Lady Liberty's Crown Reopens July 4

(NEWSER) - The crown of the Statue of Liberty will be open for business again July 4, the first time since 9/11. NPR collected a few facts about Lady Liberty you might not know:

• The 7 spikes: Liberty's crown does not symbolize the 7 continents or seas, as even the National Parks Service reports. They're sun rays, and the circle is a "nimbus."
• She's so heavy: The statute is made of 31 tons of copper, 125 tons of steel, and the base consists of a whopping 27,000 tons of concrete.

Financial dispute means it won't open this year

(NEWSER) - Families of 9/11 victims are dismayed that a financial dispute has indefinitely delayed completion of the museum at Ground Zero. The museum, a companion to the 9/11 memorial, was supposed to be finished by this year's 11th anniversary, but officials now say that's not possible. The holdup stems from a financial battle between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the foundation that controls the memorial and museum, reports the AP . The Port Authority says the foundation owes it $300 million for infrastructure and updated project costs; the foundation counters that the port owes it money because of project delays. More»

Core 'essentially gone,' but spinoff groups a concern

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda today is mostly a spent force, unable to carry out another 9/11-style attack, said US intelligence officials yesterday, reports Reuters . The mostly anonymous assessment—in a conference call led by Robert Cardillo, deputy director of US national intelligence—came one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden , with security experts also noting that al-Qaeda had been diminished by the Arab Spring around the Middle East. For the next year at least, an attack using chemical, biological, atomic, or radiological weapons by the "core" group was deemed extremely unlikely. More»

Former Dover Air Force Base mortuary director speaks out

(NEWSER) - The 9/11 remains that ended up in a landfill could have been buried at sea instead: That's the plan some officials at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary pushed for, but their superiors in the military rejected it. "We fought the fight, but I had zero clout back then," says William D. Zwicharowski, who was then the mortuary's interim director. Zwicharowski is one of four whistleblowers who have brought to light various other problems at the mortuary . He showed the Washington Post emails from 2002 corroborating his account. More»

Damages determined for 9/11 attacks

(NEWSER) - Somebody tell al-Qaeda to get out its checkbook. A federal judge yesterday ruled that the terrorist organization owes $9.3 billion for the damage caused to businesses and properties in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reports the AP . Several insurance companies started their suit in 2003 versus a variety of defendants, seeking compensation for the attack on the World Trade Center. The judge determined actual damages, then tripled them for punitive compensation. More»