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An Anonymous Coward writes:

A suspected Islamic terrorist opened fire at a gay nightclub in Florida, killing 50 people and wounding another 53 before he was killed by police. While authorities continue to investigate to determine whether this man had ties to ISIS, the terror organization has not been quiet in praising the attack. This comes three days after ISIS announced they would attack somewhere in Florida. Today's attack marks the largest act of terrorism on US soil since 9/11.

takyon: The gunman reportedly called 911 emergency services to pledge allegiance to ISIS. The President will hold a briefing momentarily. Compare this article to the original submission.

Original Submission   Late submission by physicsmajor

takyon writes:

EgyptAir Flight MS804 has disappeared with 59 56 passengers and 10 crew onboard. It went missing soon after it entered Egyptian airspace, over the eastern Mediterranean.

Bloomberg, The Guardian, BBC.

janrinok adds:

The Guardian has a page with updated details.

martyb summarizes:

Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, was on its fifth flight of the day and traveling at 37,000 feet. It left Paris Charles de Gaulle at 11:09pm local time (21:09 UTC/22:09 BST/07:09 AEST) en route to Cairo and disappeared from radar with 66 people on board at 2:30am (00:30 GMT/01:30 BST/10:30 AEST) approximately 280km (175 miles) north of Egypt's coast — about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to land.

Of the 66 people on board, there were 56 passengers and 10 crew (two cockpit, five cabin, three security).

At 4:26am local time (two hours after the last radar contact) a signal was received from the "plane's emergency devices — possibly an emergency locator transmitter or beacon."

"EgyptAir says the captain has 6,275 flying hours, including 2,101 on the A320; the copilot has 2,766. The plane was manufactured in 2003."

Original Submission

takyon writes:

After losing the Indiana primary, Ted Cruz suspended his presidential bid, saying that "the path has been foreclosed".

Donald Trump will likely succeed on the initial ballot at the Republican National Convention, avoiding a contested convention. Bernie Sanders won a 5-6 point victory in Indiana, prolonging the Democratic side of the race.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

An unconfirmed incident near Heathrow Airport in London may fuel calls for a drone ban:

A plane approaching Heathrow Airport is believed to have hit a drone before it landed safely, the Metropolitan Police has said. The British Airways flight from Geneva was hit as it approached the London airport at about 12:50 BST with 132 passengers and five crew on board. After landing, the pilot reported an object - believed to be a drone - had struck the front of the Airbus A320. Aviation police based at Heathrow have launched an investigation. Police said no arrests have been made.

If confirmed, it is believed to be the first incident of its kind in the UK. A British Airways spokesman said: "Our aircraft landed safely, was fully examined by our engineers and it was cleared to operate its next flight." The airline will give the police "every assistance with their investigation", the spokesman added.

Also at The Guardian and Reuters.

Previously: Call for Research after Drone Near-Misses in the UK

Original Submission

takyon writes:

There is just one day left to comment about the DMCA safe harbor provisions in section 512 of Title 17:

The United States Copyright Office is undertaking a public study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the DMCA safe harbor provisions contained in section 512 of Title 17. On December 31, 2015, the Office issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking public input on several questions relating to that topic. See 80 FR 81862 (Dec. 31, 2015). To ensure that commenters have sufficient time to respond, the Office is extending the deadline for the submission of initial comments in response to the Notice to April 1, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Please note that in light of the expected time frame for this study, the Office is unlikely to grant further extensions for these comments.

Here's a form letter, and an article about how the DMCA could change for the worse.

Previously: Internet Archive Seeks Changes in DMCA Takedown Procedures

Update: 50,000 People Protest DMCA Abuse, "Crash" Government Server

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Shortly after 8 am this morning certainly 1 but possibly 2 large explosions were heard in the main departure hall of a Brussels Airport (Belgium), one of Europe's busiest airports. Fire services confirm casualties; first news is that part of the roof of the departure hall has collapsed. The explosion(s) were situated at the American Airlines check-in booth, according to first reports by Belgian news (without mentioning of source(s)).

Last week saw the arrest by Belgian police of Europe's main wanted fugitive, IS operative Salah Abdeslam.

UPDATE: More attacks in Brussels Subway system, CNBC has some info here.

Original Submission

GungnirSniper writes:

Intel's longtime President and CEO Andy Grove has died. He was 79, and was Intel's first hire. Born in pre-war Hungary, he survived both the Nazi occupation and Communist rule to immigrate to America at the age of 20.

Present at Intel's 1968 founding with Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Andy Grove became Intel's President in 1979 and CEO in 1987. He served as Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2005. Both during his time at Intel and in retirement, Grove was one of the most influential figures in technology and business, writing best-selling books and widely cited articles, and speaking out on an array of prominent public issues.

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. "Andy made the impossible happen, time and again, and inspired generations of technologists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders."

Grove played a critical role in the decision to move Intel's focus from memory chips to microprocessors and led the firm's transformation into a widely recognized consumer brand. Under his leadership Intel produced the chips, including the 386 and Pentium, which helped usher in the PC era. The company also increased annual revenues from $1.9 billion to more than $26 billion.

Wikipedia and Wikiquote have more background:

Technology will always win. You can delay technology by legal interference, but technology will flow around legal barriers.

Original Submission

mendax writes:

While not exactly related to tech, many here will be interested in learning about the crash of a Flydubai Boeing 737-800 (FZ981) at the Rostov-on-Don airport. Russian news media reports no survivors of the 55 passengers and 7 crew. Read about it here or here for starters. What's interesting about this crash is that it was caught on a surveillance camera, as the Reuters article linked to above and this link show. As always with these kinds of disasters, it's too soon to tell the cause although it may be due to a stall.

takyon: RT: "Pilot error, bad weather & technical failure suspected in FlyDubai crash that killed 62."

Air-traffic control and local emergency services confirmed that the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed near the runway during a second approach in conditions of poor visibility. "According to preliminary data, the Boeing 738 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50-100 meters left of the runway," the source said.

Original Submission