July Fourth: Americans celebrate their union, rue divisions

NEW YORK — With backyard barbecues and fireworks, Americans were celebrating Independence Day by participating in time-honored traditions that express pride in their country’s 242nd birthday.

But this quintessential American holiday will also be marked with a sense of a United States divided for some — evidenced by competing televised events in the nation’s capital.

From New York to California, July Fourth festivities will be at times lively and lighthearted, with Macy’s July Fourth fireworks and Nathan’s Famous hotdog eating contest.


The day’s events will also be stately and traditional, with parades lining streets across the country and the world’s oldest commissioned warship firing a 21-gun salute to mark the 242 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.


For some Western states, however, the holiday will be a bit more muted as high wildfire danger forces communities to cancel fireworks displays.

Oldest warship

The USS Constitution has sailed in Boston Harbor and fired its guns again to mark Independence Day.

The world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat left its berth at the Charlestown Navy Yard on Wednesday morning. It glided through the harbor to mark 242 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The ship, nicknamed Old Ironsides, traveled to Fort Independence on Castle Island to fire a 21-gun salute. The ship’s commander saluted the crowds gathered there.

A Navy sailor on board recited the Declaration of Independence during the cruise.

A historic parade


Crowds lined the streets in a Rhode Island town to see what’s billed as the nation’s oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration. Begun in 1785, the Bristol parade typically attracts about 100,000 people to the seaside town.

This year’s was a scorcher: Temperatures hovered near 33 degrees Celsius when the parade began late Wednesday morning, and some marchers were treated for heat exhaustion and taken off the route.

Dueling celebrations

The country’s longest-running live national July Fourth television tradition is PBS’ broadcast of music and fireworks from the US Capitol’s West Lawn. But it’s facing new counterprogramming this year from the White House, which is hosting its own concert and view of the National Park Service’s fireworks show.

PBS’ “A Capitol Fourth” has the bigger stars, including The Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffett, Pentatonix, Chita Rivera, Luke Combs and The Temptations. It will be hosted by John Stamos.


The entertainers on the 90-minute White House event airing on the Hallmark Channel include singer-songwriter Sara Evans, pianist Lola Astanova and two former “American Idol” finalists. Both shows will include the fireworks display from the National Park Service.

First lady Melania Trump said the White House show would allow Americans to “tune in from their homes and be part of the festivities.” PBS declined to comment.

Lighting up the night skies

In New York, the Macy’s fireworks show over the East River promises 25 minutes of sparkle and ahhhh plus the West Point Band and entertainers including Kelly Clarkson, Ricky Martin and Keith Urban on NBC’s broadcast.

But some places in the American West have canceled their planned July Fourth fireworks because of high wildfire danger, and others are doing drone light displays instead of pyrotechnics.

In Colorado, the wildfire danger forced some communities to cancel their fireworks. However, other shows will still go as planned in Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.

The small mountain town of Silverton, in southwestern Colorado, called off the fireworks part of its annual Independence Day party, but the rest of Wednesday’s celebration is still on, including live music and water fight with firefighters. Aspen will have a fire-proof drone light display above town.

New Americans, divided America

Meanwhile, this was the first Fourth of July that many people were able to call themselves US citizens after participating in naturalization ceremonies across the country.

In New Hampshire, more than 100 people from 48 countries became US citizens during a ceremony at the Strawbery Banke museum in Portsmouth as part of the museum’s annual American Celebration. A ceremony also was held aboard the USS New Jersey, where dozens of people from countries including Vietnam and Bangladesh were sworn in.

The new citizens pledged allegiance to a country where some people lament that the ability to debate respectfully the toughest issues of the day seems hopelessly lost. Several people were arrested Wednesday after hanging a banner from the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal that called for abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

LGBTQ at Freedom Festival parade

On the other hand, Utah LGBTQ groups marched for the first time in a prominent July Fourth festival in the conservative city of Provo after years of organizers blocking them from participating.

The groups were met by cheers and rainbow flags as they marched Wednesday morning in America’s Freedom Festival parade.

Participants included a center for LGBTQ youth and an organization that works to bridge divides between the LGBTQ community and the Mormon church.

The groups’ parade application was initially denied this year by festival organizers who said participants cannot focus on political or social issues but should instead focus on patriotism.

County officials threatened to pull $100,000 in taxpayer money from the privately organized event until festival organizers struck a deal allowing the groups to participate.

Hotdog eating history

Then again, defending champions Joey “Jaws” Chestnut and Miki Sudo held on to their titles at the Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hotdog eating contest. They each downed dozens of wieners and buns in front of thousands of spectators at the annual seaside affair at New York’s Coney Island.

Chestnut surpassed his previous record by two hot dogs, gobbling down 74 franks and buns in 10 minutes. He won the Mustard Belt and his 11th title.

Sudo held on to her title as the top women’s competitor, chomping 37 franks and buns to take home the top prize for the fifth consecutive year.

Fireworks accidents

But a large tree branch fell on spectators during a fireworks display in western Illinois late Tuesday, killing two men and injuring five other people. Rock Island County sheriff’s officials said dozens of people were sitting near the tree at the time.

In Maryland, a man was hospitalized with “catastrophic injuries” to his hands after setting off fireworks at a large outdoor party where several attendees took illegal fireworks, investigators said.               /kga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

How the world will ring in the New Year

Sydney will kick-start the global New Year's Eve party with its biggest fireworks display ever, but fear of jihadist attacks has cast a pall with Brussels scrapping celebrations and many cities tightening security.

The show from the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in Australia's largest city is traditionally the world's first major event to ring in the New Year.

Despite safety concerns, organisers are expecting a one million plus crowd before the chimes of midnight move across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

"It just keeps getting better every year," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said of the Aus$7 million (US$5.1 million), 12-minute fireworks extravaganza.

The 2016 theme is "City of Colour" and seven tonnes of fireworks will go up in smoke, including 11,000 shells, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 individual "pyrotechnics effects" under forecasts of a fine summer night sky.

Acknowledging Australia's Aboriginal culture, a "welcome to country" indigenous ceremony will also be marked through images projected on the bridge's pylons.

Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may rival Sydney's pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei offers a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.

Jakarta remains on high alert after anti-terror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.

High security in Europe

At the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels have been cancelled as the Belgian capital -- home to NATO and the European Union -- remains on high alert.

"It's better not to take any risks," mayor Yvan Mayeur said Wednesday after police arrested two people suspected of plotting to launch attacks during the festivities at Brussels landmarks.

The French capital, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display.

But authorities agreed France's biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.

"The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.

"After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world," she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

In Turkey, police have detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the centre of Ankara which is expected to be packed on New Year's Eve.

Meanwhile, in Moscow police will for the first time close off Red Square where tens of thousands of revellers traditionally gather.

"It's no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.

In Madrid, thousands of people will flock to Puerta del Sol square, however police will limit the number allowed in to just 25,000.

London is also trying to control the crowds by again charging for access to central riverside areas to see the fireworks, with more than 113,000 10-pound (US$15) tickets already sold.

Berliners will do better with about a million expected at the Brandenburg Gate for a free mega-street party.

Party at the pyramids

Cairo meanwhile is trying desperately to attract tourists to bolster the economy.

The government is staging celebrations in front of the pyramids near the Egyptian capital, with ambassadors, artists and intellectuals all invited.

Egypt has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising but was further hit by the October 31 crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai killing 224 people.

On the nearby Gaza Strip, the Islamist group Hamas has banned public New Year's Eve parties.

Police spokesman Ayman al-Batinji told AFP such celebrations were "incompatible with our customs, traditions, values and the teachings of our religion".

In stark contrast, Sierra Leone's capital Freetown is hoping to reclaim its mantle as host of the best beach parties in Africa after Ebola scared people away.

The city of 1.2 million was deserted 12 months ago during the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

"This New Year's Eve I am going to dance and party until the cock crows," said 35-year-old Franklyn Smith.

Celebrations away from the palm-fringed beaches will be muted, however, as people remember almost 4,000 victims of the epidemic.

In the Philippines, stray bullets and exploding firecrackers have killed one person and injured almost 200 others as the country plunged into its annual chaotic revelry.

In New York, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, another million people are expected to turn out to see the ball descend.

This year's show includes performances by artists Demi Lovato, Daya and Jessie J. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Asia rings in Year of the Horse with fireworks, festivities

BEIJING - Fireworks illuminated the skies across Asia and millions of families gathered together Friday to usher in the Year of the Horse, kicking off a week of celebrations that included a performance by Braveheart actress Sophie Marceau on China's annual televised gala.

Residents from China's small towns and villages to its sprawling megacities rang in the Lunar New Year, the country's most important holiday, by indulging in feasts of dumplings and rice cakes and exchanging hongbao, red envelopes stuffed with "lucky money."

Many of them were among the hundreds of millions of people, including 245 million migrant workers, who had crammed planes, trains and buses to return to their hometowns in what is the world's largest annual human migration.

Chinese communities across Asia also came together to celebrate, marking the holiday with flowers and offerings. Hong Kong was due to hold a massive fireworks display over Victoria Harbour on Saturday, the second day of the new year.

The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and through Chinese folklore ascribes 12 animals, one for each year in the rotating cycle. The horse is in the seventh position.

In China, the horse is traditionally associated with loyalty and energy, and is considered the second-most popular animal sign of the zodiac, after the dragon.

The phrase for "at once" in Chinese literally means "on horseback," and some popular New Year cards this year have featured money, houses or cars on horseback, expressing the sender's wish of speedy good fortune for the receiver.

This year, however, is set to be a dramatic one, according to Hong Kong feng-shui masters, as it is the Year of the Wooden Horse—incorporating the dramatic element of fire.

Conflicts, disasters, record high temperatures, an economic chill in Asia, and more trouble for pop star Justin Bieber all lie in wait this year, celebrity feng-shui master Alion Yeo told AFP earlier this week.

On Thursday, Beijing was a cacophany of light and sound as residents took to the streets to light firecrackers—traditionally believed to scare away evil spirits—into the wee hours of Friday.

But by morning, the capital was mostly quiet, as most of the migrant workers who comprise more than a third of its 20 million population had left the city to celebrate the new year in their ancestral homes.

Beijing saw a slump in fireworks sales this year amid pollution concerns among residents and a move by city officials to cut the number of licensed firework retailers by 12 percent, the state-run China Daily reported.

Levels of the small particulate pollution known as PM2.5 ranged from 140 to 160 micrograms per cubic metre from 6 pm to midnight Thursday—a figure that was still well above the World Health Organisation's recommended level of 25 micrograms, but "much better" than the all-time peak of 1,000 recorded last Lunar New Year's Eve, Beijing's environmental watchdog said Friday.

State broadcaster CCTV aired its annual five-hour gala, a tradition dating back to 1983 and featuring comedians, dancers and singers. The hugely popular program last year drew 750 million viewers in China alone, according to the broadcaster.

For 24 years it featured Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is a soprano singer with the rank of army general. She retired from the show shortly after her husband joined China's Politburo in 2007.

This year it featured French actress Marceau, who performed Edith Piaf's signature song, "La Vie En Rose," in a duet with Chinese pop star Liu Huan.

But Chinese rocker Cui Jian, who inspired the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement and was in talks to perform on the show, did not feature. The Beijing News daily quoted his manager as saying he had refused to "change the words" of his songs.

In additional to giving traditional hongbao, or red envelopes, some Chinese this year have taken to sending Lunar New Year money by smartphone.

The popular mobile chat app WeChat, which has more than 600 million subscribers, this week introduced a new feature allowing users to send an electronic new year "envelope" of up to 200 yuan ($33), the China Daily reported. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com