“A routine emergency. Nothing to get too excited about.”
That was how Chief Joseph Pfeifer’s day started on 11 September, 2001, in New York, as he dealt with reports of a smell of gas.
The senior firefighter was in downtown Manhattan when the world changed at 8.46am.
Image: Almost 3,000 people died during the 9/11 attacks. Pic: AP
Speaking to Kay Burley ahead of the 20th anniversary of the disaster, he said: “All of a sudden we heard a loud noise of a plane coming overhead, and you never hear planes in Manhattan, because of the tall buildings.
“And then I saw this plane flying at a very low altitude, and an extremely fast speed.
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“And then I saw the plane aim and crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.”
The then 45-year-old knew straight away that this was no accident.
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He has written a memoir – Ordinary Heroes – to tell his story of what happened that day and the actions of those around him.
Like many thousands of other emergency service workers, Chief Pfeifer’s ran towards the now burning skyscraper to do what he could to help.
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What is the legacy of 9/11?
When he arrived, he was the first New York City Fire Department chief on the scene.
He had already called for help – asking for more than 150 firefighters to join him and his crew.
Chief Pfeifer entered the stricken North Tower’s lobby and took control of the situation.
And then 17 minutes later, the South Tower was hit.
Of the hundreds of firefighters now streaming into the burning towers, one was Chief Pfeifer’s brother, Lieutenant Kevin Pfeifer.
“He reported in to me.
Image: Lt Kevin Pfeifer died on 9/11. Pic: Chief Joseph Pfeifer
Image: The end of the recovery efforts, in May 2002. Pic: FDNY
“And I can remember – we looked at each other – and he had a concerned look on his face.
“And we worried whether each of us was going to be okay.
“And he didn’t say a word – we just had a moment of understanding that this was going to be a tough day.”
Lt Pfeifer, like hundreds others, was ordered to go up the building’s stairs to try to help those trapped.
It was not until the day of the Superbowl on 3 February 2002, almost five months later, that the remains of the chief’s brother were found.
At 9.59am, the unimaginable happened – the South Tower collapsed.
Chief Pfeifer was still commanding operations in the North Tower.
Image: Chief Pfiefer, and then New York Senator Hilary Clinton, as his equipment is displayed at the Museum of American History on 10 September 2002
“The lobby goes completely black. We couldn’t see anything,” he says.
He ordered the North Tower to be evacuated, but 29 minutes later the North followed the South.
“I made it out to the street, standing in front of the North Tower.
“And we hear a rumbling sound again and this time somebody yelled ‘the building is collapsing’. And we started to run.
Image: Some 343 firefighters died on 9/11, and another 255 since. Pic: AP
“However, with helmet and bunker-code pants and boots, you don’t run too far or too fast in 11 seconds.
“And then this beautiful summer morning, full of sunshine, goes completely black, where we couldn’t see a thing.
“And then all that noise from the crashing steel and concrete goes silent.
“It was like a new snow for this muffle sound of silence. And for a few seconds, we wondered if we were still alive.”
The chief had survived, and continued to help in the rescue efforts in the days going forward – even meeting President George W Bush.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Image: Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Image: Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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24:40
Has Charlie Kirk become a MAGA ‘martyr’?
And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
Grammy-award winning R&B and soul singer D’Angelo has died following a battle with pancreatic cancer, his family has said.
He died on Tuesday, leaving behind a “legacy of extraordinarily moving music” following a “prolonged and courageous battle with cancer,” his family said in a statement.
The prominent musician, born Michael D’Angelo Archer, was 51 years old.
A family statement said: “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind.
“We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time, but invite you all join us in mourning his passing while also celebrating the gift of song that he has left for the world.”
The singer rose to prominence in the 1990s with his first album, Brown Sugar.
The track “Lady” from that album reached No. 10 in March 1996 and remained on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for 20 weeks.
ChatGPT will soon write erotica for verified adults, according to OpenAI’s chief executive, as well as becoming more “human-like”.
As part of the company’s policy to “treat adult users like adults”, the chatbot will be able to create sexual content once age verification is fully rolled out across the tool.
“In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults,” said Sam Altman in a post on X.
The announcement wasn’t popular with everyone.
One X user asked Mr Altman: “Why do age-gates always have to lead to erotica? Like, I just want to be able to be treated like an adult and not a toddler, that doesn’t mean I want perv-mode activated.”
“You won’t get it unless you ask for it,” he responded.
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According to the announcement, ChatGPThad become more restrictive and “less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems” while the company tackled problems concerning the chatbot and vulnerable users.
“We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues,” Mr Altman said. “Given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.”
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Adam’s parents accused Sam Altman of putting profit over safety after ChatGPT instructed their son on how to end his life, and even offered to write a suicide note for him.
At the time, OpenAI told Sky News it learned its safeguards “can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model’s safety training may degrade” and said it would continually improve those safeguards.
“Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases,” said Mr Altman on Tuesday evening.
“In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!).”
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The latest ChatGPT model, 5o, has faced criticism by users for being less playful and creative than the previous model.
Now, OpenAI will allow 5o to “respond in a very human-like way and “use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend” if users want that option.
Image: Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI. File pic: AP
In response to Mr Altman’s post, one X user said: “About time… ChatGPT used to feel like a person you could actually talk to, then it turned into a compliance bot.
“If it can be made fun again without losing the guardrails, that’s a huge win. People don’t want chaos, just authenticity.”
“Almost all users can use ChatGPT however they’d like without negative effects; for a very small percentage of users in mentally fragile states there can be serious problems.
“0.1% of a billion users is still a million people.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.