New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, has confirmed he will attend the main September 11 memorial ceremony on Friday despite calls from former mayor Rudy Giuliani that he should stay away. In a weekend interview on Newsmax (a right-leaning US cable channel), Giuliani appeared to draw parallels between Mamdani's faith and the al-Qaida hijackers responsible for the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, claiming the mayor was "hiding" his beliefs. Mamdani, who attended last year's ceremony before taking office, said he intended to stand with the families of victims and first responders, adding that the week should focus on those "whose loved ones were stolen from them 25 years ago."