Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist politician in favor of reviving Iran’s nuclear deal and improving relations with the West, was elected president of the Islamic Republic in a runoff vote, according to an announcement on state television.

He beat hard liner Saeed Jalili, a long-standing critic of the nuclear accord who’s hostile to the U.S., ...Read more

Donald Trump denounced a sweeping policy agenda crafted by some of his closest White House advisers that proposes a massive overhaul of the federal government and stacking agencies with loyalists to the former president.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” the presumptive Republican nominee said Friday in a post on his Truth Social ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Denali National Park and Preserve remained closed for a sixth straight day Friday as the Riley Fire near the park entrance continued to shut down operations and disrupt schedules for thousands of tourists.

There’s been no determination yet on when the park will reopen, according to an official with the incident response ...Read more

Beryl is set to reemerge into the Gulf of Mexico overnight and begin strengthening again on a track that puts most of the Texas coast in its cross-hairs for a Monday hit.

Now a tropical storm, Beryl made landfall in Tulum, Mexico, early Friday and proceeded to weaken over dry land. Once back in the Gulf, however, forecasters expect Beryl to ...Read more

DENVER — The Colorado Department of Corrections refuses to provide sex offender treatment to people serving indeterminate prison sentences despite assuring them that once they go through the program they will be eligible for parole, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed against state prison officials this ...Read more

Iran’s only reformist presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian established an early lead in the country’s runoff election against his staunchly anti-Western rival Saeed Jalili, according to initial results broadcast on Iranian state TV.

Pezeshkian had gained 2,904,227 votes, edging out Jalili with 2,815,566 votes. Prior to the announcement,...Read more

Blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs may lower patients’ risk of developing some common types of cancer that are closely linked to obesity, new evidence suggests.

Patients with Type 2 diabetes who were prescribed drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, developed fewer obesity-related cancers than patients who were treated with...Read more

Hamas has dropped its objections over a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal to halt the Gaza conflict with Israel, a person familiar with the matter said, the clearest sign yet that a truce is possible after months of fruitless negotiations.

The person, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said that Israel had come back ...Read more

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spent an unexpected Fourth of July aboard the International Space Station — but it was hardly a patriotic display of engineering prowess.

The two NASA astronauts docked with the orbiting lab June 6 for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission, but their return home may be delayed for months in ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The temperature in Las Vegas may climb to 118 degrees on Sunday, with extreme heat lingering through much of next week.

The National Weather Service predicted that it could get as hot as 113 on Friday, 114 on Saturday, 117 on Monday, 117 on Tuesday and 117 on Wednesday.

An excessive heat warning is in place until Wednesday ...Read more

BOSTON — Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, a U.S. Navy veteran, blasted a “disgusting” hate crime that left several monuments in the Common and Public Garden defaced with “antisemitic and anti-American” graffiti on the eve of Independence Day.

Flynn was on hand at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, dedicated to U.S. servicemen from the ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The blistering, relentlessly hot start to California’s summer took another alarming turn Friday, as a wildfire threatened to burn the Sierra Nevada town of Mariposa, a historic Gold Rush community popular with tourists and one of the main gateways to Yosemite National Park.

The French fire began on Mariposa’s northern ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s highest court ruled Friday that former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s law license will not be suspended while appeals in her two federal convictions are pending.

In a two-page order published Friday, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled against the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission’s bar counsel,...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — A candidate for a Lake County-based state Senate seat is charged with stealing $47,722 from a homeowners association whose finances she managed and is facing trial in September.

Cheryl Blancett, who goes by CJ, has been charged with grand theft of $20,000 or more, a second-degree felony. The charges were first reported by ...Read more

NEW YORK — A Long Island man who authorities said gave fireworks to an 11-year-old, who then set two homes on fire, has been arrested on arson charges and related offenses, police said Friday.

Karamjit Singh, 33, is accused of giving the child fireworks outside his home in Levittown, in the Town of Hempstead, on the morning of July 4, Nassau ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A July 4 gathering in Southwest Philadelphia descended into chaos on Thursday night when a gunman opened fire into the crowd, killing one teen and injuring eight others, including four juveniles, police said.

At around 11:30 p.m., police said, a man fired multiple shots from the passenger side window of a passing SUV into a ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As legal observers predicted, Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a partial pause of the government’s classified documents case against the former president so she can weigh how it might be impacted by the Supreme Court’s fresh ruling on presidential immunity.

Trump has argued ...Read more

Textbook authors were told last month that some references to “climate change” must be removed from science books before they could be accepted for use in Florida’s public schools, according to two of those authors.

A high school biology book also had to add citations to back up statements that “human activity” caused climate change ...Read more

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Friday morning that it had evacuated a major campground and outdoor enthusiast area in the Pinelands because of a wildfire.

The fire service announced the closure about 11:30 a.m. The wildfire was at least 100 acres in size, and none of it had been contained as of early afternoon.

Officials ordered ...Read more