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A U.S. airstrike killed one of Iran's most powerful military leaders overnight. The targeted killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani inside Iraq is a dramatic escalation in the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran. Video of the aftermath shows burning wreckage near Baghdad's airport. Soleimani led the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, blamed for killing hundreds of American troops. Iran said there will be a harsh response. David Martin reports from the Pentagon.

President Trump has not spoken directly about the killing of Qassem Soleimani, but he did tweet an image of an American flag afterward. The president has largely avoided intervention of this sort in favor of isolationist policies, as evidenced by his controversial decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Northern Syria just a few months ago. The move to assassinate Soleimani marks a critical 180-degree turn for the president, and it comes as he campaigns for re-election this year. Major Garrett reports from the White House.

Apple's much-anticipated Siri upgrade is rumored to arrive in 'spring 2026'A new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg claims Apple Intelligence-powered Siri is slated for an iOS 26.4 releaseA year is a long time in the world of AI. Is that too long to wait?As WWDC 2025 comes to a close, a new report claims Apple's major Siri upgrade, powered by Apple Intelligence, is expected to launch in 'spring 2026'.According to Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg, Apple has "set an internal release target of spring 2026 for its delayed upgrade of Siri, marking a key step in its artificial intelligence turnaround effort."Earlier this week, the company showcased the future of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro software, changing the naming scheme to match the year the OS corresponds to. The "26" moniker of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS all include AI features, yet Apple's most anticipated one is still missing.Gurman claims the Siri upgrade, which will allow the voice assistant to have on-screen awareness and personal context, is now slated for iOS 26.4, which, based on previous software releases, should arrive around March or April next year.Gurman's sources told him an exact date hasn't been set internally, "beyond a spring time frame." It's also worth noting this time frame could shift, especially considering AI-powered Siri was supposed to launch as part of iOS 18 and was initially unveiled at WWDC 2024.Is the Siri turmoil over?The last year has been rocky for Apple, to say the least. The Cupertino-based company showcased Apple Intelligence back in June 2024, highlighting how "AI for the rest of us" was going to change the way iPhone users interact with their smartphones.Unfortunately, the Apple Intelligence features that have launched, such as Genmoji, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence, have all received a somewhat lukewarm response as users wait in anticipation for the truly groundbreaking AI Siri that was promised.My colleague Lance Ulanoff spoke with Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Apple Global VP of Marketing Greg Joswiak following WWDC 2025's keynote earlier this week.During the interview (which you can read about and watch here), Federighi said, "We set about for months, making Siri work better and better across more app intents, better and better for doing search," Federighi added. "But fundamentally, we found that the limitations of the V1 architecture weren't getting us to the quality level that we knew our customers needed and expected." This led to Apple postponing the release of Siri's major upgrade in March of this year.Now, we've got a clearer idea of when to expect Siri's Apple Intelligence overhaul, although that's almost another year away, and a year in the world of AI is an incredibly long time.By 'spring 2026', will Apple's competitors like Google and OpenAI have opened the gap even wider? And if so, will Apple have put all this effort into an AI solution that just becomes bloatware on an iPhone as users opt to use Gemini Live or ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode instead?'Spring 2026' is just an estimate, but that has to be the latest possible arrival for a much-needed Siri upgrade; any further delays, and I think Apple's loyal user base might get even more frustrated with Tim Cook and co.You might also like15 things we learned at the Apple WWDC 2025 keynoteWWDC 2025 as it happened: all the iOS 26, MacOS Tahoe, and iPadOS news, with live video from Apple ParkiPad just won WWDC 2025 – here’s why the iPadOS upgrades just made me cry tears of joy

iOS 26 promises a lot of new and updated features for iPhone fansSome of the most interesting changes come to music and CarPlayHere are five of the best changes coming to these areasIf you watched Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) keynote video earlier this week, you might have noticed all the new features coming to Apple’s music and CarPlay offerings.Whether you love using your Apple tech with your favorite tunes or while driving, there were some notable updates to pay attention to. Here, we’ve outlined five of the best features coming to these areas in iOS 26.Mix tunes like a pro(Image credit: Apple)Any good DJ knows how to mix one song into another, ensuring the beats line up and one track fades into another so seamlessly that it’s almost unnoticeable. In iOS 26, Apple Music can now do that for you.That’s thanks to a new feature called AutoMix, and it uses some clever under-the-hood analysis to pick the “perfect moment” for your songs to transition, smoothly blending the music as one track ends and the next begins. AutoMix replaces CrossFade (which did a similar thing, albeit in a much less advanced way), and can be enabled when you open Apple Music in iOS 26.Apple Music Replay(Image credit: Apple Music)Like Spotify Wrapped, Apple Music Replay lets you check out your listening habits and see exactly how many hours you’ve spend listening to that one guilty pleasure. Before iOS 26, though, it could only be accessed as a popup web view, which didn’t provide the best experience.Now it’s a native part of the Apple Music app, meaning it’s a lot easier to find and view than before. You’ll also find an Apple Music Replay playlist at the bottom of the app’s Home tab, and this updates throughout the year to give you the very latest stats and figures.Custom ringtones(Image credit: Future)Apple has a dedicated ringtone section in iTunes – just tap the More tab in the iTunes Store app on iOS, then select Tones. But if you’d rather create your own custom ringtones, the process has always been a bit more involved, requiring you to create a ringtone of your own, export it from the GarageBand app to your phone, then choose it manually in the Settings app.In iOS 26, that process has been simplified. If you open a ringtone in an app like Files, you just need to tap the Share button and pick the Use as Ringtone option. That can cut out a few steps, although you still need to create the ringtone in the first place.Widgets and Live Activities in CarPlay(Image credit: Apple)CarPlay is all about putting useful controls at your fingertips, all with the goal of not distracting you from the road. That fine balancing act has had a new update in iOS 26 with the addition of widgets and Live Activities.Widgets like the weather forecast and your calendar appointments are now available in your car, and they use a compact layout that Apple says offers “quick and glanceable” information. And you’ll find Live Activities in CarPlay too, showing ongoing data like flight status, helping to keep you in the know.CarPlay zoom settingsImage 1 of 2The CarPlay interface before Smart Display Zoom is enabled. (Image credit: Apple)Image 2 of 2The CarPlay interface after Smart Display Zoom is enabled, with compact icons allowing more to fit on the screen. (Image credit: Apple)It’s always important that CarPlay’s information is appropriately sized for your car dashboard, and that’s been made a little easier in iOS 26 with the addition of Smart Display Zoom. This automatically resizes CarPlay’s interface to fit your vehicle’s display area (where possible).In an example given by Apple, Smart Display Zoom shrinks the on-screen icons slightly, which allows an extra row of buttons to be shown. With less swiping, you should be able to get to the info you need a little quicker.You might also likeWWDC 2025 as it happened: all the iOS 26, MacOS Tahoe, and iPadOS news, with live video from Apple ParkApple CarPlay just got 4 big free upgrades with iOS 26 – here's what you need to knowiOS 26: new features, a new design, and everything you need to know