Associated Press stories, Page 457

Millions of people in the U.S. celebrated and suffered under heat warnings Thursday as they flocked to beaches and traveled in droves to toast their nation’s birth with July Fourth parades, cookouts and the always anticipated fiery splashes of color in the evening sky. In Washington, neon bursts of light...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday opened a critical stretch in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, facing a growing sense that he may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is fit for office before Democratic support for him completely evaporates. In the...

LONDON — The Labour Party has won Britain’s general election, bringing a new party to power for the first time in 14 years. But Labour leader Keir Starmer didn’t actually become prime minister until a carefully choreographed ceremony on Friday during which King Charles III formally asked him to form...

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would lead a “government of service” on a mission of national renewal in his first official remarks Friday after his Labour Party swept to power in a landslide victory after more than a decade in opposition. Starmer acknowledged in his first...

WASHINGTON — A leading House Democrat is preparing a constitutional amendment in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark immunity ruling, seeking to reverse the decision “and ensure that no president is above the law.” Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, sent a...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A slow-moving and potentially record-setting heat wave is spreading across the Western U.S., the National Weather Service said, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. also are sweltering, with oppressive heat and...

SILVIS, Ill. — Hayden Springer posted the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history Thursday, joining a rapidly expanding list with an eagle-birdie finish in the John Deere Classic for a 12-under-par 59. All that got him was a two-shot lead over Sami Valimaki on a rain-softened TPC Deere Run...

ARLINGTON, Texas — The American League starting lineup that Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy will write out for the All-Star Game won’t include any of his own players. A year after the Rangers had five All-Star starters — four voted in by fans, and another as an injury replacement —...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — An armed person who was making unspecified threats at Yellowstone National Park died and a park ranger was hospitalized following an exchange of gunfire Thursday, authorities said. The shooting happened at Canyon Village, an area in the central part of the park that has a...

The age question for presidential candidates is more than four decades old. President Ronald Reagan answered it with a pledge to resign if he became impaired, and later with a clever joke that reset his campaign from a stumbling debate performance to a 49-state landslide and a second term. “I...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden opened a critical stretch on Thursday in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, arguing the stakes extend far beyond his own political prospects to the future of the country’s economy and democracy itself. There is a growing sense that Biden may have just...

The burgers aren’t the only things sizzling this Fourth of July: Millions of people are under heat warnings as large numbers of Americans traveled to toast their nation’s birth with parades, cookouts and fiery splashes of colors against the evening sky. Travel records are projected to fall with people already...

NEW YORK — The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue has signed a deal to buy upscale rival Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion. The new entity would be called Saks Global, which will comprise the Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH brands, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, as well...

LONDON — British voters were picking a new government Thursday in a parliamentary election widely expected to bring the Labour Party to power against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric. A jaded electorate is delivering its verdict on Prime Minister Rishi...

HAMBURG, Germany — France soccer captain Kylian Mbappé warned on Thursday his country is in a “catastrophic” political situation as it lurches closer to a first far-right government since World War II. The National Rally gained strong results — around 33% of the vote nationwide — on Sunday in the...

DIJON, France — Dutch champion Dylan Groenewegen won the sixth stage of the Tour de France after a mass sprint that was decided in a photo finish on Thursday. Tadej Pogacar kept the yellow jersey after a nervous day on the bike amid crosswinds. Groenewegen earned a sixth career stage...

LONDON — The good news, Novak Djokovic said, was that his surgically repaired right knee was pain-free at Wimbledon on Thursday. The bad news, he knows, is that his movement, such a big part of his success, was not yet back to normal during a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory...

PARIS — A 76-year-old American swimmer took a dip in the Seine River on Thursday, braving the murky waters in central Paris to celebrate the Fourth of July and highlight the French government’s efforts to clean up the river for the Olympic Games. He had good timing: Hours later, regional...

TULUM, Mexico — Hurricane Beryl ripped off roofs in Jamaica, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and damaged or destroyed 95% of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines before rumbling past the Cayman Islands early Thursday and taking aim at Mexico’s Caribbean coast after leaving...

NEW YORK — Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago gobbled down 58 hot dogs to win his first men’s title Thursday at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Bertoletti won in a tight, 10-minute race where the leader bounced back and forth. The 39-year-old Bertoletti defeated 13...

JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will dispatch negotiators to resume Gaza cease-fire talks. The decision on Thursday comes a day after Hamas submitted a new response a a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire. The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal...

GENEVA — The international swimming federation says its executive director has been ordered to testify as a witness in a U.S. criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing. The news comes just three...

ROME — Pope Francis’ chief of staff became one of the highest-ranking Holy See officials to testify in a foreign court Thursday, giving a British tribunal a detailed explanation of the negotiations at the heart of the Vatican’s so-called “trial of the century” and pointing a finger at his onetime...

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani became the first player elected to start at designated hitter in four straight All-Star Games, joined by New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge as the only holdovers from last year in the lineups announced Wednesday for the July 16 game at Arlington, Texas. Philadelphia could...