Image copyrightAPImage captionSyed Rizwan Farook, right, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people at an office party on 2 December
The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending a court case, the US justice department says.
Apple had been resisting a court order issued last month requiring the firm to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook's phone.
But officials on Monday said that it had been accessed independently and asked for the order to be withdrawn.
Farook and his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino in December.
They were later shot dead by police. US officials said Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State on social media on the day of the shooting.
Last week, prosecutors said "an outside party" had demonstrated a possible way of unlocking the iPhone without the need to seek Apple's help.
A court hearing with Apple was postponed at the request of the justice department, while it investigated new ways of accessing the phone.
At the time, Apple said it did not know how to gain access, and said it hoped that the government would share with them any vulnerabilities of the iPhone that might come to light.
Media captionApple's CEO Tim Cook: ''We have a responsibility to help you protect your data''
On Monday a statement by Eileen Decker, the top federal prosecutor in California, said investigators had received the help of "a third party", but did not specify who that was.
Investigators had "a solemn commitment to the victims of the San Bernardino shooting", she said.
"It remains a priority for the government to ensure that law enforcement can obtain crucial digital information to protect national security and public safety, either with co-operation from relevant parties, or through the court system when co-operation fails," the statement added.
Responding to the move, Apple said: "From the beginning, we objected to the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government's dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought."
The company said it would "continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated".
Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter
The court case that had the US technology industry united against the FBI has for the time being gone away.
Now this debate moves into more uncertain territory. The US government has knowledge of a security vulnerability that in theory weakens Apple devices around the world.
To protect its reputation, Apple will rush to find and fix that flaw. Assuming it can do that, this row is back to square one.
Therefore Apple has called for the matter to remain part of the "national conversation", while the US department of justice says it will still try to use the courts to compel Apple and other phone makers to help with future investigations.
Cellebrite told the BBC that it works with the FBI but would not say more.
Its website, however, states that one of its tools can extract and decode data from the iPhone 5C, the model in question, among other locked handsets.
The court order had led to a vigorous debate over privacy, with Apple receiving support from other tech giants including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
FBI director James Comey said it was the "hardest question" he had tackled in his job.
However, he said, law enforcement saved lives, rescued children and prevented terror attacks using search warrants that gave it access to information on mobile phones.
Former Trump super-PAC director: Donald doesn’t even want to be president
Stephanie Cegielski says the Republican frontrunner had no real interest in becoming president. (Photo: XOJane)
The top strategist for Donald Trump’s short-lived super-PAC says the Republican frontrunner does not want to become president — and that he had launched his “protest” bid for the GOP nomination simply to prove a point: that he could come close.
Cegielski, former communications director for the Make America Great Again super-PAC, says the expectations for the real estate mogul’s campaign were incredibly low.
“The Trump camp would have been satisfied to see him polling at 12 percent and taking second place to a candidate who might hold 50 percent,” Cegielski writes. “His candidacy was a protest candidacy. It pains me to say, but he is the presidential equivalent of Sanjaya on ‘American Idol.’ President Trump would be President Sanjaya in terms of legitimacy and authority. I am now taking full responsibility for helping create this monster — and reaching out directly to those voters who, like me, wanted Trump to be the real deal.”
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, dismissed Cegielski’s assertions:
This person was never employed by the Trump campaign. Evidently she worked for a Super PAC which Mr. Trump disavowed and requested the closure of via the FEC. She knows nothing about Mr. Trump or the campaign and her disingenuous and factually inaccurate statements in no way resemble any shred of truth. This is yet another desperate person looking for their fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is running for President because he is the only one who will Make America Great Again.
Cegielski, who began working for the Trump-connected PAC last summer, said she was inspired by Trump’s performance during the first Republican debate in Cleveland, where he sparred with Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
“The exchange with Megyn Kelly was like manna from heaven for a communications director,” she writes. “She appeared like yet another reporter trying to kick out the guest who wasn’t invited to the party. At the time, I felt excited for the change to the debate he could bring. I began realizing the man really resonates with the masses and would bring people to the process who had never participated before. That was inspiring to me.”
But the inspiration was short-lived.
“It wasn’t long before every day I awoke to a buzzing phone and a shaking head because Trump had said something politically incorrect the night before,” Cegielski writes.
Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Arizona in March. (Photo: Matt York/AP)
Inside the campaign, staffers had a slogan for dealing with the brash billionaire’s belligerent interviews: “Let Trump Be Trump.”
Yet, to Cegielski’s amazement, Trump’s steady rise in the polls continued.
“I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far,” she continues. “And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters.”
Cegielski says she was particularly dismayed by Trump’s blustery response to the recent terror attacks in Brussels and Pakistan.
Sarah McDaniel on the cover of Playboy magazine. Playboy now makes most of its money from licensing its ubiquitous brand and logo across the world.CreditTheo Wenner/Playboy
Playboy Enterprises, the parent company of the iconic men’s magazine, has retained investment bankers and has begun exploring a sale, people with knowledge of the discussions said on Thursday.
The company, which recently revamped the magazine, dropping most nudity from its pages, had retained the investment firm Moelis & Company to explore an expansion in its media business, said one person briefed on the process, who spoke about internal discussions on condition of anonymity. The news was first reportedby The Wall Street Journal.
When the Playboy Mansion was listed for sale earlier this year, the person said, it prompted potential buyers to begin expressing interest in buying the entire company, and Playboy decided to explore that interest. Those potential buyers are based both in the United States and abroad but none are domestic media companies, the person said. They have not yet met with Playboy, which would be valued at around $500 million.
Playboy, which was founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953, now makes most of its money from licensing its ubiquitous brand and logo across the world, for bath products, fragrances, clothing, liquor and jewelry among other things. About 40 percent of that business comes from China, though the magazine is not available there.
Most people commonly have two or three bracelet lines.
Surprisingly enough, having four rascettes is actually an indication that the person may live to be 100. In fact, these lines represent a person’s longevity, health, destiny, and fortune. They can also signify a person’s balance or imbalance of the mind, body and spirit. According to palmistry, the more solid and unbroken the lines, the higher the chances of a good and healthy life.
But, the rarest occurrence of all is having a triangle on the wrist. This uncommon bracelet line is a sign of extreme luck!
Take a close look at your wrists and see what your lines are like.
If you have a line that forms a triangle with the bracelet lines, it’s a sign that you may have some serious luck coming your way.
This could mean winning a lottery ticket, so hurry up and get out there to buy a ticket you lucky duck!
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