France

Video shows French President Emmanuel Macron removing a bag of cocaine from a table as journalists entered the train cabin where he was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Enlarged photographs and video footage show the white object Macron removed from the table and stuffed in his pocket was a tissue. This was also confirmed by the French government.

Viral social media posts are alleging that French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were caught taking cocaine on their trip to Kyiv.

At the centre of the claims is a video showing the three leaders greeting one another on a train from Poland to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm their support for his country.

It’s a tissue of lies.

A bizarre conspiracy that European leaders snorted cocaine en route to critical Ukraine talks has been roundly ridiculed by the French president’s office, after it was promoted by Russian trolls as well as American conspiracists such as Alex Jones.

“This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home. We must remain vigilant against manipulation,” the Elysee Palace posted on X.

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.

A massive power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, knocking out traffic lights and forcing the evacuation of subway systems in both countries, among other disruptions. It is being blamed on a "rare atmospheric phenomenon," reports said.

A sweeping power outage left millions of people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France without electricity on Monday, leading to chaotic scenes and widespread disruption.

A problem with the power connection between France and Spain was a contributing factor to the outage, the head of a trade body that represents Europe's power industry said.

Kristian Ruby, of Eurelectric, told the BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight a "specific incident with an interconnector between France and Spain" occurred on Monday...

A massive power outage paralyzed Spain and Portugal on Monday in an incident with no immediate explanation.

Power and cell phone outages struck across the Iberian Peninsula and other portions of Europe Monday, with disruptions reported in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Andorra and France.

As of around 9 a.m. EDT, issues with the European electric grid had been reported, and millions of people through the affected nations were without electricity.

Elections are so much easier if your opponent can’t run.

This is apparently an insight so obvious and universal that it’s now played a big role in both U.S. and French presidential politics.

The French justice system chose courage over surrender. The law was clear, and so was the court in its sentencing: no special treatment for Marine Le Pen, no deference to the powerful, no using a candidacy for office as an excuse to break the law with impunity.