Monday morning news: September 12, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

9/11 commemoration » Americans remembered 9/11 on Sunday with tear-choked tributes and promises to “never forget.”

At the World Trade Center in New York, Bonita Mentis said it’s hard to believe 21 years have passed.

MENTIS: It’s hard for me to talk about it. I lost my sister. She was only 25 years old at the time.

In Washington, President Biden spoke at the Pentagon…

BIDEN: Twenty-one years and we’ve still kept our promise to never forget. We’ll keep the memory of all those precious lives stolen from us.

Biden vowed that the U.S. would continue working to root out terrorist plots.

First lady Jill Biden spoke at the third attack site, a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Ukraine update » The Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. said Sunday that Ukraine still mourns 9/11 with the American people. Oksana Markarova told CBS’ Face the Nation:

MARKAROVA: We know this pain and we feel this pain in Ukraine. We know how is it when terrorists attack you at home.

Ukrainian troops continue a major counteroffensive against Russian forces. They carried out successful strikes in the northeastern part of the country on Sunday.

Kyiv's counterattacks forced Moscow to withdraw its troops from parts of the Kharkiv region to keep from being surrounded. In their hasty retreat, they left large numbers of weapons and munitions behind.

ZELENSKY: [Speaking in Ukrainian]

In a video address, President Volodymyr Zelenksyy praised his military for retaking the city of Izyum.

But Russia struck back at Ukraine's infrastructure last night, triggering widespread blackouts.

Zaporizhzhia » Meantime, workers at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were able to reconnect it to the electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor.

That in an effort to avoid a radiation disaster as fighting continues to rage in the area.

The six-reactor plant lost its outside source of electricity a week ago. Shelling damaged or disconnected all of its power lines.

Operators say shutting down the last reactor is the safest course of action.

King Charles » AUDIO: Three cheers for his majesty the king” Hip hip hooray!

King Charles III formally became the sovereign of the UK in a ceremony at Saint-James Palace in London.

He technically ascended to the throne upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II last week. But the constitutional ceremony is an important part of the process.

The king said he will strive to live up to his mother’s “inspiring example.”

CHARLES: I am deeply aware of the great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities, which have now passed to me.

Queen Elizabeth » Meantime, in a somber, regal procession, a hearse carrying the queen’s flag-draped casket drove slowly through the Scottish countryside Sunday en route to Holyroodhouse palace in Edinburgh.

Mourners packed city streets to take part in a historic goodbye.

AUDIO: You know, she’s been such a good queen to us all. You know, she’s been loyal, she’s been dignified. She’s been kind and compassionate, everything you’d want from a monarch.

The hearse drove past piles of bouquets and other tributes on the six-hour drive from the queen’s castle in Edinburgh.

The queen’s casket will be flown to London tomorrow. It will then be transported to Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to lie in state.

Yellen on recession, gas prices » Is the U.S. economy in a recession?

A recession’s widely defined as two straight quarters of negative growth in GDP. By that definition, the answer is yes. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN on Sunday:

YELLEN: We’re not in a recession. The labor market is exceptionally strong. The unemployment rate is extremely low.

She said as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to combat soaring inflation, it risks tipping the country into a painful recession.

YELLEN: Of course it’s a concern. The Fed is going to need great skill and also some good luck to achieve what we sometimes call a soft landing.

That would mean taming inflation without a deep economic downturn. She said she hopes that the Fed can still achieve that.

Yellen also cautioned that gas prices could spike this winter amid a crackdown on Russian oil.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.