Nearly a decade the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the anniversary continues to be marked with observances around the country. Solemn silence swept the nation this morning as President Obama and first lady Michelle walked out on to the lawn of the White House and bowed their heads in honor of the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
In New York City, survivors, first responders and victims' families fathered at the the World Trade Center memorial for an annual ceremony to read the names of those who perished at Ground Zero.  Bells tolled as the city observed a moment of silence at 8:46am - the moment the first plane struck the north tower on that sunny September day 14 years ago.

On the eve of the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, stunning photos show a rainbow appearing to originate from the World Trade Center in New York City on Thursday. From certain vantage points, the rainbow appeared to cover Manhattan in its entirety.

The Alaskan singer, 41, first started performing as a little girl and has revealed that men would offer her money for sex - and that the harassment didn't stop as she got older and more successful. 'The music industry is a very male-dominated business,' Jewel told The Hollywood Reporter this week. 'I never slept my way to the top, ever. There was never one time I've ever compromised anything. I was always willing to walk away.'

For the first time, the public is seeing inside the bullet-ridden movie theater where a demented James Holmes opened fire, raining terror on hundreds of innocent lives. Holmes, 27, was sentenced to life in prison last month for the mass shooting which killed 12 and injured more than 70 three years ago. Now that the trial is over, prosecutors decided to release hundreds of evidence photos on Thursday that show the aftermath of the theater bloodbath, as well as the booby-trap Holmes set up for police back at his apartment. The heartbreaking photos taken by investigators tell a story of how the violence on-screen quickly turned to reality for the innocent theatergoers gathered for a midnight screening of The Dark Knight rises on July 20, 2012.

A stunning new book in Germany details how a 'Breaking-Bad' Adolf Hitler, right, was zonked out of his head on heroin-type drug while his Blitzkrieg troops fought the war on a narcotic called Pervitin, inset, that was the forerunner of crystal meth. Hitler, second left, was treated with a cocktail of drugs by Dr. Theodor Morrell, extreme left, - who was known to all within the dictator's inner circle as 'Herr Reich Injection Master.'

The Democrat made the candid remarks in an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Thursday night, where at times he choked up while talking about his late son Beau. To chants of 'Joe, run, Joe,' from the audience, Biden said that no one should enter the White House race unless they could give 110 per cent to the American people. Surging poll numbers have led the former senator to consider challenging Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. But the death of his son, who had urged him to run, has left him struggling to commit to the race.

NEW Hillary Clinton's rally late Thursday in Milwaukee had a very unexpected pre-show, when a black-curtained stage backdrop collapsed and knocked over an American flag just before her appearance. Surprised members of the audience captured the images on their cell phones and broadcast them on social media.

NEW At his lowest weight he was having just a single cup of coffee for breakfast and nothing at all for lunch but now Erik has gone from suffering anorexia to becoming a professional competitive eater. Erik Lamkin, a 22-year-old student from San Marcos, California, once weighed just 8st (115lbs) at the age of 18 and ate just 800 calories a day. Now he weighs an amazing 12st (170lbs) and eats a whopping 5000 calories a day - spending nine hours a week training in the gym a week.

The unusual money-saving contraptions include a microwave made from an iron and a hairdryer (left), a hairbrush-turned-wing mirror (top right) and a showerhead fashioned from an empty soda bottle (bottom right). The photos, which were uploaded to ideas-sharing website Bored Panda, have now amassed more than a million likes.

Identical twin brothers Phil and Doug Malm live with their wives Jena and Jill - who are genetically identical sisters themselves - in Moscow, Idaho. The couples met at Twins Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, in 1991, with the men proposing to the women at the festival the next year and marrying them there in 1993. They now live under the same roof with one child each - and unsurprisingly their kids look pretty similar.

The cave is located near Vietnam's Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park and is believed to be an extension of a previously discovered cave called Hang Tien. The jaw-dropping pictures were snapped by adventure photographer Ryan Deboodt, 32, on August 31, after the cave was discovered for the first time by locals just one month ago.

They were once a hub of activity with holiday flights and tearful reunions, but these abandoned airports are in a state of decay after years of neglect or conflict. Planes are falling apart and seats are covered in debris at Cyprus' Nicosia airport, which has not had a commercial flight since 1977. Once the pride of Palestinians, the airport in Rafah, Gaza Strip (top right) is in ruins after being bombed by Israeli forces.

Stepping up to a cash point in central Paris on Wednesday, a woman is summarily mugged by two teenage Roma gypsies. Showing no fear or shame, and not even bothering to disguise their identities, they push her away and help themselves to cash before calmly walking away. The unidentified victim shouts out, and manages to grab one her assailants by her jumper at one point, but nobody bothers intervening in a crime that has become an everyday occurrence in the most popular tourist city in the world.

NEW Nisha Kapashi, 30, traded in her job at J. Crew, her apartment in Manhattan's and all of her possession to go to India to become a Jain nun, where she studies philosophy for 15 hours a day. But despite giving up her career, her designer handbags and committing to a life of celibacy, she says she had never been happier and enjoys her life travelling on foor around India.

NEW Bizarre footage of two friends playing on a beach in America shows the horrifying moment a girl gets hit on the leg with a catfish, and the serrated spine in its fin gets stuck in her leg. Although the group initially find the accident very funny, the video quickly turns more sombre when Tina starts to look nauseated and very concerned.

Los Angeles-based artist Andrew Tarusov shared sexy portraits of Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and seven other Disney leading ladies on Instagram. The sultry illustrations, which show a naked Ariel swimming with Sebastian and Flounder to a scantily-clad Snow White in bed with her dwarf Dopey, are definitely not G-rated.

NEW Kennedy Kirkland had just gotten back from a college football game, where she developed a crush on her uncle's roommate, who plays on the team. When the tiny Millry, Alabama resident tells her parents that the young man, who is named Jared, is her boyfriend, her dad contradicts her. The little girl cries when she is told that Jared is not her boyfriend and that she isn't allowed to date until she is 50.

Tambu Makinzi, 27, from South Africa, was diagnosed with the rare bone cancer chondrosarcoma four years ago. It devoured her nasal and upper jaw bone, leaving her months from death. But after travelling 6,000 miles to London, leaving her husband and daughter behind, Tambu was treated by Professor Iain Hutchison at Barts Hospital in London. After 39 hours in surgery a team of six specialists removed the tumour and using tissue from Tambu's ribs and back rebuilt her face. Speaking after her surgery, the mother-of-one said: 'It's a long process, I'm not 100 per cent but I am getting there. 'If it wasn't for Pearl, I don't think I would have fought as hard as I have. I told myself I have to do this for my daughter.'

NEW The CCTV footage was posted to LiveLeak with very little information, but some people have suggested that the incident may have taken place in the Philippines. The clip shows a stray dog (circled) entering an internet cafe and looking in a bin for food before a passing man appears to try and kick it (left). Luckily the man loses his footing moments before impact and hits the ground hard (right).

An Imgur user posting under the moniker phillyalex shared grabs from his phone which document his year-long effort to get a woman to return his beloved sunglasses. During the 12-month span he sent dozens of texts and selfies to the girl, before finally getting a response.

The ride called Valravn (val-rey-vuhn), at Cedar Point, in Ohio, will send daredevil passengers on a heart-pounding 214ft free fall at 75mph and a stomach-churning Immelmann turn, a fighter jet-like manoeuvre that takes the train into a half loop and half roll. When the ride opens in the summer of 2016, it will set a number of records for dive coasters, including height (223ft), speed (75mph), distance (3,415ft) and longest drop (214ft).

The heart-warming footage was captured by the homeowners in North America, who spied on the little mammals having great fun in their garden. In the clip the two young bears play-fight together on the grass before exploring their surroundings and going for a dip in the swimming pool in a bid to cool off.

Thomas Young was behind the wheel of the truck when he careered into the car dealership in Pennsylvania while choking on Dr Pepper. Young, who was uninjured in the crash, was choking on the soda as his truck plowed nearly 600ft through a grassy area before smashing into a building at Montrose Buick-GMC-Cadillac, police said. Young, who according to police appeared to have made no efforts to brake, was cited for careless driving.

Jiang Shengfa has won respect of the nation after turning a temporary job offer into a decade long devotion. The armless man has taught in a tiny village school in southern China for as long as 12 years. Pictures of him writing with his amputated arm (main) and turning books with his mouth have emerged on the Chinese internet. Before each class, a student helps Mr Jiang attach chalk to his limb (inset).