The World Trade Centre site will be transformed into the “most dynamic state-of-the-art business district anywhere on Earth” as New York City rises from the ashes of September 11, architects and city officials said.

Officials rebuilding the World Trade Centre site today defended their progress to state politicians who asked why no office towers had risen at ground zero nearly five years after terrorists destroyed the twin towers.

Frank Quattrone, a star investment banker during the Internet stock bubble, has been convicted of obstructing justice by sending a 22-word email encouraging colleagues to destroy files.

New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he will talk to the city’s mayoral candidates and try to come up with a plan that would give him a continuing role in New York’s recovery from the World Trade Centre disaster.