SEPANG (Malaysia), Jan 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s aviation industry is expected to see stronger growth this year, supported by the government’s ongoing initiatives to boost the sector, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He cited the increase in both domestic and international travel, attributed to the government’s strategic steps particularly the relaxation of visa requirements for Chinese and Indian tourists, as a boon to the sector.

Gaza (AP) —At least six people were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on a home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crammed into Rafah, one of the areas where Israel has told people to seek refuge. But Israeli forces continue to strike all parts of the besieged territory.

WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Thursday he felt members of the Muslim and Arab communities in the tech industry were uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, in an apparent reference to the impact of the ongoing war in Gaza.

"Muslim and arab (especially palestinian) colleagues in the tech community i've spoken with feel uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, often out of fear of retaliation and damaged career prospects," Altman wrote on social media network X, formerly known as Twitter.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani reiterated his pledge on Friday to end the presence of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq after a series of U.S. strikes killed Iraqi security personnel and militia leaders.

Al-Sudani said his government would soon start talks with the coalition through a committee to arrange the withdrawal of foreign troops, a move he said was "a commitment that the government will not back down from."

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (NNN-XINHUA) – Two subway trains collided on the Upper West Side of New York City yesterday afternoon, resulting in derailment of one train and multiple injuries.

“There is a major disruption to 1/2/3 service, while emergency teams assist passengers and conduct an investigation, after a train derailed near 96 St. There is no 1/2/3 service in most of Manhattan,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a post on X.

MOSCOW (AP) —Russian air defenses downed dozens of Ukrainian drones in occupied Crimea and southern Russia on Friday, officials said, as Kyiv pressed its strategy of targeting the Moscow-annexed peninsula and taking the 22-month war well beyond Ukraine’s borders.

Air raid sirens wailed in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, and traffic was suspended for a second straight day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally a decade ago, with Russia’s southern Krasnodar region. The span is a crucial supply link for Russia’s war effort.

LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Major rivers across Britain were flooded on Friday after heavy rain, with the government issuing more than 300 flood warnings, travel operators announcing serious disruption and around 1,000 homes suffering damage so far.

A succession of storms in recent weeks meant prolonged rainfall that started on Thursday fell on saturated ground and quickly caused already-swollen rivers and waterways to burst their banks across England and Wales.

The storms have also caused flooding in other parts of Europe in recent days.

WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A senior official in the U.S. Education Department stepped down on Wednesday, citing President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza, the latest sign of dissent in the administration as deaths continue to grow in the war.

Also on Wednesday, 17 Biden re-election campaign staffers issued a warning in an anonymous letter that Biden could lose voters over the issue.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said Thursday.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Thursday for two suicide bombings targeting a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike, the worst militant attack to strike Iran in decades as the wider Middle East remains on edge.

Experts who follow the group confirmed that the statement, circulated online among jihadists, came from the extremists, who likely hope to take advantage of the chaos gripping the region amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Multiple people were shot inside a small-town Iowa high school early Thursday as students prepared to start their first day of classes after their annual winter break, authorities said.

The suspect in the shooting in Perry, Iowa, has died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK (AP) — Newly released court documents describing Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls provide a reminder of how the financier leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his crimes.

The more than 40 documents released late Wednesday — the latest of thousands that have been made public — were sprinkled with the names of celebrities and politicians who socialized with Epstein or worked with him in the years before he was publicly accused nearly two decades ago of paying underage girls for sex.