The time has come. Millions of people are about to pack stadiums across the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the World Cup, starting June 11. A record 48 teams will compete across 104 matches in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Heavyweights such as France, Spain, England and Argentina are among the favorites, boasting stars like Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and Lionel Messi.

As one well-regarded sports writer put it: “To win the World Cup, a team must suffer, have luck on their side and improve as the tournament progresses.” And it won’t be easy. The teams will have to navigate a series of hurdles that stretch far beyond the field of play. Like Qatar back in 2022, many games will be played in sweltering conditions. However, unlike Qatar—where every stadium was within driving distance of each other—travel demands will be far greater as matches will be played across 16 cities up to 2,800 miles apart.

As a result, the team that wins the World Cup may not be the most talented squad, but rather the one that best adapts to the tournament’s array off physical and logistical demands. Concerns intensified last month when 20 international experts in health, climate and sports performance sent an open letter to FIFA, calling its heat policy “inadequate” and warning it could put players at risk of “heat-related injury.”

Here in the States, there will be 11 official host cities, from Atlanta and Boston to New York and Miami. But perhaps the most interesting one will be Los Angeles, which is also preparing to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. Not only will greater L.A. host eight games in the men’s soccer tournament, but the U.S. team will also play two of its group-stage games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the first of which will be on June 12 against Paraguay. That weekend will serve as a launchpad for Los Angeles’ tournament-inspired events.

Israel said it struck military targets in Iran, hours after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles toward the country for the first time since a ceasefire took effect in early April. The messy exchange of fire no doubt threatens to further complicate efforts to broker a lasting peace deal to end the months-long U.S.-Israeli war with Tehran and raised the prospect of a return to open conflict.

The Israeli Air Force hit sites in western and central Iran, its military said on social media early Monday local time, without providing further details. Iran’s attack on Sunday followed Israeli military strikes on what Israel said were suspected Hezbollah positions in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day.

Naturally, oil prices rose again early Monday amid the heightened tensions. President Trump said Sunday the attacks “certainly not going to help negotiations.” He told Axios that he was calling Benjamin Netanyahu to press him not to retaliate. The Israeli Prime Minister’s response will measure how much sway the American president still holds over Israel.

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How do you use Siri currently? Would you like it to be more like ChatGPT or Claude? The Verge says Apple “has been on its back foot, AI-wise, for the past few years. But in a strange way, playing from behind might not be such a bad move.”

At WWDC later today, Apple appears to be getting ready to reintroduce us to the new Siri. Again. As a reminder, we met the new Siri in 2024 when Apple “launched” Apple Intelligence. Siri came with a new glowing border, different voice options, and the ability to punt questions to ChatGPT. The whole “Intelligence” bit of the Siri redesign was coming soon, Apple promised. Is that time now? Because the stakes could not be higher.

Some say that Apple’s losing the AI arms race. Gemini is already doing things like ordering Ubers and DoorDashing food. It can look at your calendar and figure out when you should leave for the airport. Gemini won the race, fair and square. But there’s also a growing distrust of AI and Siri seems a little more familiar, right?