Wife of French president appeals in gender rumours case: lawyer
Paris — France's first lady has taken her case against two women over claims she used to be a man to the highest appeals court after a lower court let them off, her lawyer said Monday.
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On Thursday, the Paris appeals court overturned earlier convictions against the two women for spreading false claims — that went viral online — that Brigitte Macron, 72, used to be a man.
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Brigitte Macron filed a libel complaint against the two women after they posted a YouTube video in December 2021, alleging she had once been a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux — who is actually Brigitte Macron's brother.
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In the video, defendant Amandine Roy, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium, interviewed Natacha Rey, a self-described independent journalist, for four hours on her YouTube channel.
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Rey spoke about the 'state lie' and 'scam' she claimed to have uncovered that Jean-Michel Trogneux had changed gender to become Brigitte, and then married the future president.
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The claim went viral, including among conspiracy theorists in the United States.
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A lower court in September last year had ordered the two women to pay 8,000 euros (about $12,800 Cdn) in damages to Brigitte Macron, and 5,000 euros to her brother.
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Brigitte Macron's lawyer Jean Ennochi told AFP Sunday that her brother, too, was taking his case against the dismissal of the charges to the highest appeals court, the Court de Cassation.
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Toronto Sun
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- Toronto Sun
Syria's leader urges Bedouin tribes to commit to a ceasefire ending clashes with the Druze
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Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted late Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence has also drawn airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighbouring Israel before a truce was reached. In his second televised address since the fighting started, al-Sharaa blamed 'armed groups from Sweida' for reigniting the conflict by 'launching retaliatory attacks against the Bedouins and their families.' He also said Israeli intervention 'pushed the country into a dangerous phase.' Israel had launched dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus, saying it was in support of the Druze, who form a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, often serving in the Israeli military. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Reports had surfaced of Syrian government-affiliated fighters executing Druze civilians and looting and burning homes over the four-day violence. The U.S. envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire early Saturday. Al-Sharaa made no direct reference to the agreement in his speech, but said 'American and Arab mediations stepped in' to restore calm. Addressing the Bedouins, al-Sharaa said they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security.' He also said: 'We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders.' 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He also thanked the United States for its 'significant role in affirming its support for Syria during these difficult times,' as well as Arab countries and Turkey, which mediated Wednesday's truce. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The UN estimates more than 87,000 people have been displaced in Sweida province since July 12 due to heavy shelling, sniper fire and abductions. Entire communities have fled on foot, with many now crammed into overcrowded schools, churches and public buildings under dire conditions, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report. Infrastructure damage has cut electricity, water and telecommunications in much of the area, it said. The main hospital in Sweida was operating at just 15% capacity due to staff shortages and a lack of fuel. The security situation is also endangering humanitarian workers. The White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defence, reported that one of their emergency team leaders went missing on July 16 while responding to a call for help from a UN team, OCHA said. MMA Toronto & GTA Toronto Raptors Tennis Letters
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Gaza civil defence says Israeli attacks kill 26 near two aid centres
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SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory's authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire. But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians. The Israeli military said it was 'looking into' the latest reports when contacted by AFP. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in the south, attributing the deaths to 'Israeli gunfire'. One eyewitness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when 'Israeli soldiers' started shooting. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'My relatives and I were unable to get anything,' Abdul Aziz Abed, 37, told AFP. 'Every day I go there and all we get is bullets and exhaustion instead of food.' Three other eyewitnesses also accused troops of opening fire. 'They started shooting at us and we lay down on the ground. Tanks and jeeps came, soldiers got out of them and started shooting,' said Tamer Abu Akar, 24. Nine people were killed in gunfire at the same centre in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah on Friday, the civil defence agency said. 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Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: Epstein files latest conspiracy theory that will fizzle out
People walk by as a message calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein is projected onto the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building across from the White House in Washington, D.C., Friday, July 18, 2025. Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI / AFP / Getty Images More than a decade ago, in 2014, a couple of University of Chicago guys published a study about conspiracy theories. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Their much-cited investigation focused mainly on Americans, but its results are applicable to Canadians, Europeans and others, too. For a long time, the authors wrote, people 'have demonstrated high levels of suspicion towards centralized authority and their political elites.' Americans have long led the way on this sort of thing, of course. Post-Watergate, the 'paranoid style,' as the authors termed it, infected their politics, media and even Hollywood movies. Back in 2014, 50% of Americans believed in at least one conspiracy theory. It's a lot more now. Per usual, Canadians were a bit late to the party, but we started to enthusiastically champion conspiracy theories, too. Canadians embraced what the Chicago professors called 'a general distrust of government and fear of larger, secretive conspiracies.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So, in 2023, Leger reported that 79% of Canadians believed in at least one conspiracy theory. The big ones, for us: JFK's assassination was a cover-up; a cure for cancer has been found but is being suppressed by government and Big Pharma; Princess Diana was assassinated and not simply killed by a drunk guy driving too fast; and — my fave — mainstream media fabricate what they report. Having worked for the mainstream media off and on for several decades, that last one always slays me. Those of us who work in the media (and politics, for that matter) can assure you: we couldn't put together a decent conspiracy if our lives depended on it. It's a miracle, frankly, that we remember to walk out of the house wearing shoes. In recent years, there's been COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, 5G, GMOs, climate change and a bunch of others. But the hottest conspiracy theory in Canada, at the moment — and I've written a book about it – is that all Jews are immensely wealthy and powerful, and that they are covering up a murderous genocide against guiltless, child-like, angelic Palestinian saints. (Leger again: half of Canadians truly believe Israel is genocidal.) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Adherents of this particular conspiracy theory — like all conspiracy theorists — are disinterested in the facts, one of which is: if Jews were as all-powerful as the haters claim, wouldn't they be able to stop bad people from shooting up their schools, firebombing their synagogues, and trying to kill them? If they were so controlling, couldn't they have gotten Hamas and Hezbollah to stop, you know, killing them? All of which brings us to the conspiracy theory of the moment — the Jeffrey Epstein files. The MAGA movement is incensed, we are told, and President Donald Trump could lose the presidency to the perception that he is covering up information about the deceased millionaire pedophile. No fan of Donald Trump, am I, but I don't quite get what the fuss is all about. Trump and Epstein were pals, and the internet is chock-a-block with photos of the pair, leering at females who were, in fact, girls. It's not exactly front-page news: Trump and Epstein hung out together, and they were creeps. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hell, a civil jury found in 2023 that Trump had, indeed, sexually abused a woman many years before; another jury, in a criminal case, ruled last May that Trump had paid hush money to cover up an affair with a porn star — while his wife was pregnant, no less. Like I say: Trump's a perv? Not a revelation. So why, then, are prominent conservatives — like the spurned Elon Musk, MAGA-matron Marjorie Taylor Greene, and some of Trump's own appointees at the FBI — so worked up about Epstein and Trump? Because it's not about sexual wrongdoing, that's why. The Epstein conspiracy theory isn't about sex. It's about an invisible cadre of powerful elites, scheming to prevent the truth from coming out. It's about a secretive elitist Illuminati, somewhere out in the ether, conniving to keep the Epstein client list — which, I solemnly guarantee you, doesn't exist — from being disclosed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The irony, of course, is that Donald Trump did this to himself. He didn't just fib — he polarized. On Epstein (and so many things), he said: they aren't just lying to you, they're evil. As with Jan. 6, vaccines, and mail-in ballots, Trump has lit a fire that now threatens to consume him. Read More It won't, however. Why? Because there's one thing Trump is better at than peddling conspiracy theories. And that's changing the channel. Trump will have all of us talking about a new conspiracy theory by this time next week. Guaranteed. * * * * * Like many, I wanted to express my condolences to the family of Mark Bonokoski, who passed away this past week. He was a great writer because he believed in what all the great writers believe in: facts. Toronto & GTA MMA Tennis Letters Celebrity
