French culture minister and former Renault CEO will be tried for corruption
In their order, in line with the indictment of France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) delivered in November 2024, the judges determined that Dati should appear in court for "passive corruption and influence peddling by a person holding an elected public office within an international organization (in this case, the European Parliament)" and "concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust." As for Ghosn, he is to be tried for "abuse of power by a company executive," "breach of trust" and "active corruption and influence peddling."
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LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Trump says he was 'never' told his name was in Epstein files
US President Donald Trump denied on Friday, July 25, that he had ever been told that his name appeared in files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "No, I was never – never briefed, no," Trump told reporters in Scotland after the Wall Street Journal reported that the attorney general told him in May about his name appearing multiple times. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration's achievements. Officials have said Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Epstein, finished 1 1/2 days of interviews with Justice Department officials on Friday, answering questions "about 100 different people," her attorney said. "She answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability," David Oscar Markus told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. "She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question, so we're very proud of her." Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence and is housed at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee. She was sentenced three years ago after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. 'Seeking the truth' On Friday, reporters pressed Trump about pardoning Maxwell, but he deflected, emphasizing his administration's successes. Help us improve Le Monde in English Dear reader, We'd love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you. "The deputy attorney general is seeking the truth," Markus said. "He asked every possible question, and he was doing an amazing job." Markus said he didn't ask for anything for Maxwell in return, though he acknowledged that Trump could pardon her. "Listen, the president this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way," Markus said. Earlier this month, the Justice Department said it would not release more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The department also said an Epstein client list does not exist. Maxwell is appealing her conviction, based on the government's pledge years ago that any potential Epstein co-conspirators would not be charged, Markus said. Epstein struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 that shifted his case to Florida state court, where he pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein in 2019 and Maxwell in 2020 were charged in federal court in New York.
AFP
3 hours ago
- AFP
Story of dead surgeon linked to Brigitte Macron is fabricated
"Surgeon linked to Brigitte Macron transgender speculation found dead," says a July 3, 2025 post on X. "Solidifies suspicion that Macron is married to an XY Groomer." The video opens by showing first responders parked below a Parisian building, with a voiceover and subtitles claiming it is the site where the surgeon, François Faivre, fell to his death. The clip goes on to depict what purports to be an interview with the dead man's sister, Anne Dupont. Then it claims to show a portion of an initial interview the surgeon gave about Brigitte Macron to the magazine Closer before his death. "According to Ms. Dupont, her brother is a colleague of the famous doctor Patrick Bui," the subtitles say. "François Faivre had promised journalists he would shed light on the controversial surgical operations of Mrs. Brigitte Macron." The rumor that a surgeon died before releasing further information on Brigitte Macron spread in articles and in posts across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. The claims were widespread in French and also appeared in Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Russian. Many posts reference the "Enquête du jour" website, where the video and an accompanying article appear to have originated. Image Screenshot of an X post taken July 25, 2025 Image Screenshot of an Instagram post taken July 25, 2025 The claims followed years of transphobic disinformation targeting the French first lady. In January, Owens released the "Becoming Brigitte" series, which claimed without substantive evidence that Brigitte Macron was not only formerly a man, but also Emmanuel Macron's blood relative. It also alleged Emmanuel Macron became France's president as part of CIA mind-control program, reigniting longstanding French conspiracy theories. On July 23, the Macrons filed a defamation suit against Owens in the US state of Delaware. More iterations of the dead-doctor narrative followed. "Of course they waited until now the file this lawsuit," says one July 24 Facebook post. "The doctor who did Brigitte's surgeries conveniently died last month." But like Owens's allegations about Brigitte Macron's gender history, the online claims that her surgeon died under suspicious circumstances are unfounded. The doctor referenced in the claims does not appear to exist, and the purported news reports cite evidence that is manipulated or entirely invented. The fabricated "François Faivre" The video claims François Faivre worked at the American Hospital of Paris alongside Patrick Bui, who supposedly spoke to him about Brigitte Macron undergoing a transgender surgery operation. While Bui does appear on the hospital's website, the medical center told AFP July 8 it had "no record of a cosmetic surgeon named François Faivre being able to practice there" (archived here). Searches of the French health insurance directory surfaced no matching results for a doctor named "François Faivre." Image Screenshot of the French state health insurance directory taken July 25, 2025 The video's depiction of the alleged doctor further suggests his identity was invented. The rail moulding on the wall disappears abruptly, and one of the hanging certificates trails off into illegible gibberish -- both common indicators of images generated be artificial intelligence. Image Screenshot of a YouTube video taken July 25, 2025 with highlights added by AFP AFP attempted to identify "François Faivre" by plugging the video's visuals into the facial-recognition tool PimEyes. The results uncovered an image of an individual on the iStock photo bank of Getty Images, published May 28, 2017 (archived here). Image Screenshots of an X post and the iStock photo library both taken July 25, 2025 The same face appears in different pieces of commercial content that are otherwise disconnected (archived here, here, here and here). AI technologies can create deceptive content based off existing photos. Further inconsistencies Other elements of the supposed report showed evidence of manipulation. For example, the images of the alleged crime scene are actually footage of Paris that AFP published October 15, 2022, nearly three years before the surgeon was claimed to have died (archived here). Image Screenshot of a Facebook post taken July 25, 2025 Image Screenshot of an AFP YouTube video taken July 25, 2025 The deepfake detector in the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, assessed that the voices in the video were "very likely generated by AI." Image Screenshot of the results accessed via the Verification Plugin tool on July 25, 2025 The shot of the doctor's supposed sister also shows signs of manipulation. The size of her eyes changes frequently, while her blinking appears irregular, again pointing towards the use of . Image Screenshot of a video on the Enquête du jour website taken July 7, 2025 Invented reports, impersonated journalists Closer, the magazine alleged to have interviewed the surgeon, confirmed to AFP July 11, 2025 that none of its journalists had ever spoken to the supposed doctor. The "Enquête du jour" website that laundered the claims, meanwhile, was created June 25 -- just one week before the article appeared -- according to domain registration data (archived here). The site was registered in Delaware under the name "Ano Nymous." As of July 25, the site is no longer available. Image Screenshot of search results for the site taken July 7, 2025 The site's articles also appropriated the identities of at least six French journalists. Audrey Parmentier, whose byline accompanied the report about the surgeon's death, confirmed to French media she did not author the stories on the website. Freelance journalist Aurélien Defer told AFP July 3 he was "completely taken aback" to discover he had been impersonated. "From what I understand, almost all of the published articles serve to give this site the appearance of a reliable and general information source in order to be able to spread false information about Brigitte Macron," he said. Image Screenshot of Enquête du jour taken July 3, 2025 Defer said the method of impersonating journalists resembled Russian disinformation campaigns, a connection also made by the misinformation monitoring service NewsGuard. NewsGuard wrote the "François Faivre" claim used similar tactics to the Russian influence operation Storm-1516 (archived here). Brigitte Macron is among a group of influential women -- including former US first lady Michelle Obama and Canada's Diana Fox Carney -- about whom AFP has debunked gendered disinformation.
Euronews
3 hours ago
- Euronews
EU member states adopt retaliatory hit list in response to US tariffs
The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against. The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April, with up to 30% tariffs targeting products including aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium, yachts. Bourbon whiskey was also included in the list despite intense lobbying by France and Ireland which fear US retaliation on wine and spirits. EU Industries were also consulted before the Commission proposed the list to the member states. The countermeasures will only enter into force if no deal is reached by the 1 August, the deadline set by US president Donald Trump from when he's set to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports. Anti-coercion instrument A qualified majority of member states also appears willing to trigger the anti-coercion instrument, which would enable the EU to hit US services if no deal is reached. Germany was for a long time resistant to using this powerful bazooka, but has now joined France, which has long been a strong advocate of the anti-coercion instrument. Following a dinner on Wednesday between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, a source from the Élysée stated the shared vision of both leaders on the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the US. 'They hoped for a satisfactory outcome to the discussions that would safeguard the EU's interests,' the source said, adding 'while simultaneously accelerating work on countermeasures — including the anti-coercion instrument — in coordination with the Commission, should an agreement not be reached.' The US currently impose 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all imports. This article has been updated.
