Dallas remembers ‘transcendent’ JFK

John F Kennedy was remembered as a transcendent leader of a rising nation at a ceremony in Dallas last night, the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

“Our collective hearts were broken,” Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings told a crowd of about 5,000 who came to Dealey Plaza, near where Kennedy was slain, for a commemoration marked with prayer, song, and tears.

Kennedy remains one of Americans’ favourite presidents for his handling of the Cuban missile crisis, his call to public service with programmes such as the Peace Corps, and a promise — later fulfilled — to land an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.