Reuters - Seven years after the September 11 attacks, a financial windstorm shaking Wall Street may have slowed New York's drive to rebuild the World Trade Center and revitalize Manhattan's downtown neighborhoods.

AP - More than six years before Sarah Palin visited ground zero as the Republican vice presidential nominee, her parents were there as part of the response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — trapping rats.

AP - The World Trade Center site's owner is proposing to redesign part of its over-budget transit hub to save money and ensure the nearby Sept. 11 memorial would open before the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, The Associated Press learned Thursday.

AP - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin defended her remark that the proximity of Russia to her home state of Alaska gives her foreign policy experience, explaining in a CBS interview airing Thursday that "we have trade missions back and forth."

AP - The proclaimed architect of the Sept. 11 attacks once declared that he wanted to be executed and become a martyr. But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is mounting a vigorous defense, even asking the military judge to remove himself Wednesday.

Reuters - The suspected planner of the September 11 attacks denounced the Guantanamo war crimes court as an "inquisition" and failed to persuade the U.S. military judge on Wednesday to disqualify himself as biased against Muslims.

AP - Professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed took center stage in a military court Tuesday as he questioned the judge's impartiality and acted as the de facto spokesman for his four co-defendants.

The Christian Science Monitor - Henry Paulson Jr. has become one of the most famous and, perhaps, consequential U.S. Treasury secretaries since Alexander Hamilton. Legislation submitted to Congress would transform Paulson's office into that of temporary overseer of America's entire financial system.

Reuters - Accused September 11 plotter Ramzi Binalshibh failed to appear at a Guantanamo war crimes court hearing and a U.S. military judge ordered that he be brought in by force if necessary on Tuesday.

AP - Crews excavating the World Trade Center site this summer for the foundations of a new skyscraper have uncovered features carved into the bedrock by glaciers about 20,000 years ago, including a 40-foot-deep pothole.