Fireworks, heat, hot dogs and politics: America celebrates its 250th birthday
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 250th anniversary of American independence is colliding with a country gripped by political polarization and a heat wave bearing down on millions of people across multiple states as celebrations got underway Saturday throughout the United States.
The signing of the Declaration of Independence, one of history's most celebrated articulations of democratic ambitions, is being marked in myriad ways.
President Donald Trump plans to speak on the National Mall before what is being billed as a historically enormous fireworks show that will rain down over the nation's capital. He was in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore on Friday, where he delivered a dark speech about the threat of communism in the U.S.
Fireworks are scheduled to be set off over Navy Pier in Chicago and against the skyline of New York City. New York hosted a ball drop at midnight to usher in the holiday with the same fanfare as New Year's Eve and saw tall ships parade pass the Statue of Liberty, recalling the fanfare around America's 200th anniversary in 1976.
Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own. Celebrations months in the making had to adjust or cancel activities entirely as much of the East Coast sweltered under heat that approached and in many cases surpassed triple digits.
3 dead and others rescued after boat capsizes on Wisconsin lake amid storms
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (AP) — Three people died and seven others were rescued Friday after a boat capsized in Geneva Lake as a strong storm passed through southern Wisconsin, an official said.
Many injuries were reported in Wisconsin’s Walworth County after the storm toppled trees, knocked down power lines and damaged buildings, said Tom Hausner, undersheriff for the Walworth County Sheriff’s department.
Hausner said he did not know any other information about the people who died and those rescued.
Police in the city of Lake Geneva are investigating, Hausner said. Officials there didn’t immediately respond to an email and voice message from The Associated Press seeking more information.
Lake Geneva Mayor Todd Krause declared an emergency and said that one person had minor injuries after being struck by a falling tree. Several areas of the city were experiencing power outages, he said in a statement.
Iran begins dayslong funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in war
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of mourners began a dayslong funeral on Saturday for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, beating their chests in sorrow before the glass case containing his flag-draped coffin in Tehran and calling for revenge against Israel and the United States.
The funeral for Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades before he was killed at age 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike in the opening moments of the Iran war, could provide a boost for the country's theocracy and its new supreme leader, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
That is important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war and as concern lingers that Israel could attack again. The funeral was delayed as the war raged, and talks appear to be on hold until it is over.
During the ceremony, Iran's top negotiator warned France and the U.K. over their comments about potentially launching joint patrols in the waterway, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime.
Mourners wept at the sight of Khamenei's coffin alongside those of his family members also killed in the airstrike, with some chanting: “Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” Some carried banners and flags. Billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.
Trump pardons former Abramoff partner, 9 people convicted of violating vehicle emissions controls
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned 11 people, including a former business partner of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and nine people identified by the White House as having helped people bypass emissions control systems on vehicles.
The acts of clemency come as Trump has issued a slew of pardons in his second term, particularly for allies, public figures and those seen as politically aligned.
His use of the presidency’s sweeping ability to unilaterally grant pardons and commute sentences is among the ways the Republican’s return to office has featured an expansive use of executive power.
Trump earlier on Friday announced some of the pardons on social media, without identifying any of the recipients by name.
“It is my Great Honor to have just signed Pardons for six people who were persecuted by the Biden Administration, and were in, or being sent to, prison, for ‘fixing their car,’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network.
Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg oil terminal in latest long-range attack on Russia
A Ukrainian drone attack struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Russian officials said, as Kyiv presses on with bombardment of Russia’s oil infrastructure.
Almost daily long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities have created a fuel crisis and heaped political pressure on the Kremlin as its all-out invasion of Ukraine stretches into its fifth year.
Gov. Alexander Beglov said the city’s Kirovsky district on the Baltic Sea was hit. He also said that air defenses shot down 72 Ukrainian drones across Russia's second-largest city and the surrounding region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia. He said that Ukrainian forces also hit a military target on the island of Kronstadt, just off the coast of St. Petersburg.
“The Ukrainian defense forces hit the port oil infrastructure, which earns money for the Russian war, and there were also hits on Kronstadt — an important military target,” he said in a post on Telegram.
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Fallout from Venezuela's earthquakes turns political as opposition leader Machado seeks return
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The fallout from Venezuela's powerful twin quakes has evolved into a major test for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, sending her scrambling to prevent the humanitarian disaster from becoming a political one as her mandate as interim leader expires Friday.
A day after Rodríguez angrily defended the competence of her government's relief effort at her first news conference since the June 24 disaster, her main rival, exiled Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, issued her own appeal.
Machado on Friday argued that the government's quake response exposed its critical weaknesses and that she should return to Venezuela to help "the transition process, especially after the tragedy.”
"My presence stabilizes the situation; it is part of the organizing forces that the country needs at a time when the total absence of the state has become evident," Machado said, referring to widespread criticism of the government’s earthquake response as slow and disorganized. “The country needs figures it can trust.” She spoke to reporters from Panama.
The quakes have killed 2,645 people and injured over 12,500 others, according tallies released Friday by the government. Machado's opposition movement has set up an online database to locate the missing — a list of 36,000 people as of Friday. The party has mobilized volunteers to collect donations in Venezuela and solicited aid from the country's vast diaspora.
Far-right Alternative for Germany party reelects leaders as protesters and police clash
ERFURT, Germany (AP) — Delegates at the national convention of the far-right Alternative for Germany party on Saturday overwhelmingly reelected its leaders, including Alice Weidel, as tens of thousands of protesters aimed to disrupt the meeting and some clashed with police.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, sought to show unity as it voted to extend the terms of Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, who have headed it for four years as co-leaders and ran unopposed Saturday. Weidel was reelected with 81% of the vote, while Chrupalla earned 70%. German parties elect their leaders every two years.
The demonstrations outside the convention in the eastern city of Erfurt reflected how AfD has divided Germany even while becoming the biggest opposition party nationally and the strongest political force in Germany’s formerly communist east.
Saturday's event was able to start on time despite the protests, which party officials hailed their “fundamental, legally guaranteed right to hold party conventions.”
“There are no peaceful seated blockades. There are no democratic roadblocks. Nor are there any gangs of thugs who deserve the harmless label ‘civil society.’ These troublemakers are the last resort of our political rivals,” Chrupalla said.
Venezuelans are rushing to identify the bodies of their loved ones as earthquake deaths multiply
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Speaking in a hushed voice, Rosa López recalled how she had to sidestep the rows of bodies lying under a harsh sun as she helped her daughter search for her missing husband. Even her years working as a nurse did not prepare her for the sight of the dozens of dead wrapped in sheets or blankets.
“We saw a lot of bodies that had not yet been identified,” López said.
The rush is on across La Guaira, the state on Venezuela’s northern coast hardest hit by the powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes, to identify loved ones before it’s too late. With at least 2,295 people killed, Venezuela is overwhelmed with bodies that officials are struggling to collect, identify and preserve for loved ones to claim. Thousands are still missing.
José Antonio Toledo, López's 25-year-old son-in-law, was found under the building where he was working as a security guard when the quakes struck. Crews took his body to a local hospital, where staff turned them away because there was no space. The body was sent to another facility and eventually transferred to an open parking lot.
A forensic doctor helped the family find him days later, on Saturday. But once they identified his body, they didn’t know what to do with it because they couldn’t afford the $450 that a funeral home was charging.
Egypt's coach waved Palestinian flag after winning World Cup game
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Egypt coach Hossam Hassan waved a Palestinian flag on the pitch after his team's victory over Australia in the World Cup, saying he was dedicating it to both Egyptians and Palestinians.
“My heart and soul are with them,” he said in an emotional postgame interview.
Egypt won its debut in the elimination round of the World Cup by beating Australia 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the round of 32 Friday.
The victory comes in Egypt’s fourth World Cup.
A video of Hassan on social media shows him walking around the pitch holding the flag as people chanted “Free, free Palestine!" The video went viral.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are married. What to know about the wedding
NEW YORK (AP) — Your English teacher and your gym teacher are married. And we finally know a few more details surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding at Madison Square Garden.
Adam Sandler officiated, which both delighted and confused those who had been guessing who would have the high honor. Swift's brother Austin Swift served as her man of honor, and Kelce’s brother and podcast co-host Jason Kelce served as the groom's best man.
The event was attended by hundreds of celebrities, athletes and close friends and family, but even after the marriage announcement was made Friday evening, many of the wedding details remained hidden as photos remained elusive — including any hint of what Swift or Kelce wore.
Here is what we know (and still don't know):
Swift once joked that anyone she had ever talked to would be invited to the wedding, and Friday's event appeared to make good on that promise.

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