Reformist Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential runoff election, besting hard-liner Jalili
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic. Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
Biden dismisses age questions in interview as he tries to salvage reelection effort
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden, fighting to save his endangered reelection effort, used a highly anticipated TV interview Friday to repeatedly reject taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is up for serving another term in office while blaming his disastrous debate performance on a “bad episode” and saying there were “no indications of any serious condition.” “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, referring to the tasks he faces daily in a rigorous job. “Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world.”
Republicans turn their focus to Harris as talk of replacing Biden on Democratic ticket intensifies
NEW YORK (AP) — For years it’s been a Republican scare tactic. A vote to reelect President Joe Biden, the GOP often charges, is really a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. It’s an attack line sometimes tinged with racist and misogynist undertones and often macabre imagery. But after Biden’s dismal performance at last week’s presidential debate, which has sparked Democratic calls for him to step aside, what was once dismissed as a far-right conspiracy — Harris replacing Biden — could now have a chance of coming to pass. And Republicans, including Donald Trump, are ramping up their attacks. Trump and his allies have been rolling out new attack lines against Harris, insulting her abilities, painting her as Biden’s chief enabler and accusing her of being part of a coverup of his health.
A NATO summit and mending EU relations are among first tasks for new UK leader Keir Starmer
LONDON (AP) — New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer doesn’t get to take a breather. After a draining six-week election campaign, the center-left politician must get straight to work assembling his government, tackling a mountain of domestic problems and putting his stamp on the U.K.’s relations with the rest of the world. It’s a daunting list for a new leader who has never served in, much less led, a government. But Starmer, who was officially appointed prime minister Friday, insisted that he is up to the challenge of heading the U.K. in a world that is “a more volatile place” than it has been for many years.
Putin sees no need for nuclear weapons to win in Ukraine. But he’s also keeping his options open
The message to NATO from President Vladimir Putin was simple and stark: Don’t go too far in providing military support for Ukraine, or you’ll risk a conflict with Russia that could quickly turn nuclear. As the war in Ukraine turns slowly in Moscow’s favor, Putin declared he doesn’t need nuclear weapons to achieve his goals. But he also says it’s wrong for the West to assume that Russia will never use them. “It mustn’t be treated in a light, superficial way,” Putin said in June, reaffirming that Russia’s nuclear doctrine calls for using atomic weapons if it perceives a threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
After hitting Yucatan Peninsula, Beryl churns in Gulf of Mexico as Texas braces for potential hit
TULUM, Mexico (AP) — After battering Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Beryl moved back into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico where it was expected to regain hurricane strength Saturday before taking aim at the Texas coast, where officials urged residents to brace for a potential hit. The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week. It then battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula.
Records tumble as dangerous heat wave scorches the US West and beyond, with the worst yet to come
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Records tumbled across the West as a slow-moving heat wave of potentially historic proportions tightened its grip from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona on Friday, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. were also sweltering, with oppressive heat and humidity expected to last through Saturday or beyond. One of the hottest places on Earth, California’s Death Valley, shattered the previous record high for the date by 5 degrees — with the mercury climbing to 127 Fahrenheit (52.8 Celsius). The old mark of 122 (50 C) last was tied in 2013.
France’s president called a surprise election. The result could diminish his power in world affairs
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron could awake — if he has slept at all — with clipped wings on Monday morning. The high-stakes second round of the legislative election on Sunday will almost certainly impact the French leader’s sway in the areas of defense and foreign affairs. It could diminish his role as an energetic and influential figure in European and world affairs and as one of Ukraine’s primary backers in the war against Russia, say retired French military officers and analysts of France’s defense and foreign policies. After the centrist president’s bloc finished a distant third, behind the surging far right, in last weekend’s first round of voting for a new parliament, one of the only certainties before Sunday’s decisive round two is that Macron himself can’t emerge strengthened.
Gaza soccer stadium is now a shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in one of the territory’s largest soccer arenas, where families now scrape by with little food or water as they try to keep one step ahead of Israel’s latest offensive. Their makeshift tents hug the shade below the stadium’s seating, with clothes hanging in the July sun across the dusty, dried-up soccer field. Under the covered benches where players used to sit, Um Bashar bathes a toddler standing in a plastic tub. Lathering soap through the boy’s hair, he wiggles and shivers as she pours the chilly water over his head, and he grips the plastic seats for balance.
Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup is likely to take years
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The highest camp on the world’s tallest mountain is littered with garbage that is going to take years to clean up, according to a Sherpa who led a team that worked to clear trash and dig up dead bodies frozen for years near Mount Everest’s peak. The Nepal government-funded team of soldiers and Sherpas removed 11 tons (24,000 pounds) of garbage, four dead bodies and a skeleton from Everest during this year’s climbing season. Ang Babu Sherpa, who led the team of Sherpas, said there could be as much as 40-50 tons (88,000-110,000 pounds) of garbage still at South Col, the last camp before climbers make their attempt on the summit.
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