin towers read the names of the city's 2,750 victims. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani returned to ground zero Tuesday, despite objections by several victims' families and firefighters who said he should not speak at the remembrance because he is running for president. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the ceremony, but did not speak. Around the country, Americans went through familiar mourning rituals as they looked back on the day when terrorists hijacked four jetliners and killed nearly 3,000 people. President Bush attended ceremonies at the White House and the Pentagon, and the 40 passengers and crew members who died when a flight crashed into a Pennsylvania field were honored as "citizen soldiers." It's sometimes hard to fathom what the world was like before that day. So many things have changed since then, from air travel to our nation's foreign policy. September 11 will play a crucial role in our country's evolution for years to come--I'm not exactly sure that's such a good thing.

Iraq - Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker insisted progress was being made under Bush's strategy of temporarily building up troops to allow time for Iraqi lawmakers to achieve political reconciliation in testimony before the U.S. Senate. But the bipartisan criticism directed at both men during congressional hearings raised questions about whether Bush could count on Republican colleagues for help in staving off Democrats' demands for a faster pullout. Petraeus repeated his plan -- outlined on Monday -- to gradually pull out the extra 30,000 "surge" forces and bring troop levels back down to about 130,000 by next summer. But Petraeus said he could not predict how quickly troop levels would fall after the summer and his force should still protect the Iraqi population, not focus solely on handing over to Iraqi forces and conducting counter-terrorism missions. I'll say this. The Senate was definitely a tougher crowd to please than the House was yesterday. While I continued to be impressed but not entirely happy) with Petraeus' grace under pressure, it certainly appeared as if Crocker was starting to get a bit flustered.

Ethiopa - Celebrations are under way in the streets of Addis Ababa as Ethiopia ushers in the new Millennium. The country uses the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church - for which the 21st Century began on Wednesday at midnight. In the 6th Century, the rest of Christendom revised its estimate of the date of the birth of Christ - but Ethiopia stuck with the old date, which means it only now marks the start of the year 2000. Because it was never colonised, Ethiopia has always had a special significance for the rest of Africa. Happy New Year, I guess. I hope that Y2K bug didn't mess anything up for you guys.

Zimbabwe - A prominent critic of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has resigned as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, after an adultery scandal. Zimbabwe's state media in July published photographs of what it said was Pius Ncube in bed with a married woman who worked for his parish. His lawyers called the allegations an orchestrated attempt to discredit him. Bishop Ncube has this year called for mass street protests and foreign intervention to remove Mr Mugabe. A brief statement from the Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Bishop Ncube's resignation under the article of church law that says a bishop should retire if he is ill or if "some other grave reason" had made him unsuitable for office. Well if it was a smear campaign against the bishop, it sure was an effective one.

Soccer - Check it out guys, the Women's World Cup is underway in China. In The U.S.'s first match, blood streaming from a gash on the top of her head, Abby Wambach came off the field. For 10 minutes, the United States played short-handed while she got stitches. Fifth-ranked North Korea didn't waste its chance. The United States allowed a pair of goals while Wambach was off the field then rallied for a 2-2 tie Tuesday in its opener at the Women's World Cup. The top-ranked Americans, trying to regain the title they won in 1991 in China and 1999 at home, extended their unbeaten streak to 47 games. But playing in the toughest of four groups, they put pressure on themselves heading into games against third-ranked Sweden on Friday and Nigeria next Tuesday. It's customary to call the toughest group, the 'Group of Death,' and in this case the U.S.'s group is aptly named. The U.S. is ranked #1, North Korea #5, Sweden #5, and Nigeria #24. Ouch.