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Number of US troops in Syria has steadily increased over time, Pentagon now says
Tim Cook sat down with Wired for a wide-ranging interview He confirmed that Apple hasn't considered charging for AI features as of yet Cook shedded some light on Vision Pro performance, albeit indirectly I like Tim Cook . The now long-time Apple CEO is gracious, smart, and as close to a human sphinx as you can imagine. He rarely drops major news, either casually or when the media are grilling him. Cook did not disappoint in his latest wide-ranging interview with Wired's Steven Levy . One of the best in the business, Levy peppered Cook with questions about everything from the iPhone's 16's new Camera Control button to Apple Intelligence , the company, and his own legacy. Cook didn't exactly break news, but there were areas where he revealed a bit more about himself and some of Apple's strategic decisions relating to AI, mixed reality, and what comes next for Cook himself. Apple Intelligence, Apple's brand of AI that Cook insists is not a pun, has been slowly rolling out to supported iPhones, iPads, and Macs, with each iteration getting a bit closer to what Apple promised during its June WWDC 2024 keynote. Cook didn't walk through any new features, though he does have a point of view on the fine line between utility and taking over. Cook tends to believe that AI is an assistant (like a copilot, I guess) and is not straight-up doing things for you. However, Cook's perspective on charging for additional and maybe more powerful AI Apple Intelligence features was more interesting. It's not a discussion they've been having on the Apple Campus. "We never talked about charging for it," Cook told Levy. Now, that doesn't mean it's off the table, but since Apple and Cook view Apple Intelligence as similar to multitouch on the iPhone, AI is likely a feature that adds value to all the other products and services Apple charges for. Apple could simply raise the prices on them to cover the cost of building and supporting Apple intelligence features. Vision Pro realities Apple has been mum on Vision Pro sales. The powerful VR and mixed-reality headset is undoubtedly the apex of Apple's consumer electronics capabilities and the company makes you pay dearly for it – $3,500 – which may account for consumer apathy. Cook didn't speak directly about sales performance, but he's still bullish about the headset. I think, though, he may have acknowledged that the pricey wearable is not for everyone. Here's how Cook characterized it to Levy: Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more. Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content. "It’s an early adopter product, for people who want tomorrow’s technology today." Cook insisted that the ecosystem is flourishing, which may be a sign of product category health, but then he added one encouraging bit of almost news about what might come next. Levy asked about Meta Orion and Snap AR glasses . These lighter and more glasses-like wearables focus on AR experiences, and I wondered if Vision Pro's next iteration could be headed in that direction. "Yes," Cook told Levy, "It’s a progression over time in terms of what happens with form factors." I think the market cannot wait to try out those next form factors. After Cook Some believe that Apple Hardware lead John Ternus is the next likely Apple CEO , but for Ternus to step in, Cook would have to step away. The current Apple CEO, however, did not paint a picture of someone running out of steam or one who is becoming less engaged with the brand. The Apple-Tim Cook love affair is still very much alive. Cook is not planning his exit and told Levy that he would not "do it until the voice in my head says, 'It's time." Cook said he loves the job and can't imagine his life without it. Put another way, Tim Cook will be steering the Apple ship and building upon his legacy, which Cook wants to be health. "We have research going on. We’re pouring all of ourselves in here, and we work on things that are years in the making," Cook told Levy. I think it will likely be Apple Silicon for many years to come, though. A new affordable iPad could launch in 2025 too These are the best Apple iPads right now Apple needs to fix its infuriating Home appPresident-elect Donald Trump is trying to get the Georgia election interference case against him dismissed, asserting that the state's courts will not have jurisdiction over him once he returns to the White House next month. The Georgia case against Trump and others is mostly on hold pending a pretrial appeal of an order allowing prosecutor Fani Willis to remain on the case despite what defense attorneys say is a conflict of interest. Trump's attorneys on Wednesday filed a notice with the Georgia Court of Appeals saying a sitting president is “completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal.” The filing asks the appeals court to consider before he becomes president next month whether it has jurisdiction to continue to hear the case. It says the court should conclude that it and the trial court lack jurisdiction “as the continued indictment and prosecution of President Trump by the State of Georgia are unconstitutional.” Trump's lawyers ask that the appeals court dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction and instruct the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against him. RELATED STORY | American foreign policy is flowing through Mar-a-Lago as Trump prepares for White House return Also Wednesday, former Trump campaign lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in the case, asked the trial court judge to invalidate that plea. Chesebro was one of four people to plead guilty in the case in the months following the indictment. Representatives for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis declined to comment on Trump's and Chesebro's requests. The Georgia case, which originally included 19 defendants and dozens of charges, was the most sprawling of four criminal cases against the once-and-future president. U.S. Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith last week told judges he was withdrawing both federal cases against Trump, citing longstanding Justice Department policy that shields a president from indictment while in office. One of those cases charged him with hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate. The other accused him of scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost. Trump on Monday asked a Manhattan judge to throw out his conviction in his hush money case , saying that continuing to pursue it would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ The New York case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial, resulting in a historic verdict that made him the first former president to be convicted of a crime. In the Georgia case, Trump and some of the other remaining defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, were already seeking to have Willis removed from the prosecution or to have the indictment dismissed. They cited a romantic relationship she had with Nathan Wade , a special prosecutor she appointed to lead the case. Willis and Wade have acknowledged that they had a relationship but have said it began after he was hired and ended before the indictment against Trump was filed. Trump and other defendants argued that the relationship created a conflict of interest that should disqualify Willis and her office from continuing with her prosecution of the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis’ actions showed a “tremendous lapse in judgment,” but he did not find a conflict of interest that would disqualify Willis. He said she could continue her prosecution as long as Wade stepped aside, which he did. The appeal of that ruling remains pending but must be decided by March. Chesebro was charged in August 2023, alongside Trump and 17 others , in the sprawling indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to overturn Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. He pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count a few months later after reaching a deal with prosecutors just before he was to go to trial. His lawyer on Wednesday asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to invalidate the plea after McAfee in September tossed out the charge to which he had pleaded guilty. “In Georgia, a defendant cannot plead guilty to a charge that does not constitute a crime,” defense attorney Manny Arora wrote, adding that a failure to invalidate his plea would violate Chesebro's constitutional right to due process. Prosecutors have said Chesebro was part of a plot to have a group of 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate falsely saying that Trump had won Georgia and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. He pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents related to the the filing of that document with the federal court in Atlanta. In a September ruling, McAfee wrote that punishing someone for filing certain documents with a federal court would “enable a state to constrict the scope of materials assessed by a federal court and impair the administration of justice in that tribunal to police its own proceedings.” He concluded that the count must be quashed “as beyond the jurisdiction of this State.”Airbus Announces Strategic Restructuring Amid Rising Satellite CompetitionCramer names oil and natural gas stocks set to do well under Trump
Kentfield resident Heather McPhail Sridharan, one of two candidates in the Nov. 5 runoff election for a Board of Supervisors seat, has conceded the race to rival Brian Colbert of San Anselmo. McPhail Sridharan had fewer votes than Colbert in the preliminary count on Election Day, and she did not gain the lead as more ballots were counted. As of Thursday, Colbert had 14,408 votes, or 51.18%, and McPhail Sridharan had 13,402. The county elections office has tallied all but a few ballots and plans to release the final results on Dec. 3. McPhail Sridharan said she sent Colbert an email Wednesday night to concede and wish him luck. She also sent a message to her supporters: “I feel humbled by your unwavering support throughout the last eighteen months. Many people counted us out during this race and we showed that a grassroots, bottom-up effort led by individuals that care about our community is possible.” Colbert, a member of the San Anselmo Town Council, will become the county’s first Black supervisor. He will succeed Katie Rice, who declined to seek another term in the Ross Valley seat. She endorsed Colbert. Colbert led the field in the March primary but did not reach the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff with McPhail Sridharan, a former Kentfield School District trustee. The other candidates were Larkspur Councilmember Gabe Paulson; Ryan O’Neil, a former Fairfax councilmember; and Sam Friedlander. Two other Board of Supervisors seats were available in this election cycle. In District 4, incumbent Dennis Rodoni outpolled challenger Francis Drouillard by a sufficient margin in the primary to avoid a runoff. In District 3, Stephanie Moulton-Peters was unopposed.
UnitedHealthcare CEO kept a low public profile. Then he was shot to death in New YorkStock market today: Wall Street gains ground as it notches a winning week and another Dow record
NoneDrivers at mercy of cowboy parking firms: Motorists are handed 41,000 tickets every day by private firms - as motoring groups demand crackdown By DAVID CHURCHILL Published: 19:33 GMT, 26 November 2024 | Updated: 20:30 GMT, 26 November 2024 e-mail 9 View comments Motorists are being hit with a record 41,000 parking tickets a day - despite repeated Government promises to crackdown on ‘bandit’ operators. Shocking figures reveal ruthless private companies issued 3.8million tickets to drivers between July and September - or one every two seconds on average. A further 3.4million were issued between April and June this year, according to official figures. It means the parking firms are on track to issue demands for up to £1.5billion in fines this year (2024/25) as the number slapped on drivers is on course to hit a record 14.6million. This would be up from the record 12.8million issued last year (2023/24) and 11.1million in 2022/23. And the figures apply only to car parks run by private firms, not councils. Ministers tonight faced renewed calls to get tough on cut-throat firms causing misery for millions of motorists with their army of traffic wardens amid the cost of living squeeze. It comes after the previous Tory Government withdrew a long-awaited code of practice aimed at protecting drivers from ‘cowboy’ operators. Former ministers caved in after parking firms launched a judicial review of the proposals, which included slashing the maximum fines from £100 to £50 and banning debt collectors from hounding motorists who do not pay within a time limit. Motorists are being hit with a record 41,000 parking tickets a day - despite repeated Government promises to crackdown on ‘bandit’ operators (stock image) Shocking figures reveal ruthless private companies issued 3.8million tickets to drivers between July and September - or one every two seconds on average. A further 3.4million were issued between April and June this year, according to official figures The number of tickets issued for the second quarter of this year (2024/25) has more than doubled since 2018, when 1.7million were doled out during the same period. If this year’s increase continues at the same rate, it will reach a record high of nearly 14.6million tickets issued in 2024/25 - 1.8million more than the current record high of 12.8million in 2023/24. With fines capped at £100, private firms are on course to issue demands for up to nearly £1.5billion worth of fines this year. Motorists have been waiting years for a Government-devised code of practice to crackdown on cut-throat private parking firms, amid complaints of bad practices such as deliberately poor signage and not allowing grace periods if motorists don’t return to their cars in time through no fault of their own. A Bill to enable the introduction of a new code of conduct received royal assent in March 2019. But the code was withdrawn by the Conservative government in June 2022 after a legal challenge by parking companies. In June, industry bodies the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community published their own code of practice. It included requirements for consistent signage, a single set of rules for operators on private land and an ‘appeals charter’. But motoring groups criticised it for not including a cap on fines or the removal of debt recovery fees. It means parking firms look set to rake in bumper profits from fines on motorists for some time. AA president Edmund King said: ‘When we managed to get cowboy clampers outlawed, we warned that some of the unscrupulous clampers would enter the private parking territory, and this has been proved right. ‘We accept drivers should never park when they like, and where they like, but far too often cowboy enforcement companies act like Dick Turpin. Better regulation to outlaw some of these bandits is long overdue.’ Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is also the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. A spokesperson for the ministry said: ‘Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to drive up standards in the industry RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding added: ‘Private parking is clearly one sector of the economy which appears to be booming but at the expense of millions of motorists each year. ‘These numbers suggest that big questions remain about the way the current system is working - or failing. ‘Drivers must be very wary of where they leave their vehicles as they head out to do their Christmas shopping because these numbers suggest that even the smallest indiscretion is likely to lead to a fine which will erase any sense of festive cheer. ‘If ministers wanted to give motorists a Christmas present they should crack on with implementing the long-promised reforms to parking management which have now been on the statute book for more than five years.’ The figures were based on the number of records obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by companies chasing vehicle owners for alleged infringements in private car parks, such as at shopping centres, leisure facilities and motorway service areas. Some 172 parking firms requested access to documents, with ParkingEye the most active between July and September - buying 594,000 records. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: ‘Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to drive up standards in the industry. ‘We know how much of an issue this is for drivers, which is why we will set out further details on the private parking code of practice as soon as possible.’ Share or comment on this article: Drivers at mercy of cowboy parking firms: Motorists are handed 41,000 tickets every day by private firms - as motoring groups demand crackdown e-mail Add commentPresident-elect Trump wants to again rename North America's tallest peak
Seahawks place RB Kenneth Walker III (ankle) on injured reserve