United States President Barack Obama's administration said Friday that up to 116 civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and other countries where America is not at war. Obama's goal for the release of the numbers is reportedly to create greater transparency about the actions of the U.S. military and CIA in counterterrorism measures against militants plotting attacks against the United States. The announcement covered strikes from the day Obama took office in January 2009 through Dec. 31, 2015. The report by National Intelligence Director James Clapper said the U.S. conducted 473 counterterror strikes, including those by unmanned drones, in this period. Even though the report does not mention the countries where the attacks were carried out, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the Defense Department and CIA have pursued targets in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

WASHINGTON – The United States on Friday lifted the lid on one of the most controversial tactics of President Barack Obama's secretive counterterrorism campaign, detailing for the first time the number killed in airstrikes in countries like Pakistan and Libya. The White House also released an executive order outlining the steps that should be taken to reduce civilian casualties in America's battle against violent extremism. In a much-anticipated report, National Intelligence Director James Clapper provided fatality estimates for the 473 strikes between 2009 and 2015 that were conducted outside America's principal war zones in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. He said between 64 and 116 civilians were killed, and up to 2,581 combatants. Such attacks are typically conducted via drones, though manned warplanes and missiles have also been used.

A digital video disc player was found in the Tesla car that was on autopilot when its driver was killed in a collision with a truck in May, Florida Highway Patrol officials said on Friday. "There was a portable DVD player in the vehicle," said Sergeant Kim Montes of the FHP in a telephone interview. She said there was no camera found, mounted on the dash or of any kind, in the wreckage. A lawyer for a truck driver involved in the accident with the Tesla told Reuters his investigators had spoken to a witness who said the DVD player was playing a "Harry Potter" video after the accident, but the lawyer was unable to verify that beyond the witness account. "As to the video, there was a witness who came to the scene immediately after the accident occurred, and we can't verify it at this point," said Paul Weekley of Tampa, the lawyer for the truck driver.

Ben Dickson is a software engineer and freelance writer. He writes regularly on business, technology and politics. Thanks to technologies that generate, store and analyze huge sets of data, companies are able to perform tasks that previously were impossible. But the added benefit does come with its own setbacks, specifically from a security standpoint. With reams of data being generated and transferred over networks, cybersecurity experts will have a hard time monitoring everything that gets exchanged -- potential threats can easily go unnoticed.

After escalating one of the most lethal covert operations in U.S. history, President Obama finally made a public estimate of the civilian cost of the nation's secret drone program, which has targeted Islamic militants in remote corners of the globe. Human rights groups immediately challenged the estimate and the amount of transparency from the administration, saying both were too limited. The White House said that 64 to 116 civilians had been wrongly killed in 473 strikes launched by the U.S. government from the time Obama was inaugurated and the end of last year. The vast majority of the attacks were launched by drones, officials said, but the estimate also covers some strikes using manned aircraft. Monitoring organizations estimate the number of civilians killed in U.S. strikes ranges from 200 to more than 1,000.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating a fatal crash involving a Tesla car using the "autopilot" feature. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Alex Davies of Wired about the crash and what it means for self-driving car technology.

On 7 May, a Tesla Model S was involved in a fatal accident in Florida. At the time of the accident, the vehicle was driving itself, using its Autopilot system. The system didn't stop for a tractor-trailer attempting to turn across a divided highway, and the Tesla collided with the trailer. In a statement, Tesla Motors said this is the "first known fatality in just over 130 million miles [210 million km] where Autopilot was activated" and suggested that this ratio makes the Autopilot safer than an average vehicle. Early this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told reporters that the Autopilot system in the Model S was "probably better than a person right now."

A fatal accident that occurred while Tesla's Autopilot technology was engaged may have a significant bearing on the future of automated driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said yesterday that it is investigating the accident, which occurred near Williston, Florida, last month when a Model S crashed into a trailer making a left turn in front of it. NHTSA's investigation does not mean the agency believes the technology contributed to the accident or is defective. But the incident will inevitably raise questions about the performance of the technology and the way drivers treat it. The auto industry will certainly watch closely to see how it may shape regulations and influence the public perception of automated-driving technology.

The White House has said that up to 116 civilians have been killed by drone and other US strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya since Barack Obama took office in 2009, a figure that has been slammed by watchdog groups as an undercount, which suggests that the real figure could be as high as 1,100. Published by the Director of National Intelligence on Friday, the report said that between January 20, 2009, and December 31, 2015, the US carried out 473 strikes, which killed up to 2,581 "combatants" and anywhere from 64 to 116 civilians. The civilian casualties disclosed in the report were from nations not recognised as "battlefields," and did not reflect US air attacks in "areas of active hostilities" such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria. Watchdog and rights groups have long claimed that the US administration does not know how many civilians it has killed and does not do enough to prevent civilian casualties when carrying out counterterrorism operations. Reprieve, an international human rights organisation, said the US government's previous statements about the drone programme have proven to be false by its own internal documents. It said the Obama administration has "shifted the goalposts on what counts as a'civilian' to such an extent that any estimate may be far removed from reality".

It's the 4th of July weekend here in the States, which means many of you will spend the three-day break with family and enjoying the outdoors. On the other hand, if you see the long weekend as an excuse to hunker down and savor some personal time with the Android device in your life, we've got you covered with five intriguing new apps and games. Her Story leads the lineup this week, as the celebrated indie game challenges you to piece together a twisted murder mystery by watching police interviews, and it's joined by Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, a brand new role-playing quest in the legendary series. Otherwise, we've got Google's new Expeditions app for Cardboard VR, Sony's PlayStation Vue streaming television service, and Red Bull's Clashem social video-battling app. Be sure to load up your device before the holiday rolls around!