22/01/2026

THURSDAY | JAN 22, 2026

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Israel orders Gaza families to move

Le Pen denies embezzlement charges PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen (pic) softened her tone while answering questions during her appeal trial here on Tuesday and yesterday, but denied wrongdoing, after being barred from office over a conviction for misusing EU funds. Le Pen, the leader of the a five-year ban from running for public office, effective immediately. Le Pen and others were found guilty of misappropriating more than €4 million (RM18.96 million) of EU funds. Judges said that between 2004 and 2016, they had used funds earmarked for work at the European Parliament to pay staff who were actually working for the party. Answering judge Michele Agi’s questions, Le Pen stuck to addressing legal arguments, in contrast with her previous approach of challenging the legitimacy of the charges. But in substance, her defence appeared to remain the same, as she denied the existence of a system within the RN to misuse EU funds. “I formally contest the idea that there was a kind of system,” Le Pen told the court on Tuesday. She also partly put the blame on her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, saying that until 2014 he was the one really in charge. The founder of the RN died last year at 96. “The way things were functioning wasn’t ideal. I’m aware of that,” she said. “But all those people were working.” The trial is expected to last until Feb 12. A ruling is expected before the summer, meaning Le Pen’s hopes of running next year remain alive if her five-year ban is revoked or curtailed. If she cannot run, her protege, party president Jordan Bardella, is expected to step in. – Reuters According to research by Oxford University Press, 35% of children chose peace, followed by AI (33%) and resilience (21%). The research was carried out in 2025 and surveyed opinions from almost 5,000 children across the United Kingdom aged six to 14. One in 10 children mentioned “war” when asked why they chose peace, and highlighted specific conflicts such as Ukraine and Gaza. A study of the Oxford Children’s Corpus, a database of writing by and for children in the English language containing over half a billion words, reveals mentions of peace in children’s stories submitted to the BBC 500 Words competition has increased by 60% since 2015. For the second-year running, AI was selected as runner-up, and when asked why they chose the word 20% said “hearing” and “talking” about AI. National Rally (RN), is facing a crucial appeal trial that will determine whether she can run in the presidential election, after she was given last year

centres and become their first customer. OpenAI executives said they were hoping to work with governments in other areas, like disaster planning. In South Korea, OpenAI is exploring a deal with the water authority to build a real-time, water disaster warning and defence system against water problems. In its report, OpenAI said its typical “power user” – or those in the 95th percentile – reaches for OpenAI’s advanced reasoning capabilities seven times more often than a typical user. There are also big gaps within countries. For example, in Singapore, which has broad access to AI tools, people send more than three times more messages about coding than average, the report said. – Reuters each other of major breaches of the ceasefire and remain far apart on the more difficult steps planned for the next phase. Mahmoud, a resident from the Bani Suhaila area, who asked not to give his family name, said the evacuation orders impacted at least 70 families, living in tents and homes, some of which were partially damaged, in the area. “We have fled the area and relocated westward. It is maybe the fourth or fifth time the occupation expanded the yellow line since last month,” he told Reuters by phone from Khan Younis, referring to the line behind which Israel has withdrawn. “Each time they move it around 120m to 150m inside the Palestinian controlled territory, swallowing more land,” the father-of-three said. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said the Israeli military had expanded the area under its control in eastern Khan Younis five times since the ceasefire, forcing the displacement of at least 9,000 people. “On Monday, the Israeli occupation forces dropped warning leaflets demanding the forced evacuation of the Bani Suhaila area in eastern Khan Younis Governorate, in a measure that falls within a policy of intimidation and pressure on civilians,” Thawabta said. He said the new evacuation orders affected about 3,000 people. “The move created a state of humanitarian disruption, increased pressure on the already limited shelter areas, and further deepened the internal displacement crisis in the governorate,” Thawabta said. Israel’s military has previously said it has opened fire after identifying what it called “terrorists” crossing the yellow line and approaching its troops, posing an immediate threat to them. It has continued to conduct airstrikes and targeted operations across Gaza. The Israeli military has said it views “with utmost severity” any attempt to attack Israel. Under future phases of the ceasefire, US President Donald Trump’s plan envisages Hamas disarming, Israel pulling out further and an internationally backed administration rebuilding Gaza. – Reuters

or bombarded, forcing some families to move several times. Residents and a source from Hamas said this was the first time they had been dropped since then. The ceasefire has not progressed beyond its first phase, under which major fighting has stopped, Israel withdrew from less than half of Gaza, and Hamas released hostages in return for Palestinian detainees and prisoners. Virtually the entire population of more than 2 million people are confined to around a third of Gaza’s territory, mostly in makeshift tents and damaged buildings, where life has resumed under control of an administration led by Hamas. Israel and Hamas have accused

o First forced evacuation since ceasefire

CAIRO: Israeli forces ordered dozens of Palestinian families in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes in the first forced evacuation since October’s ceasefire, as residents and Hamas said on Tuesday the military was expanding the area it controls. Residents of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis, said the leaflets were dropped on Monday on families living in tent encampments in the Al-Reqeb neighbourhood. “Urgent message. The area is under IDF control. You must evacuate immediately,” said the

leaflets, written in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, which the army dropped over the Al-Reqeb neighbourhood in the town of Bani Suhaila. Israel’s military denied having plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from the area. It confirmed the leaflet drops but said they were aimed at warning Palestinians not to cross the armistice line with Hamas. In the two-year war before the US brokered ceasefire was signed in October, Israel dropped leaflets over areas that were subsequently raided

SAYS IT ALL ... Concerned US citizens hold signs as they gather during a ‘Free DC and Women’s March Walk Out on Fascism’ rally in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, against President Donald Trump’s policies. – AFPPIC

OpenAI seeks to increase global AI use in everyday life

‘Peace’ children’s word of the year LONDON: Peace has been named Oxford children’s word of the year for 2025. Similar to last year, when asked how the word made them feel, children gave positive responses, with more than one in 10 using “excited” or “exciting”.

SAN FRANCISCO: is expanding its efforts to convince global governments to build more data centres and encourage greater usage of artificial intelligence in areas such as education, health and disaster preparedness. The initiative – called OpenAI for Countries – will expand the reach of its products and help close the gap between countries with broad access to AI technology and nations that do not yet have the capacity, the company said. OpenAI also hopes to encourage deeper usage of its tools, adding that AI systems are capable of more complex tasks than many people realise. “Most countries are still operating far short of what AI systems make possible,” the company said in a report. OpenAI

OpenAI started the international initiative last year and appointed former British finance minister George Osborne to oversee the project in December. Osborne and Chris Lehane, OpenAI chief global affairs officer, are pitching government officials on the project this week in Davos. The initiative is part of a broader strategy that has helped cement ChatGPT creator OpenAI at the vanguard of the modern AI boom. Eleven countries have signed up for OpenAI for Countries. Each deal is structured differently. Estonia, for example, is embedding OpenAI’s education tool, ChatGPT Edu, into secondary schools across the country. In Norway and the United Arab Emirates, OpenAI is working with other companies to build data

Almost half (47%) of children chose six-seven as their slang word of the year, followed by aura (24%) and delulu (7%). Research revealed that the use of six-seven among children fosters inclusivity and social currency, with almost one in 10 mentioning “friends” when asked how they use the term, and “popular” was frequently mentioned in reference to what six-seven meant to them, along with more than one in four (28%) citing “fun” and “laugh”, OUP said. Andrea Quincey, director of early years and primary publishing, Oxford University Press, said: “A key theme we see is how attuned children are to current affairs. Whether that’s calling for peace in response to conflicts or highlighting how AI has permeated daily life.” – Bernama