The US’ biggest fireworks display exploded in a spectrum of color over New York, temporarily stealing the spotlight from the city’s world-famous skyline and helping to create a brilliant end to a day of Fourth of July celebrations nationwide.
On the 232nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, spectators thronged the riverfront in a light rain, some holding red, white and blue umbrellas, while Boy Scouts in Hartford, Connecticut, rang a replica of the Liberty Bell.
Near Kissimmee, Florida, a wounded bald eagle, the national bird, was flying free after spending more than two months rehabilitating from a fight with another eagle. It was freed Thursday in Lake Tohopekaliga, the heart of Florida’s eagle country.
PHOTO: EPA
In Boston, the 211-year-old USS Constitution, the Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, was the backdrop on Friday morning as two dozen people were sworn in as US citizens.
US Vice President Dick Cheney greeted the new Americans and later, in a second ceremony, administered the re-enlistment oath to a group of servicemen.
The Hartford ceremony was among several similar events being held across the country on Friday by a group known as Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
PHOTO: AP
Thirteen peals, one for each of the original colonies, rang out from a replica Liberty Bell at the State Capitol.
US President George W. Bush saluted new citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was interrupted on several occasions by protesters calling for his impeachment.
North Carolina’s two major military bases planned big events to honor troops. Country star Wynonna Judd was to perform at Fort Bragg and the Marines were hosting her contemporary Lee Ann Womack at Camp Lejeune.
In Fairmont, West Virginia, gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton was honored by her hometown with a parade and concert. She rode down streets in the cherry picker bucket of a fire truck, just as she did in 1984, when she was 16 and a new hometown hero.
Near Cincinnati, a daredevil walked 610m across a cable suspended high off the ground in an amusement park.
Rick Wallenda is the grandson of Karl Wallenda, patriarch of the “Flying Wallendas” high-wire act, who fell to his death trying to walk a cable in Puerto Rico in 1974.
Rick Wallenda, 53, completed the feat using a balancing pole and without a safety net or harness.
“I think my granddad would be proud,” Wallenda said.
After dark, more than 3 million people were expected to attend the fireworks display along New York’s East River, moved south this year so onlookers would get a better view of the city skyline.
Organizers said this year’s show, broadcast on NBC, would include new nautical fireworks that float on the water. Other new shells would go through multiple transformations after they launch, providing four different effects.
And it would not be July Fourth without the annual hot-dog eating competition at Coney Island in New York. This year was another heartbreaker for longtime champion Takeru Kobayashi of Nagano, Japan.
He was trying to reclaim his title after a disappointing three-dog loss last year to Californian Joey Chestnut shattered his six-year winning streak. But it was not to be: Chestnut made it two wins in a row, beating Kobayashi in a tiebreaker.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS