Rob Ford Has Died, and Terrorists Shut Down Brussels: Here’s What’s Happening In The World Today

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Here’s what we’re reading today.

1. Rob Ford has passed away at 46

“His passing marks the end of a rare political actor whose everyman persona, budget-slashing agenda and very public substance-abuse issues inspired both intense loyalty and deep loathing among the city’s diverse electorate.”

+1: From the National Post, the life and times of Rob Ford.

2. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Brussels attack

“The violence began shortly before 8 a.m. with an explosion in the departure terminal at Brussels Airport believed to be hidden in luggage, followed shortly by another. Then, at 9:11 a.m., a bomb tore through the last car of a subway train as it was pulling out of the Maelbeek station.” At least 30 are dead and more than 230 are wounded, the New York Times reports.

Here’s where in Brussels the attacks happened.

+1: As Republican candidates call for police patrols in Muslim neighbourhoods, and for using torture to prevent attacks, Homeland Security announces there is no “specific, credible threat” to the United States.

3. What is a robot?

“The year is 2016. Robots have infiltrated the human world. We built them, one by one, and now they are all around us. Soon there will be many more of them, working alone and in swarms. One is no larger than a single grain of rice, while another is larger than a prairie barn. These machines can be angular, flat, tubby, spindly, bulbous, and gangly. Not all of them have faces. Not all of them have bodies.”

4. US may not need Apple to unlock San Bernardino iPhone

Less than 24 hours before a highly anticipated Tuesday court session where prosecutors and Apple lawyers would have squared off here in federal court, government attorneys suddenly got a judge to vacate that hearing and stay an unprecedented court order that would have forced Apple to aid investigators’ efforts to unlock and decrypt an iPhone linked to a 2015 terrorist attack. In a court filing Monday, federal authorities cited a newly discovered “unlocking method” that it hopes won’t require Apple’s help.

5. Gawker: Jury denied key evidence

Gawker was hit with more than $25 million in additional damages yesterday on top of $115 million already awarded by a Florida jury. The gossip blog though says it’s confident the decision will be overturned on appeal, after key evidence from the FBI’s investigation into the video is made public.

+1: Read Nick Denton’s response to the Hulk Hogan verdict.