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The United States marks 238 years as an independent nation as it celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks, food and music. Nature and politics also play a role this year, with Hurricane Arthur crashing holiday parties along the East Coast and subdued festivities in Moscow amid growing anti-American sentiment over the crisis in Ukraine. Here are some highlights of Independence Day celebrations across the globe:

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FIRE IN THE SKY

The Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show in New York City is the nation's largest. Macy's says more than 1,600 shells will be launched per minute during the 25-minute display over the East River. Among the celebrities performing at the event are the Zac Brown Band, Enrique Iglesias and Ariana Grande. Other major fireworks shows are being held in Chicago on Lake Michigan and in San Francisco over the bay.

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WEATHER WORRIES

The first hurricane of the season, Arthur, forced many East Coast cities to switch the dates of their Fourth of July celebrations. Boston officials moved the annual Boston Pops July 4 concert and fireworks from Friday to Thursday. Then they cut short the concerts so the fireworks could begin. Shortly after the dazzling display thundered to a close, a drenching rain began falling. Meanwhile, several cities in Maine, New Hampshire and New Jersey moved their fireworks shows to either Saturday or Sunday. Augusta, Maine, moved its fireworks to Aug. 2.

When it crossed North Carolina's Outer Banks late Thursday, Arthur narrowly missed becoming the first hurricane to make landfall on July Fourth, according to National Hurricane Center research that dates to the 1850s.

In Phoenix, the first dust storm of the summer arrived with blinding winds that forced the cancellation of holiday plans, knocked out power and grounded flights.

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INSPIRING MUSIC

In Washington, composer John Williams is to debut a new arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" featuring choirs, trumpets, an orchestra and cannons on the National Mall.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the national anthem. Francis Scott Key was inspired by the sight of the flag over Baltimore's Fort McHenry in September 1814 after a 25-hour British bombardment.

Thousands of people celebrated the Fourth in the nation's capital under clear skies, despite initial fears rain could ruin their fun. Visitors to the Mall gazed at the White House and the Washington Monument and strolled through the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which featured food, music and cultural demonstrations.

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GLUTTONY ON THE FOURTH

High-ranking chowhound Joey "Jaws" Chestnut dropped to one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend before Friday's annual Coney Island hot dog eating contest, then packed away 61 franks and buns to hold onto his coveted mustard yellow winner's belt. The San Jose, California, man fell far short of his record last year of 69 dogs and buns, but he still easily beat second-place finisher Matt Stonie, also of San Jose, who downed just 56.

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INDEPENDENCE HALL

Vice President Joe Biden, addressing the annual "Celebration of Freedom" ceremony at Independence Hall, said the lessons of the civil rights movement show that the struggle for freedom that began in Philadelphia more than two centuries ago is not over.

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EX-PATS IN CANADA

Julie Buchanan, treasurer of Democrats Abroad, planned to celebrate at a Toronto bar with red, white and blue sparklers, about 125 of her American ex-pat friends, and life-size cut-outs of President Barack Obama and the first lady.

"We really miss the patriotism of America; so many of us crave that sense of pride and camaraderie from back home," said Buchanan, an Alabama native who moved to Toronto from Memphis, Tennessee, in 2000.

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MOSCOW PARTIES

The national anthems of both Russia and the United States played at the traditional July 4 garden party held at the stately residence of the American ambassador in Moscow. But far fewer Russians than usual came, either because they were unwilling to be seen associating with American diplomats or because their anti-American statements had gotten them scratched off of the guest list.

The other big Independence Day party in Moscow, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, takes place Sunday and, in a break from tradition, is being held at a private golf and polo club instead of a city park. Security appears to have been a concern for the change.

LONDON (AP) — Billie Jean King believes Wimbledon finalists Petra Kvitova and Eugenie Bouchard are creating one of the most exciting times in women's tennis in decades.

King ought to know. She helped start the Women's Tennis Association more than 40 years ago.

The 24-year-old Kvitova of the Czech Republic won the 2011 Wimbledon title. She'll face the 20-year-old Bouchard. , who will be playing in her — and Canada's — first Grand Slam final on Saturday.

They're from a generation of fitter and stronger players who have "closed the gap on power and belief" with their older contemporaries, King said at a news conference during Wimbledon.

"They have definitely caught up," King said. "Women have more confidence overall, Serena (Williams) is not in the same place as she was, she's a little more vulnerable.

"The men have had their 'Top 4.' Now we've got a lot of younger women who want to be here. They like the show time."

Here are five things to know about the big show Saturday on Centre Court:

WHAT A YEAR: Bouchard was the only woman to have advanced to all three Grand Slam tournament semifinals this year, and now she's taken it a step further. She's received support from her home country, prime ministers and mayors, along with "The Big Bang Theory" actor Jim Parsons. She finished 2013 ranked 32nd, and she's projected to rise to No. 7 — the highest ranking for a Canadian woman — by reaching the final. She would be the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won the 2006 U.S. Open at age 19.

ONLY MEETING: Kvitova and Bouchard have played just once. They faced off on hard courts in Toronto, with Kvitova was an easy winner 6-3, 6-2.

NEW GENERATION: The final Saturday is the first to feature two players born in the 1990s. Kvitova is the only player born in that decade to win a Grand Slam — her 2011 title here — while Bouchard is the fourth player born in the '90s to reach a Grand Slam final. The others are French Open runner-up Simona Halep (who lost to Bouchard in the semifinals) and former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, the 2009 U.S. Open runner-up.

KVITOVA'S THOUGHTS: "Bouchard is playing very solid game. She's a very good mover. She's nearby the baseline. I think it's very similar to my game. I beat her for the first time last year, but it's long time ago. This is totally different. So, I mean, I really have to be focusing on everything and try to push her."

BOUCHARD'S PLAN: "She has good shots which are very powerful compared perhaps to opponents I played in the tournament. I think she will try to attack, but I will try to do the same thing. I think both of us will try to put pressure on each other. I think it will be important to start the points well on serve and on return. It will be the first shots that decide the match."

PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was detained Tuesday and reportedly questioned by financial investigators in a corruption probe that could cloud his chances of a political comeback.

The detention — a very unusual move for such a high-level figure — dominated French news broadcasts. The investigation is the latest in a string of probes to target the former leader.

Yet Sarkozy has not been convicted of anything, remains well-known on the international stage — and may be his troubled conservative party's best chance to regain the presidency in 2017.

A judicial official said Sarkozy was detained for questioning Tuesday at the headquarters of the judicial police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named while discussing an ongoing investigation, would not elaborate.

Sarkozy could be held up to 24 hours, which could be extended for another day. His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and a magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, were also held for questioning.

French media reports say Sarkozy is being questioned in an investigation linked to financing for his 2007 presidential campaign, notably allegations that late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave Sarkozy millions of euros in illegal campaign donations.

The case centers around whether Sarkozy and his lawyer were kept informed about the investigation by a friendly magistrate, Azibert.

Sarkozy and Herzog have denied wrongdoing. Azibert's lawyer told reporters he hoped the detention would be over by the evening.

Investigators are basing suspicions at least in part on tapped phone conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer. The tapping raised questions about the limits between investigative needs and individual privacy. Sarkozy compared the situation to actions by the secret police in the old East Germany.

Allies from Sarkozy's conservative UMP party — which has been in a leadership crisis because of questions about spending during Sarkozy's 2012 presidential campaign — jumped to the former president's defense.

"They have never imposed such treatment on a former president, with such a surge of hate," lawmaker Christian Estrosi tweeted.

Former French President Jacques Chirac was convicted in a corruption investigation in 2011 after he left office, but when he was questioned he was not held in police custody.

The Socialist government tried to stay above the fray.

"Justice officials are investigating, they should carry out the task to the end. Nicolas Sarkozy is a citizen answerable to justice like any other," government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said on i-Tele television.

Political scientist Thomas Guenole said it's too early to draw any conclusions about Sarkozy's political career based on his latest detention.

"Nicolas Sarkozy has often been pronounced politically dead over the last two years because he was implicated in political-judicial affairs ... And he has always emerged," Guenole said.

He described an "immense love" for Sarkozy amid the hard-core of his party, which views the investigations against him as politically driven.

Sarkozy was handed preliminary charges in another investigation into whether he illegally took campaign donations from France's richest woman, L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Those charges were later dropped.

In a separate case, relatives of French victims of a deadly 2002 bombing in Pakistan filed a complaint in Paris last year against Sarkozy and two former advisers for allegedly violating a duty to secrecy in the investigation of the case.

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Sohrab Monemi and Louise Dewast in Nanterre contributed to this report.

MAAN, Jordan (AP) — A Jordanian militant leader linked to al-Qaida said Friday that the kingdom "is not immune" to the chaos befalling neighboring countries, urging the government to implement more balanced economic and social policies to avoid a fate similar to Iraq and Syria.

Mohammed al-Shalabi, a senior leader of Jordan's Salafi movement, also told The Associated Press that the recent declaration of a caliphate by a Sunni extremist group in Iraq and Syria may cause a schism among Jihadi groups.

The Islamic State group is led by an Iraqi militant known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who this week declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in lands it has seized in Syria and Iraq.

It proclaimed al-Baghdadi the head of its new self-styled state and demanded that all Muslims pledge allegiance to him.

Al-Shalabi spoke in an interview at his home on the outskirts of the southern city of Maan, an impoverished area that has seen protests by supporters of the Islamic State group. He said he was not for or against the group but he was worried it would splinter the global jihadi movement.

"The Muslim clerics said the caliphate shouldn't be declared at the moment for many reasons, because this declaration will create division among jihadi groups in the world," he said.

"For example in Chechnya, in the Caucuses, in Afghanistan and Somalia, there are groups that announced that they belong to al-Qaida. These groups will be divided, one hundred percent these groups will be divided between a supporter to the caliphate and a reluctant," al-Shalabi added.

Despite facing protests amid the Arab Spring wave of revolutions in the region, King Abdullah has remained in power by promising to speed up reforms he initiated since he ascended to the throne in 1999. However, the country's weakened opposition says the king has found excuses to hold onto power. Abdullah is a close friend of the U.S. and the country relies on donations from the U.S. and oil-rich Gulf Arabs to keep its fragile economy afloat

Although Jordan's multiparty system was revived in 1991, following a 34-year ban after a 1957 leftist coup attempt, opposition parties have yet to gain real power. They say they are intimidated by tight scrutiny and security crackdowns.

The rapid expansion of the Islamic State group, whose fighters captured the Iraqi side of the border with Jordan last month, also is causing new concern in a country already grappling with fallout from the Syrian civil war.

The army has dispatched reinforcements to its border with Iraq to boost security.

Jordan is home to a growing movement of jihadis and ultraconservative Salafis. Hundreds of Jordanians are known to have traveled to Syria to fight in the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Some have joined extremist groups that have become increasingly powerful over rival factions.

In Maan, supporters of the Islamic State group have held protests, carrying banners that declared the city the "Fallujah of Jordan," a reference to the Iraqi city that has been a militant hotbed.

Jordan has so far been spared the same scenario as Syria and Iraq because the government has managed to contain the opposition, and because most people were worried about their country falling into chaos like their neighbors, al-Shalabi said.

But he said that cannot last forever, urging the government implement Islamic Shariah laws and more balanced economic and social policies.

"Jordan is not immune to what is happening in neighboring countries," he said.