WION Morning News Brief, January 5, 2018

Explosive book on Trump's White House to be released early after Trump's lawyers try to block it

President Donald Trump's lawyer said on Thursday he would try to stop publication of a book that portrays an inept president in a fumbling White House and threatened legal action against former top aide Steve Bannon over "defamatory" comments in the book. "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by author Michael Wolff set off a political firestorm with its portrayal of Trump as not particularly wanting to win the U.S. presidency in 2016 and unprepared for the job.

Islamic State claims responsibility for Kabul suicide attack

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on Thursday in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said. Officials in the capital said the attacker blew himself up close to a group of security personnel who were carrying out an operation against illegal drugs and alcohol dealing.

Watch: US suspends security assistance to Pakistan

The United States has suspended security assistance to Pakistan, revealed State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. "Until the Pakistan government takes decisive action against groups including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, we consider them to be destabilizing the region and also targeting US personnel, US will suspend that kind of security assistance to Pakistan,"  said Heather Nauert.

A failed North Korean missile launch crashed into its own city last year: Reports

North Korea reportedly tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) called Hwasong-12 in April last year, which came crashing down in a North Korean city. The failed launch of Hwasong-12 crashed in Tokchon just a few seconds after being in the air, media reports said. 

Apple to issue fix for iPhones, Macs at risk from 'Spectre' chip flaw

Apple Inc will release a patch for the Safari web browser on its iPhones, iPads and Macs within days, it said on Thursday after major chipmakers disclosed flaws that leave nearly every modern computing device vulnerable to hackers. On Wednesday, Alphabet Inc's  Google and other security researchers disclosed two major chip flaws, one called Meltdown affecting only Intel Corp chips and one called Spectre affecting nearly all computer chips made in the last decade. The news sparked a sell-off in Intel's stock as investors tried to gauge the costs to the chipmaker.