Much of Europe fell silent today as governments, businesses and ordinary citizens made a gesture of solidarity with Americans, sharing their grief and anger at this week's attacks on the United States.
Ireland declared today a National Day of Mourning and a three-minute silence was observed at 11 a.m.
London traffic ground to a standstill as Big Ben, struck the hour of 11 a.m. Below, the House of Commons in emergency sitting stood in silence like millions to mourn hundreds of Britons and thousands of Americans feared dead.
Radio and television stations fell silent.
Across the English Channel, the bells of Notre Dame cathedral rang out across Paris then fell silent on the same stroke of noon (French time). The French capital's underground train drivers halted in stations in an unprecedented action and asked passengers, over the intercom, to join three minutes of homage to the victims.
Similar gestures took place across the continent, involving Americans' former Cold War adversaries in the east.
German leaders were to attend a ceremony in Berlin later. The country's mass-selling Bildnewspaper ran a photograph of US planes relieving West Berlin during the Soviet blockade of 1948-49 under the headline: 'Now We Must Help!'
