Eight years since the 'dark day'

By Roger Hardy BBC Middle East and Islamic affairs analyst
Across the United States, the memory of 9/11 - that fateful Tuesday in 2001 when suicide attacks struck New York and Washington - is still very much alive.
This year the annual commemoration of the attacks in the US has been given a new name - the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have called on Americans to carry out community service as a way of honouring "the heroes of that dark day".
Down but not out
Dealing with the legacy of 9/11 is one of Mr Obama's toughest challenges.
There has been no repeat of 9/11 on American soil - but around the world al-Qaeda and its extended family are still in business.
Three recent events show that the global threat remains real:
the hotel bombings in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in July
the assassination attempt in August against the Saudi prince who is in day-to-day charge of his country's internal security
and the conviction this week of three British Muslims for their involvement in a plot to bomb seven transatlantic airliners in 2006.

Al-Qaeda leaders could still be winning the global battle for hearts and minds
The consensus among most experts is that al-Qaeda is down but not out.
It has been weakened by constant pressure from the US and its allies. Some of its middle-ranking leaders have been killed in US air strikes by pilotless Predator drones.
In two important countries where it once seemed strong - Iraq and Saudi Arabia - it has been pushed on to the defensive.
But the same experts tend to think that, in the global battle for Muslim hearts and minds, al-Qaeda has outperformed its adversaries.
Its ideology still seems to have a potent appeal to disaffected young Muslims around the world