Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
- Apple’s next C.E.O. is John Ternus
- Vance is expected to head to Pakistan
- Plus, the Ferrari of espresso machines
Apple’s C.E.O. will step down
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said today that he would step down later this year. His nearly 15-year tenure as the head of the iPhone maker was one of the most successful management runs in American history. Annual profits quadrupled to more than $110 billion under his leadership.
Cook, 65, will become Apple’s executive chairman in September. He will be replaced by John Ternus, the 50-year-old head of hardware engineering. Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001 and oversaw the development of Macs and iPads, is known for his knowledge of Apple’s vast supply network and for being an even-tempered collaborator. Read more about Apple’s next leader.
U.S. and Iran prepare for another round of peace talks
As the U.S.-Iran cease-fire nears expiration, Vice President JD Vance is expected to travel to Pakistan tomorrow along with a team of American negotiators. Iranian officials also said that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, would attend a second round of peace talks if Vance showed up.
Those plans indicated that both the U.S. and Iran were still expecting to sit down this week and discuss potential diplomatic offramps, even after President Trump and Iranian leaders traded threats over the past few days.
The war’s two-week truce is being tested in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran threatened to retaliate after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned Iranian cargo ship near the strait, calling it “piracy.” The U.S. has now turned back 27 ships heading for or leaving Iranian ports, officials said, and only five ships passed through the strait today.
In other news from the Middle East:
- Israel’s military said it was investigating a soldier who was photographed swinging a sledgehammer at a statue of Jesus.
- Iran’s cheap, low-tech drones have cost the U.S. and its allies.
In the U.S.:
- Trump’s energy secretary acknowledged that gas prices could remain elevated for months.
- My colleague Lydia DePillis explained why gas prices go up fast, but take their time to fall back.
Relatives and locals struggle to process the killing of 8 children
The authorities in Shreveport, La., are still investigating yesterday’s shooting spree, in which a 31-year-old man killed eight children, seven of whom were his own, and wounded two adults, including his wife. The police, who said the victims were shot execution-style, have not yet offered a motive. Here’s what we know.
The gunman, Shamar Elkins, had mental health problems and had recently expressed suicidal thoughts, family members said in interviews. Elkins, his relatives said, had also recently been stressed about his relationship with his wife and described himself as being haunted by “dark thoughts.”
Ukraine, short on troops, is turning to robots
As Ukraine’s war against Russia stretches into its fifth year, Kyiv has been seeking new ways to defend itself without risking heavy losses of soldiers. Increasingly, it is using unmanned ground vehicles, which can look like a mix between a wagon and a miniature tank, armed with bombs, guns or rockets. President Volodymyr Zelensky recently released video that showed robots forcing Russian troops to surrender their position.
A brisk day in the Northeast, for the weather and runners alike
Last week, parts of the Northeast hit 90 degrees. Today, as temperatures in the region are expected to fall into the 30s, I saw a number of jackets on my morning commute. Even for the spring, that’s a big swing.
The windier conditions benefited the competitors at today’s Boston Marathon. With strong gusts at their back, John Korir and Sharon Lokedi both defended their titles, and Korir broke the course record. (Korir’s 2:01:52 time is among the five fastest marathons ever, but Boston times do not qualify for world-record lists because the course ends 400 feet lower than it starts).
More top news
Washington: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer stepped down as scandals and investigations closed in on her. She is Trump’s third cabinet secretary to leave in two months — all of whom are women.
Supreme Court: The justices agreed to consider whether Catholic preschools in Colorado that reject L.G.B.T.Q. families can receive state funds.
Business: California accused Amazon of engaging in price fixing by pressuring brands to ask competing retailers to increase prices.
Trade: The federal government began to allow companies to submit documentation to recover what they had paid in tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled to be illegal.
Media: The F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, sued The Atlantic over an article that claimed that his drinking and unexplained absences were jeopardizing his job.
El Paso: In February, a high-powered military laser caused the city’s airspace to be shut down. Here’s the story behind the chaos.
Education: New documents reveal what professors did to help Jeffrey Epstein get inside Harvard’s gates.
Science: Researchers gave cocaine to salmon and they swam faster and traveled farther than their sober counterparts.
Transit: New York City is planning to spend $4 billion to upgrade its subway’s power stations. We toured one of the city’s oldest substations to see what needs fixing.
