The wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte, is launching legal proceedings over the spread of false claims that she is a transgender woman who was born a man, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Conspiracy theorists, including those in anti-vaccine and far-right circles, have attacked Brigitte Macron on social media after a far-right publication published the baseless rumours in the autumn.
The unfounded rumours say she was born a male under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux. Trogneux is Brigitte Macron's maiden name.
The claims emerged as her husband gears up for elections next year, although President Macron has not yet officially declared he is running, and have raised concerns of a nasty campaign period similar to those in recent U.S. votes.
The hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux has trended on Twitter in France in recent weeks.
Legal proceedings against several individuals were initiated after the false claims gained new momentum following the diffusion of a video on social media on Dec. 10, her lawyer Jean Ennochi told Reuters.
Ennochi did not name those being pursued or specify whether the complaint was being filed before a civil or criminal court. Brigitte Macron's office decline to comment.
The French president first met his wife when he was 15 and she was a 40-year old teacher.
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; editing by Richard Lough and Angus MacSwan)
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Mikko Rantanen's first two goals of the playoffs propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday that clinched their opening-round playoff series in five games.
Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police carrying riot shields burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Canadians need help looking after family members who are aging, sick or have disabilities, and many caregivers are seniors who need help themselves, says a new report calling for a national strategy that recognizes the mental and financial toll of the job.
The lawyers of an alleged serial killer in Winnipeg are questioning whether pre-trial publicity in the high-profile case may have influenced the jury’s decision-making ability, after a public poll commissioned by the defence found 81 per cent of respondents believe the accused is guilty.
B.C.'s police watchdog wants a review of how prosecutors handle cases where officers kill or seriously harm members of the public, saying low rates of charges and convictions are casting doubt on the province's system of accountability.
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
A Fredericton woman is awe-struck after seeing a moose stroll down a city street on Tuesday.
New data from Statistics Canada show that Nova Scotia's rates of poverty and food insecurity in 2022 were the highest of any province -- and the head of the province's largest network of food banks says things have only worsened since.
U.S. President Joe Biden may eventually ban TikTok, but he's moving to give something back to the young people who dominate the popular social media app — a looser federal grip on marijuana.
Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost two kilometres into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris.
Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police carrying riot shields burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.
Months of relentless Russian artillery pounding have devastated a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, new drone footage obtained by The Associated Press has shown, with barely a building left intact, homes and municipal offices charred, and a town that once had a population of 12,000 now left all but deserted.
Haiti's newly installed transitional council chose a little known former sports minister as the Caribbean country's prime minister Tuesday as part of its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of pieces of ammunition have gone missing from two military bases in the South American country.
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Canadians need help looking after family members who are aging, sick or have disabilities, and many caregivers are seniors who need help themselves, says a new report calling for a national strategy that recognizes the mental and financial toll of the job.
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
A new study, building upon previous evidence, has found that among teens, vaping often may spike the risk of exposure to lead and uranium.
A wealthy Silicon Valley-backed campaign to build a green city for up to 400,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area has submitted what it says are enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November election.
Surmising even the physical appearance of a dinosaur - or any extinct animal - based on its fossils is a tricky proposition, with so many uncertainties involved. Assessing a dinosaur's intelligence, considering the innumerable factors contributing to that trait, is exponentially more difficult.
A northern Ontario beekeeper is sounding the alarm after discovering most of her bees had died earlier this year.
Famous girl group TLC is coming to Moncton, N.B., in May.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Rachel McAdams has been nominated for a Tony Award for best actress in a play for her Broadway debut, while Canadian choreographers Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman earned a nod for their work on "The Outsiders."
A boycott targeting Loblaw-owned stores is gaining momentum online, with thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere for the month of May.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is complete and the Canada Energy Regulator has given the go-ahead for the project to open.
London Drugs says it is working with third-party security experts as the company tries to reopen dozens of stores across Western Canada that were shuttered by a cybersecurity incident Sunday.
The City of Toronto is lowering adoption fees until Sunday to find homes for a number of dogs with “ridiculous, bizarre and terrible names” living in the North York crowded shelter.
A lot of heterosexual male clients are coming into my practice admitting they picked their partner without considering sexual attraction.
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
The Nashville Predators kept their season alive with a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday.
Matthew Knies scored at 2:26 of overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday to avoid elimination in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
Mikko Rantanen's first two goals of the playoffs propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday that clinched their opening-round playoff series in five games.
Rolls-Royce is vastly expanding its factory in Chichester, England. The BMW subsidiary is adding five new buildings with construction planned to start next year.
On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The Nashville Predators kept their season alive with a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday.
When all three levels of government defended the ballooning price tag to host several 2026 FIFA World Cup games in Vancouver, they repeated a claim of significant economic benefits that experts and critics are questioning.
On May 4, legendary Seattle grunge rockers Pearl Jam return to Vancouver for the first time in years, launching their 35-date Dark Matter tour with a concert at Rogers Arena. The highly anticipated event has a former radio promotions manager reminiscing about one of the most memorable concert promotion events in Vancouver history: a private show for the most dedicated Pearl Jam fans in town – and the tickets were absolutely free.
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
Sunshine and warm weather is on tap for Toronto on Wednesday despite a foggy start to the day.
A program providing low-income Calgarians and Edmontonians a financial break on their monthly transit passes is losing millions of dollars in annual support from the provincial government, city councillors confirmed Tuesday.
A Calgary-based technology security expert is raising concerns about the potential breach of personal data in a cyber security incident that forced London Drugs to close its doors.
A serious collision in the Municipal District of Ranchland, Alta., has left Highway 22 impassable in both directions, Mounties say.
Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs says it could take 'a couple of years' to build up a team of officers specifically dedicated to local policing duties in the Parliamentary Precinct in downtown Ottawa.
A boycott targeting Loblaw-owned stores is gaining momentum online, with thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere for the month of May.
Rainy weather and clouds are expected in Ottawa on the first day of May.
Transit riders, take note: the Montreal-area regional transit authority, the ARTM, is changing its fare structure on July 1. Prices are going up by an average of 3 per cent.
A 42-year-old woman was killed before her body was found in a fire in Montreal's Pointe-aux-Trembles district, according to Montreal police.
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
As municipal politicians in Alberta continue to question the need for a bill giving the province more powers over local governments, an Edmonton group has established a party it says will run candidates in next year's city elections.
Edmonton police are looking for a man they say is a person of interest in the Hangar 11 suspicious fire.
Joel Dublanko didn't have to wait long to learn where he'll be starting his CFL career. The Edmonton Elks selected the rugged linebacker first overall in the CFL draft Tuesday night. The six-foot-three, 240-pound Dublanko was regarded as the most pro-ready draft prospect.
Residents in the area of Gaston Road in Dartmouth, N.S., were asked to shelter in place Tuesday morning as police searched for an armed suspect.
A Saint John city councillor says vandalism to his Waterloo Village home points to larger issues surrounding mental health supports around the neighbourhood.
A Fredericton woman is awe-struck after seeing a moose stroll down a city street on Tuesday.
Mikko Rantanen's first two goals of the playoffs propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday that clinched their opening-round playoff series in five games.
Cheryl-Lee Spence and her children have been displaced by flooding on Peguis First Nation multiple times.
Winnipeg police were kept busy this week responding to a string of incidents involving knives and a hatchet.
According to new numbers released from Statistics Canada, there was a decrease in local businesses in Saskatchewan over the past year.
A ceremony and walk around Wascana Park was held in Regina on Tuesday to honour the more than 140 long-term missing persons in Saskatchewan.
Regina police say eight people were arrested in an incident that involved an officer being inadvertently shot by another officer’s gun last week.
A man was airlifted to a trauma centre Tuesday after a shooting in Kitchener.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
The last of 10 people convicted in the brutal killing of a 25-year-old Edmonton woman was sentenced on Friday, closing a chapter on one of the largest homicide investigations for the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes Investigations unit.
A band councillor at Red Pheasant Cree Nation says he’s considering putting up surveillance cameras around the community in the wake of a runaway grass fire that nearly destroyed several homes on Monday.
On Wednesday, Saskatoon police begin a search for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier in the city's landfill. CTV News will be on site at 42 Valley Road Wednesday morning as Staff Sgt. Corey Lenius from the major crimes section provides more details.
A 20-year-old suspect in Sudbury was arrested last week after trying to escape from police responding to reports of erratic driving.
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
OPP and the Ministry of Labour are investigating after a 25-year-old individual sustained life-threatening injuries during a construction accident in Lucan Biddulph.
Simmering tensions between the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) and planning officials at city hall are now out in the open.
The sexual assault case against five former Canadian world junior hockey players was back in London court on Tuesday. Lawyers representing the players dealt with the matter briefly via Zoom.
OPP in Alliston have located an armed man after a search on Tuesday.
Nearly a year to the day Joshua Wheatley was caught on camera running a man over in an apparent road rage incident, the 22-year-old has been given a conditional sentence for six months, including partial house arrest with a curfew.
A report conducted by Remax is shedding light on a lack of cottage sales this season.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., southbound Ouellette will have lane restrictions between Eugenie Street east and Tecumseh Road for fibre installation work on the west side of the Ouellette overpass.
A 19-year-old University of Windsor student is being remembered as an energetic and charismatic soul following a fatal two-vehicle collision over the weekend.
Windsor police are investigating the sexual assault of a minor. A 27-year-old man has been arrested after police got a complaint that a girl under the age of 16 was sexually assaulted by a man.
Floatplane operator Harbour Air will offer direct flights this summer from downtown Vancouver to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, landing its seaplanes in a remote cove behind the historic horticultural attraction.
B.C.'s police watchdog wants a review of how prosecutors handle cases where officers kill or seriously harm members of the public, saying low rates of charges and convictions are casting doubt on the province's system of accountability.
Hosting seven games in Vancouver during the 2026 FIFA World Cup could cost more than half a billion dollars, according to an updated estimate provided Tuesday.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
An emaciated dachshund is now recovering thanks to a Good Samaritan who found the pup near a biking trail in Kelowna, according to the BC SPCA.
Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
The rail line from Lethbridge to Coutts is used solely for freight trains, but a new feasibility study done by Integrated Travel Research and Development looks at the potential of adding a passenger train.
Police are releasing more details about the kidnapping and robbery of a senior in Lethbridge, which included a strange request for spices, in hopes of identifying a suspect.
Thousands of people dressed as dinosaurs descended on Drumheller, Alta., on Saturday.
A group of Sault Ste. Marie YMCA supporters working to save the facility from closure received a glimmer of hope at this week’s city council meeting.
Another incident at Algoma Steel has union officials questioning safety protocols at Sault Ste. Marie’s steel plant.
The Ontario government is spending $45 million in the next three years to improve access and funding for the northern travel grant.
Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Cole as his family has confirmed a funeral will be held for the legendary broadcaster Friday in St. John's, N.L.
Legendary sportscaster Bob Cole was a Newfoundlander through and through, and his daughter says his connection to the province was 'everything' to him.
Cenovus Energy has been ordered to pay a $2.5-million fine for its role in the largest offshore oil spill ever recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
