Families carrying photos of lost loved ones streamed into a plaza near “ground zero” in New York today to observe the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Centre attack, wiping tears and raindrops from their faces under dreary skies.

VETERAN US Republican Senator Arlen Specter plans to switch parties, a move intended to boost his chances of re-election next year that also will push Democrats within one seat of a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority.