France accuses enemies of spreading fake news after 'cocaine bag' claims
By Michel Rose
PARIS (Reuters) -President Emmanuel Macron's office has accused France's enemies of spreading fake news by suggesting that he and other European leaders had taken drugs on a train during a visit to Kyiv.
Video footage published online showed Macron sitting at a table in a train compartment with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In the footage, Macron removes a crumpled white object from the table.
Some social media users suggested - without providing evidence - that the object was a "cocaine" bag and Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reposted the footage.
Macron's Elysee office said the white object was a tissue.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee said in a post on X, above a picture of a tissue on the table captioned: "This is a tissue. For blowing your nose".
"This fake news is being spread by France's enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation," the Elysee said, without identifying the enemies.
American far-right radio host Alex Jones was among those who criticised the European leaders online.
Zakharova wrote on Telegram: "As in the joke, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a German boarded the train and ... got high. Apparently, so much so that they forgot to remove the accessories (a bag and a spoon) before the arrival of the journalists."
Macron, Merz, Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday in a show of solidarity with Kyiv more than three years into Russia's war in Ukraine.
France has started to take a more forceful approach to countering online rumours. It has tasked its Viginum foreign disinformation watchdog with monitoring Russia-linked social media accounts and uncovering influence operations.
French officials have also expressed concern about media accounts linked to the American alt-right.
"Our public debate is bombarded with Russian propaganda, relayed by the American far-right," French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X last week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Appointee To CDC Advisory Committee Was A Paid Expert In Merck's Gardasil Lawsuit
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Wednesday, including several anti-vaccine proponents, after dismissing all 17 existing advisers. Kennedy justified the overhaul to 're-establish public confidence in vaccine science,' claiming, without providing specific evidence, that prior Biden-appointed members had conflicts of interest. The new eight-member committee represents the minimum allowed under ACIP's founding charter. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist, was among eight individuals selected by Kennedy to join the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Kulldorff has been an outspoken critic of COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates. His appointment has also raised questions due to his paid involvement in litigation against a major vaccine manufacturer, according to Reuters. Citing court records, Reuters notes that Kulldorff served as an expert witness in lawsuits against Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) over its Gardasil vaccine, which is used to prevent cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The plaintiff accused the pharmaceutical company of not properly disclosing the vaccine's risks. Gardasil was approved in the U.S. in 2006 after going through clinical trials to prove its safety and a deposition in October, Kulldorff acknowledged that he had been paid $400 an hour for his work on the case and had billed approximately $33,000 through September. He also received a $4,000 retainer in connection with the North Carolina lawsuit, which was part of a broader legal effort encompassing about 200 related cases. In March, a federal judge ruled in favor of Merck in that particular case. Kulldorff's paid role as a litigation consultant could conflict with ACIP's established rules. According to the committee's guidelines, members are prohibited from serving as paid expert witnesses or litigation consultants in cases involving vaccine manufacturers while actively serving on the panel. Gardasil/Gardasil 9 sales declined 41% to $1.33 billion in the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to lower demand in China, partially offset by higher demand in most international regions, particularly in Japan, and higher pricing and demand in the U.S. Excluding China, sales grew 14%, or 16%, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Read Next: Are you rich? Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Bezos' Favorite Real Estate Platform Launches A Way To Ride The Ongoing Private Credit Boom Photo: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article RFK Jr. Appointee To CDC Advisory Committee Was A Paid Expert In Merck's Gardasil Lawsuit originally appeared on Sign in to access your portfolio
Chicago Tribune
38 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: The sad application of justice in the Michael Madigan saga
In the end, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey chose to send a stern message with his 7.5-year prison sentence of Michael J. Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Madigan — for decades the most powerful politician in Illinois, the state that gave this nation its greatest president — will have to spend more than six years of that term at a minimum under federal rules, even assuming good behavior. The former Illinois House speaker is 83, so the likelihood of his dying while in confinement is considerable. A human tragedy is self-evident. But that doesn't make Blakey's sentence unjust. Madigan admitted no wrongdoing in his own short statement before the judge handed down the sentence. The closest he came was saying, 'I'm not perfect.' We wonder whether there was a legal strategy behind such obstinance given near-certain appeals of the verdict as to how federal law was applied to Madigan's conduct. A tactical reasoning may have been behind Madigan's rejection of the courtroom contrition that might otherwise have trimmed his sentence. We'll find out in due course. Speaking of the 16th president of the United States, Blakey referenced Abraham Lincoln before he sentenced Madigan: 'It's really hard to be Honest Abe right? He's a unicorn in our American history. Being great is hard. But being honest is not. Being honest is actually very easy. It's hard to commit crimes.' And the evidence showed that Madigan did indeed work hard in hatching and executing the schemes that a jury of Madigan's peers concluded were felonies. The justice behind this sentence reflects how Madigan ran this state for so long, his unprincipled grip on power, and the price we all will pay for many years to come for the financial malpractice he left in his expansive wake. The former House speaker was convicted on multiple corruption-related counts based mainly on his brazenly corrupt dealings with Commonwealth Edison in the 2010s, but there's little doubt the modus operandi he used to help ComEd and parent Exelon rake in billions from ratepayers was in place for far longer than the eight years on which federal prosecutors focused. Those eight years were just the period wherein the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office pressured former Ald. Danny Solis to wear a wire and capture damning interactions with Madigan (and powerhouse Ald. Edward Burke, who is serving time as we write) and tapped the cellphone of Madigan confidant and right-hand man Michael McClain, for years ComEd's lead outside lobbyist. Even people inside ComEd would refer to McClain as a 'double agent,' serving Madigan as much or more than the company that was paying him. McClain was caught on wiretaps saying that Madigan was his one, true client. The corruption caught on those intercepted calls and in a few videos taken by cooperating co-conspirators was just as ugly as those who battled Madigan politically (and usually lost) and those who criticized his stranglehold on state government (such as this page) always had imagined it would be. The plotting. The fixation on rewarding political soldiers with no-work arrangements. The frequent demands on a compromised and beholden company to perform the patronage function local government used to provide before courts put the kibosh on the practice. The public was made privy to all. And who paid to keep the Madigan machine running? Anyone paying taxes. Anyone paying an electric bill. That is, just about everyone in this state. Judge Blakey's agreement with prosecutors that Madigan lied when he took the witness stand in his own defense suggested there would be no mercy forthcoming. Blakey even went so far as to call Madigan's lies 'a nauseating display.' We marveled in January, witnessing Madigan's testimony, how he depicted McClain as just one friend among a sizable coterie of loyalists when anyone who'd sat through Madigan's trial (and the 2023 'ComEd Four' trial in which McClain was convicted) knew full well that McClain and Madigan were extremely close. Madigan had a strategic reason to distance himself from his supremely loyal friend, who evidence showed acted as Madigan's agent in his dealings with ComEd and others in Springfield, even the Democratic lawmakers who typically followed Madigan's orders. Once he was convicted, Madigan's betrayal of McClain served to exacerbate his crimes in the judge's eyes. After a jury convicted Madigan in February on 10 of 23 counts (on the remainder he was acquitted or jurors couldn't agree), we held out hope that the former speaker's downfall would spell the end of corruption on the scale that he practiced in Illinois. We still hold fast to that hope and belief, while of course acknowledging that graft and corruption, albeit on a less ambitious scale always will be a part of our politics and governance as long as human nature exists. But this prison sentence should serve as a clear deterrent for any future political Svengali wanting to follow in Madigan's footsteps. Michael J. Madigan had myriad political skills, as a parade of governors whom he watched come and go all would attest. To the very end, Madigan ran the playbook of his mentor, Mayor Richard J. Daley, written in an era when the Democratic machine was the accepted way of political life in Chicago and Illinois. We feel sorry for Madigan and his family. But we applaud this firm and final repudiation of the 'Velvet Hammer's' brand of politics.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US judge extends detention of pro-Palestinian protest leader
Pro-Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remained in US detention Friday despite an expected release, his lawyer said, following reported accusations of inaccuracies in his permanent residency application. US District Judge Michael Fabiarz had issued an order Wednesday that the government could not detain or deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident, based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio's assertions that his presence on US soil posed a national security threat. The order gave the government until Friday to release Khalil. But by Friday afternoon, the Trump administration "represented that the Petitioner is being detained on another, second charge," the judge wrote. The Department of Homeland Security has provided the court with press clippings from various American tabloids suggesting Khalil, who is married to a US citizen, had failed to disclose certain information about his work or involvement in a campaign to boycott Israel when applying for his permanent resident green card, ABC News reported. "The government is now using cruel, transparent delay tactics to keep him away from his wife and newborn son ahead of their first Father's Day as a family," Khalil attorney Amy Greer said in a statement, referring to the US holiday observed on Sunday. "Instead of celebrating together, he is languishing in ICE detention as punishment for his advocacy on behalf of his fellow Palestinians. It is unjust, it is shocking, and it is disgraceful." Since his March 8 arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Khalil has become a symbol of President Donald Trump's willingness to stifle pro-Palestinian student activism against the Gaza war, in the name of curbing anti-Semitism. At the time a graduate student at New York's Columbia University, Khalil was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza. Authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to a detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation. His wife Noor Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, gave birth to their son while Khalil was in detention. gl/eml/sla/acb
