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Varieties

Ten People to Stand Trial over Online Harassment of French First Lady

A persistent and unsubstantiated rumor that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth -- amplified by far-right circles in France and the United States -- has angered the presidential couple. Eliot BLONDET / POOL/AFP/File
A persistent and unsubstantiated rumor that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth -- amplified by far-right circles in France and the United States -- has angered the presidential couple. Eliot BLONDET / POOL/AFP/File
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Ten People to Stand Trial over Online Harassment of French First Lady

A persistent and unsubstantiated rumor that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth -- amplified by far-right circles in France and the United States -- has angered the presidential couple. Eliot BLONDET / POOL/AFP/File
A persistent and unsubstantiated rumor that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth -- amplified by far-right circles in France and the United States -- has angered the presidential couple. Eliot BLONDET / POOL/AFP/File

Ten people go on trial in Paris on Monday for sexist cyber-harassment of Brigitte Macron, in the latest case sparked by unsubstantiated gender claims thrown at the French first lady for years by some in France and beyond.

The trial comes after she and President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in connection with a rumor amplified and repeated online that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth.

The unsupported claim has long targeted the presidential couple, alongside criticism of their 24-year age gap.

Ten defendants -- eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60 -- will be tried in a Paris criminal court, accused of cyber-harassment targeting Brigitte Macron, said AFP.

If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.

They have been accused of making numerous malicious comments about Brigitte Macron's gender and sexuality, even equating her age difference with her husband to "paedophilia", according to prosecutors.

The French first lady filed a complaint in August 2024 that led to an investigation into cyber-harassment and arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.

Brigitte Macron's lawyer did not respond to AFP queries, and it is not known if she will be present at the hearings.

Among the defendants is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known on social media as "Zoe Sagan" and often linked with conspiracy theory circles.

US lawsuit

The defendants also include a woman already the subject of a libel complaint filed by Brigitte Macron in 2022: Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.

In 2021, she posted a four-hour interview with self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey on her YouTube channel, alleging Brigitte Macron, whose maiden name is Trogneux, had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux -- the name of her brother.

The two women were ordered to pay damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother in 2024 before the conviction was overturned on appeal. The first lady has since taken the case to the country's highest appeals court.

Emerging as early as Emmanuel Macron's election in 2017, the claims have been amplified by far-right and conspiracy theorist circles in France, and in the United States, where transgender rights have become a hot-button issue at the heart of American culture wars.

The presidential couple filed a US defamation lawsuit in July against conservative podcaster Candace Owens, who produced a series titled "Becoming Brigitte", claiming she was born a man.

The couple are planning to offer "scientific" evidence and photos proving that the first lady is not transgender, according to their US lawyer.

Several of those set to be tried in Paris shared posts from the influencer.

In one, a defendant shared claims of "2,000 people" ready to go "door-to-door in Amiens (the presidential couple's hometown) to get to the bottom of the Brigitte affair".

Other high-profile women in the political sphere, including former US first lady Michelle Obama and US ex-vice president Kamala Harris and New Zealand ex-premier Jacinda Ardern, have also been the target of disinformation about their gender or sexuality.

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Varieties

Freezing Rain Paralyses Transport in Central Europe

Smoke from chimneys billows over snow-covered rooftops during sunrise as freezing temperatures have hit the country, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke from chimneys billows over snow-covered rooftops during sunrise as freezing temperatures have hit the country, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Freezing Rain Paralyses Transport in Central Europe

Smoke from chimneys billows over snow-covered rooftops during sunrise as freezing temperatures have hit the country, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 11, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke from chimneys billows over snow-covered rooftops during sunrise as freezing temperatures have hit the country, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 11, 2026. (Reuters)

Freezing rain led to flights being suspended at Vienna airport on Tuesday, while neighboring Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary also experienced travel disruptions.

Snow and freezing temperatures buffeted Europe last week, with gale-force winds and storms claiming some 15 lives, causing travel mayhem, shutting schools, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands.

A thick layer of ice on the Vienna airport runways led to arriving flights being diverted to other airports, while all departing flights were put on hold early Tuesday.

Austria's state railway company OeBB also asked travelers to postpone non-urgent journeys, with numerous train connections facing interruptions and cancellations.

In neighboring Slovakia, the Bratislava airport was also closed early Tuesday due to bad weather.

Slovak police on Facebook urged people to avoid travel because of "extreme" ice and snow in the west of the country.

In the Czech Republic, ice was also hampering road and rail traffic.

Prague airport came to a virtual standstill, with firefighters having to de-ice the runways.

Around 50 people were treated for injuries because of the icy conditions, according to Prague's emergency services, cited by the CTK agency.

In Hungary, meteorological services also issued alerts for freezing rain and snowfall as severe winter conditions affect a large part of the country.

Trains and flights were experiencing delays, while authorities reported drift ice on the Danube and the Tisza rivers, where icebreakers have been put on alert.

Lake Balaton in the west of the country is currently frozen -- a relatively rare phenomenon seen about once every ten to fifteen years.

However, authorities warned that the ice is still too thin for skating, urging the public to be cautious.

Varieties

AI Helps Fuel New Era of Medical Self-testing

Neurable research scientist Alicia Howell-Munson demonstrates the company's headset, which it says can detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
Neurable research scientist Alicia Howell-Munson demonstrates the company's headset, which it says can detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
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AI Helps Fuel New Era of Medical Self-testing

Neurable research scientist Alicia Howell-Munson demonstrates the company's headset, which it says can detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
Neurable research scientist Alicia Howell-Munson demonstrates the company's headset, which it says can detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

Beyond smart watches and rings, artificial intelligence is being used to make self-testing for major diseases more readily available -- from headsets that detect early signs of Alzheimer's to an iris-scanning app that helps spot cancer.

"The reason preventive medicine doesn't work right now is because you don't want to go to the doctor all the time to get things tested," says Ramses Alcaide, co-founder and CEO of startup Neurable.

"But what about if you knew when you needed to go to the doctor?"

Connected rings, bracelets and watches -- which were everywhere at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- can already monitor heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels, with varying degrees of accuracy.

These gadgets are in high demand from consumers. A recent study published by OpenAI showed that more than 200 million internet users check ChatGPT every week for information on health topics.

On Wednesday, OpenAI even launched a chatbot that can draw on a user's medical records and other data collected by wearable devices, with their consent, to inform its responses.

Using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, Neurable has developed a headset that records and deciphers brain activity.

The linked app compares data with the user's medical history to check for any deviation, a possible sign of a problem, said Alcaide.

"Apple Watch can pick up Parkinson's, but it can only pick it up once you have a tremor," Alcaide said. "Your brain has been fighting that Parkinson's for over 10 years."

With EEG technology, "you can pick these things up before you actually see physical symptoms of them. And this is just one example."

Detection before symptoms

Some people have reservations about the capabilities of such devices.

"I don't think that wearable EEG devices are reliable enough," said Anna Wexler, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies consumer detection products, although she acknowledges that "AI has expanded the possibilities of these devices."

While Neurable's product cannot provide an actual diagnosis, it does offer a warning. It can also detect signs of depression and early development of Alzheimer's disease.

Neurable is working with the Ukrainian military to evaluate the mental health of soldiers on the front lines of the war with Russia, as well as former prisoners of war, in order to detect post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

French startup NAOX meanwhile has developed EEG earbuds linked to a small box that can help patients with epilepsy.

Rather than detect seizures, which are "very rare," the device recognizes "spikes" -- quick, abnormal electrical shocks in the brain that are "much more difficult to see," said NAOX's chief of innovation Marc Vaillaud, a doctor by training.

NAOX's device -- which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration -- is designed to be worn at night, to track several hours of data at a time.

The company is working with the Rothschild and Lariboisiere hospitals in Paris to try to better understand the links between these brain "spikes" and Alzheimer's disease, which have been raised in scientific papers.

Advances in AI and technology in general have paved the way for the miniaturization of cheaper detection devices -- a far cry from the heavy machinery once seen in medical offices and hospitals.

IriHealth is preparing to launch, for only about $50, a small smartphone extension that would scan a user's iris.

The gadget relies on iridology, a technique by which iris colors and markings are believed to reveal information about a person's health, but which is generally considered scientifically unreliable.

But the founders of IriHealth -- a spin-off of biometrics specialist IriTech -- are convinced that their device can be effective in detecting anomalies in the colon, and potentially the lungs or the liver.

Company spokesman Tommy Phan said IriHealth had found its device to be 81 percent accurate among patients who already have been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Varieties

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Puts on Spectacular Lava Display

Kilauea has been regularly throwing out thousands of tonnes of molten rock and gases since it burst to life in December 2024. UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/AFP
Kilauea has been regularly throwing out thousands of tonnes of molten rock and gases since it burst to life in December 2024. UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/AFP
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Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Puts on Spectacular Lava Display

Kilauea has been regularly throwing out thousands of tonnes of molten rock and gases since it burst to life in December 2024. UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/AFP
Kilauea has been regularly throwing out thousands of tonnes of molten rock and gases since it burst to life in December 2024. UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/AFP

Hawaii's Kilauea was spraying a spectacular fountain of lava on Monday, keeping up its reputation as one of the world's most active volcanoes.

For over a year now, Kilauea has been regularly throwing out thousands of tons of molten rock and gases since it burst to life in December 2024, reported AFP.

Volcanologists with the US Geological Survey said the incandescent lava was being hurled more than 1,500 feet (460 meters) into the air, with plumes of smoke and gases rising as high as 20,000 feet (six kilometers).

Eruptions such as this one tend to last around one day, the USGS said, but can still vent up to 100,000 tons of sulfur dioxide.

This gas reacts in the atmosphere to create a visible haze known as vog -- volcanic smog -- which can cause respiratory and other problems.

Tiny slivers of volcanic glass, known as "Pele's hair," are also being thrown into the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and can cause irritation to the skin and eyes.

The eruption poses no immediate danger to any human settlement, with the caldera having been closed to the public for almost two decades.

Kilauea has been very active since 1983 and erupts relatively regularly.

It is one of six active volcanoes located in the Hawaiian Islands, which also include Mauna Loa, the largest volcano in the world.

Kilauea is much smaller than neighboring Mauna Loa, but it is far more active and regularly wows helicopter-riding tourists who come to see its red-hot shows.