When a wood platform holding live fireworks tipped over during a Fourth of July parade in Simi Valley, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, 28 people were injured as pyrotechnics exploded, the Christian Science Monitor reported. Police were still investigating what led to the explosion, but said early indications show a platform designed and built to hold the fireworks gave way.
President Barack Obama honored the military families on the south lawn of the White House on Thursday, continuing a tradition of honoring the country's armed forces on Independence Day.
Adli Mansour, the chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court, was sworn in on Thursday, as the nation's interim president, taking over hours after the military removed Mohammed Morsi, the Associated Press reported. According to the military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected, but a date for that vote has yet been set.