NSA finds major security flaw in Microsoft Windows 10, free fix issued

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JAN 14, 2020 @ 1245 GMT | FILE – This Aug. 7, 2017, file shows a Microsoft Widows sign on display at a store in Hialeah, Fla. The National Security Agency has discovered a major security flaw in Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Microsoft says the NSA notified the company about it. A fix was made available Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) – The National Security Agency has discovered a major security flaw in Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system that could let hackers intercept seemingly secure communications.

But rather than exploit the flaw for its own intelligence needs, the NSA tipped off Microsoft so that it can fix the system for everyone.

Microsoft released a free software patch to fix the flaw Tuesday and credited the intelligence agency for discovering it. The company said it has not seen any evidence that hackers have used the technique.

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South African president vows to end widespread power cuts

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JAN 11, 2020 @ 1500 GMT | Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, right, talks with African National Congress (ANC) president and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s 108th birthday celebrations in Kimberley, South Africa, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020. (AP Photo)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s frequent power cuts and ailing economy have overshadowed the ruling African National Congress party’s 108th anniversary festivities.

Far from being a celebratory speech to the party faithful, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address Saturday focused on the serious problem of nation-wide power cuts.

Ramaphosa said his government is working hard to restore the state power company, Eskom, to a stable provider of electricity to industry and residences.

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US employment remains strong, 145,000 jobs added in December

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JAN 10, 2020 @1600 GMT | FILE – In this Sept. 18, 2019, file photo people stand in line to inquire about jobs available at the Bean Automotive Group during a job fair in Miami. On Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, the U.S. government issues the December jobs report. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added 145,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.5%, signaling that the job market remains strong at the start of 2020 even if hiring and wage gains have slowed somewhat more than a decade into an economic expansion.

Friday’s snapshot from the Labor Department showed hiring slipped from robust gains of 256,000 in November, which were given a boost by the end of a strike at General Motors. For the year, employers added an average of roughly 175,000 jobs per month, compared with about 223,250 per month in 2018.

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Iranians shot down airliner, Western leaders declare

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JAN 8, 2020 @2145 GMT | Tehran, Iran | Rescue workers carry the body of a victim of a Ukrainian plane crash in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. A Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday, just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital’s main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It is “highly likely” that Iran shot down the civilian Ukrainian jetliner that crashed near Tehran late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board, U.S., Canadian and British officials declared Thursday. They said the fiery missile strike could well have been a mistake amid rocket launches and high tension throughout the region.

The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops in its violent confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general. The airliner could have been mistaken for a threat, said four U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

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Iran strikes back at US with missile attack at bases in Iraq

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JAN 7, 2020 2030 GMT | FILE – In this file photo, US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the military at a hangar rally at Ain al-Asad air base, Iraq on Dec. 26, 2018, . Iran struck back at the United States for the killing of a top Iranian general early Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, firing a series of ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in a major escalation of tensions that brought the two longtime foes closer to war. (AP Photo)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing a top Revolutionary Guards commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.

It was Iran’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying. A U.S. and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though buildings were still being searched.

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Venezuela crisis deepens with congress takeover

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JAN 5, 2020 1430 GMT | Caracas, Venezuela | National Assembly President Juan Guaido swears himself in as President of the National Assembly with opposition lawmaker votes at the newspaper El Nacional’s headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (AP Photo)

MIAMI (AP) — Allies of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro attempted to orchestrate a takeover of the opposition-controlled congress Sunday as opposition leader Juan Guaidó was blocked by security forces from presiding over the start of the legislative year. Here’s a look at what happened and where things stand following what has been condemned internationally as an attempted coup against the country’s last democratic institution.

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‘Not safe to move’: Fire threats intensify in Australia

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JAN 4, 2020 1700 GMT | A Forest Corporation worker manages a fire hose as he battles a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP Photo)

SYDNEY (AP) — A father and son who were battling flames for two days are the latest victims of the worst wildfire season in Australian history, and the path of destruction widened in at least three states Saturday due to strong winds and high temperatures.

The death toll in the wildfire crisis is now up to 23 people, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after calling up about 3,000 reservists to battle the escalating fires, which are expected to be particularly fierce throughout the weekend.

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Flashback : Rising Iran, US tension after general’s killing

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JAN 3, 2020 1245 GMT | FILE – A speedboat of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard moves around a British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized on Friday by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, Sunday, July 21, 2019. The U.S. airstrike that killed a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad raises tensions even higher between Tehran and Washington after months of trading attacks and threats across the wider Middle East. (AP,Photo)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. airstrike that killed a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad raises tensions even higher between Tehran and Washington, after months of trading attacks and threats across the wider Middle East.

How Iran will respond remains in question as well, though its supreme leader warned that a “harsh retaliation is waiting” for those who killed Revolutionary Guard Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani early Friday morning. That could include anything, from challenging U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, firing ballistic missiles or deploying the asymmetrical proxy forces Iran has cultivated to cover for its long-sanctioned conventional forces.

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Kisses, cheers, fireworks welcome 2020 in Times Square

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JAN 1, 2020 0500 GMT | Times Square – New York, United States | People celebrate the New Year in Times Square in New York, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020, (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — Couples kissed. Others cheered and waved balloons as fireworks burst into the night sky and confetti fell to welcome the start of 2020 in New York City’s Times Square.

In one of the globe’s most-watched New Year’s Eve spectacles, the crowd counted down the last seconds of 2019 as a luminescent crystal ball descended down a pole. Throngs of people cheered and sang along to the X Ambassadors’ soul-stirring rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine” just before midnight.

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Stocks close out best year since 2013; S&P 500 soars 28.9%

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DEC 31, 2019 2300 GMT | NYSE, New York, United States | Stock traders work at New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. Stocks slipped a bit globally in quiet New Year’s Eve trading Tuesday with many markets closed. Wall Street could close 2019 with back-to-back daily losses in a year that the U.S. posted the largest market gains since 2013. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street closed the books Tuesday on a blockbuster 2019 for stock investors, with the broader market delivering its best returns in six years.

The S&P 500 finished with a gain of 28.9% for the year, or a total return of 31.5%, including dividends. The Nasdaq composite rose 35.3%. For both indexes it was the best annual performance since 2013. Technology stocks helped power those gains by vaulting 48%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 22.3%, led by Apple.

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