Thirty of Guantánamo’s war-on-terror prisoners are now approved for release to security arrangements following an interagency parole board’s disclosure Friday that it was clearing an Afghan “forever prisoner.” Bostan Karim, 46, “expressed support for the Government of Afghanistan, the Constitution of Afghanistan and reconciliation,” the board wrote in a brief statement declaring him approved for transfer to security arrangements that satisfy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

A final decision may be near on a permanent home for the World Trade Center Sphere, the battered sculptural survivor of 9/11. According to several Community Board 1 members, a Port Authority official has encouraged them to support the siting of the 45,000-pound brass orb in Liberty Park. Due to open this summer, the park is an elevated, one-acre green space atop the Vehicle Security Center that overlooks the Sept. 11 Memorial Plaza. More.

A group of funeral home workers sat at the bar inside the Heritage Hotel in Southbury one night, about a week after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Meanwhile, a group of young journalists were at a nearby table. An editor, concerned about the mental toll, told one reporter she’d be limited to covering no more than three of the funerals that week. More.

At long last, lower Manhattan has a new transit link. And spats over ballooning costs were muted, at least for a day. A new PATH train station at the World Trade Center gained a passageway to the New York City subway Thursday. More.

The World Trade Center site is a place of serenity and an oasis of quiet to remember the lives lost on 9/11, but it’s also believed to still be in the cross-hairs of the world’s terrorists. Given its past, it is critical to protect the site’s future and CBS2’s Maurice DuBoise got a first hand look at the elite unite that protects it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More.

Chairman Poe, Ranking Member Keating, and Members of the Subcommittee: thank you for this opportunity to address the Subcommittee on the US-Saudi Counterterrorism Relationship. Throughout the history of our engagement with the Kingdom, our relationship with Saudi Arabia has been strategically crucial, yet a challenging one and at times a very demanding one. More.

he names of two men who died years after responding to the Sept. 11 terror attacks will be added to the Rockland County Police Memorial during a remembrance ceremony Sunday. Deputy U.S. Marshal Zacarias Toro of Nanuet, and NYPD Lt. Luis Lopez of Suffern, both responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. More.

Hangar 17 at Kennedy International Airport is large enough to house a Boeing 747. For 14 years, however, it has held something much larger: the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. From the enormous trident-shaped columns that supported the World Trade Center towers to delicate crystal pendant earrings from a Casual Corner store in the shopping concourse. More.