Sarina Wiegman’s bold calls take Lionesses step closer to World Cup
Sarina Wiegman’s bold calls take Lionesses step closer to World Cup Source link
All posts tagged: Closer
London gets closer to its first robotaxi service as Waymo begins testing
Waymo has started testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads in London as it prepares to launch a commercial robotaxi service in the city this year. The Alphabet-owned company has been working toward this moment for months. Waymo announced in October it planned to begin driving on London’s public roads. Waymo employees initially drove the vehicles manually to map the city before starting autonomous testing. For now, a fleet of about 100 all-electric Jaguar I-Pace equipped with Waymo’s self-driving system have a human safety operator behind the wheel. Waymo is testing its vehicles across a 100-square-mile area of the city, according to the company. The government must first finalize its trial program regulations before we can operate fully autonomously. We will work closely with regulators to ensure that our service reaches as many Londoners as possible. “Core driving AI generalizing very well,” Waymo co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing the testing. “Autonomous testing now underway with specialists behind the wheel as we master local nuances and validate performance on UK roads — …
Apple Maps Ads Move Closer to Launch With iOS 26.5 Beta 2
With the second beta of iOS 26.5, Apple is continuing to prepare for ads in the Apple Maps app. There’s a new splash screen in the app that says it will display ads based on approximate location, current search terms, or a view of the map when searching. Ads will also be shown in the “Suggested Places” section that was added in the first beta. Apple says that advertising information is not linked to an Apple Account to preserve user privacy, so ads viewed and interacted with will not be associated with an Apple Account. Data is not collected or stored by Apple and not shared with third parties, according to Apple. Signs of ads in the Maps app were spotted in the first beta, but iOS 26.5 testers could start seeing ads with the second beta. It’s not yet clear if Apple has just implemented the splash screen, or if ads are going to begin showing up in the near future. Apple announced plans to introduce ads for the Maps app back in March, …
“We have never been closer”: Top Republican worries GOP will lose Texas House majority
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps most notable sign yet of GOP unease about the midterm elections. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual conference in Austin, Patrick said it is imperative for the loser of Republicans’ rancorous Senate primary runoff — whether it’s U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton — to support the winner against Democratic candidate James Talarico. The Austin state representative locked up his party’s nomination in March and will face whoever emerges from the May 26 GOP election, which has already seen both candidates resume their mudslinging after a vicious first round. Without a unifying endorsement from the runoff loser, Patrick cautioned, Republicans could lose the Senate seat, an outcome he said would guarantee Democratic control of the upper chamber in Washington. A divided GOP also could imperil down-ballot candidates, he added, pointing to the 2018 midterms when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz narrowly …
A battery electric cruise ship may be closer than you think
MEYER WERFT, one of the largest and oldest shipyards in the world, has introduced its “Vision” of a zero-emissions future in the form of a new battery-electric cruise ship concept. Now, if you think it’ll take fifty years to deliver an all-electric leisure boat of this size, you’d be wrong. It may only be a few years away. I’m going to assume you’re like me and have never heard of MEYER-WERFT. If you have, congrats, you’re a step ahead… nerd (kidding). MEYER-WERFT is a German shipyard with roots dating back to 1795. What’s even wilder is that up until 2024, the company was still family-owned. Today, the family still owns about 20% of MEYER-WERFT, while the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony own the remaining 80%. In those 231 years of service, the shipyard has built 61 cruise ships, but looking ahead, it sees an all-electric future. At the Seatrade Cruise Global event taking place in Miami next week, MEYER-WERFT will introduce Project “Vision” – the world’s first fully-electric cruise ship. Granted, it’s a …
Snap gets closer to releasing new AI glasses after years-long hiatus
Snap has announced a new partnership between its AR-glasses focused subsidiary, Specs, and chipmaker Qualcomm, as the company revs up for the release of its wearable later this year. The Snapchat creator has been teasing the release of the glasses—dubbed Spectacles, or merely Specs—for a long time and, earlier this year, it spun off a new company to specifically focus on the business venture. In February, the company abruptly parted ways with Scott Myers, its SVP of Specs, over a reported “blow-up” between himself and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. The newly announced partnership with Qualcomm shows signs of life for the project. Specs will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR platforms, which are its systems-on-a-chip designed to power augmented and virtual reality devices, a press release states. The two companies will develop “on-device AI, cutting-edge graphics, and advanced multiuser digital experiences” as part of a multi-year strategic agreement, a press release claims. “Our work with Qualcomm provides a strong foundation for the future of Specs, bringing developers and consumers advanced technology and performance that pushes the boundaries of …
Hungary and Russia struck 12-point plan for closer ties, documents show – POLITICO
While Orbán flaunts his close ties with the Kremlin, his electoral rival, Péter Magyar, has argued this is an Achilles’ heel, accusing the government of “outright treason” over its ties to Moscow. The December summit in Moscow was the 16th meeting of the Russian-Hungarian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation (IGC), which according to Russian state media was launched in 2005. The commission has met on a roughly annual basis in either Russia or Hungary since then — with a break between the 14th meeting in November 2021 and the 15th in September 2024. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. According to one of the documents, Russia and Hungary “addressed current issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, joint activities in the energy sector, industry, health care, agriculture, construction, and other areas of mutual interest, as well as in the cultural and humanitarian sphere” at the meeting in Moscow on Dec. 9, 2025. They also underscored the importance of “developing long-term, mutually beneficial ties between the two countries in areas of …
Liverpool FC star ‘closer than ever’ to new contract amid transfer rumours
Now, however, L’Equipe in France claim that the defender is “never been closer” to a new contract, with Reds boss Arne Slot confirming previously that discussions had begun over fresh terms for the centre-half, with “only a few details left to iron out”. Source link
The Artemis II Moonshot Deserves Your Awe, and Your Closer Attention, Too
Travel to space has become commonplace. In the past three decades, nearly 300 people have flown to and from the International Space Station, some of them residing there for months at a time. In the past several years, the rocket startup Blue Origin has launched a series of day trips just over the threshold into space — high-end carnival rides for celebrities including Katy Perry, Gayle King and William Shatner. The Artemis II lunar mission is different. NASA’s spaceflight, which lifted off Wednesday evening, is carrying four astronauts round-trip all the way to the moon — roughly 250,000 miles from earth, it’s a thousand times farther away than the space station — and they’ll have to break free from Earth’s gravity to do so. It’s a trip that only two dozen humans have ever taken, and the last time it happened was in 1972. Artemis II’s Orion spacecraft will also take its four astronauts farther than any humans have ever traveled into space, on a long arc reaching 4,700 miles beyond the far side of …
Beaming King Charles and David Beckham are closer than ever as they reunite for first time since knighthood
The King and David Beckham have reunited for the first time since the former football star received his long-awaited knighthood. Charles, 77, awarded Sir David the honour at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in November. It means he is now known as “Sir”, while his wife, Victoria Beckham, has the title of “Lady”. Five months later, and the duo, who have become close friends over the years, have reunited for an important cause. They were joined by gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh CBE and Frances Tophill at Highgrove to rubber-stamp the designs for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In pictures taken last week, Sir David and the King were seen greeting each other as old friends, getting on better than ever as they cracked jokes as official photographs were taken. An exciting project The special meeting at Highgrove, the King and Queen’s family residence in Gloucestershire, saw them put finishing touches to the garden design, as part of their work with the King’s Foundation Curious Garden project. © The King’s Foundation / Courtney Louise …