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U.S. prosecutors said Monday that a “third party” had presented a possible method for opening an encrypted iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, a development that could bring an abrupt end to the high-stakes legal showdown between the government and Apple Inc. A federal judge in Riverside, California, late Monday agreed to the government's request to postpone a hearing scheduled for Tuesday so that prosecutors could try the newly discovered technique. The Justice Department said it would update the court on April 5. The government had insisted until Monday that it had no way to access the phone used by Rizwan Farook, one of the two killers in the December massacre in San Bernardino, California, except to force Apple to write new software that would disable the password protection.

By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Monday sought to overturn a ruling which protects Apple from unlocking an iPhone in a New York drug case. A magistrate judge in Brooklyn last week ruled that the Justice Department could not compel the tech giant to unlock the phone. Prosecutors are relying on the same law in its fight against Apple in a California court, where a judge ordered Apple to unlock an encrypted phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.

The stock briefly traded as low as $99.87, its lowest level since Aug. 24, a day when the entire stock market suffered a brief 'flash crash.' Apple shares traded as low as $92 that day. Apple stock closed down nearly 2 percent at $100.70 on Nasdaq on Wednesday, amid a broadly lower stock market. The stock's decline comes as a growing number of analysts are trimming their estimates for iPhone sales – the bedrock of Apple's business – with some predicting sales this year will decline on an annual basis for the first time since the phone was introduced.

By Heather Somerville and Jane Wardell SAN FRANCISCO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A significant number of Apple Inc customers are reporting their mobile devices have crashed after attempting to upload the new iOS 9 operating system, the latest in a line of launch glitches for the tech giant. Twitter and other social media were awash with disgruntled customers reporting two distinct faults, with one appearing to be linked specifically to older models of Apple iPhones and iPads. “It is beyond inconvenient to not be able to use your phone for a day,” said student Pip Cordi as staff in the Apple store in central Sydney looked at her phone on Friday.

Facebook has warned of heavy investments in 2015 as it steps up efforts to expand a collection of products that include messaging service WhatsApp, photo-sharing service Instagram and virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift. As a result, Facebook's operating expenses rose 83 percent in the first quarter as R&D costs jumped 133 percent and marketing and sales spending nearly doubled. “The question is, can they keep costs under control and what will be the new revenue streams around video, Instagram and virtual reality around Oculus?” he said. Facebook's net income attributable to stockholders fell to $509 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $639 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.