Ireland

Is a viral video that shows Shakira's 2026 World Cup opening song performance real? No, that's not true: An online detection tool identified elements of the video as AI-generated. Shakira does not appear in the 10-minute video posted on social media. The real footage of Shakira performing the opening song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with singer Burna Boy…

Was a video of a crowd of people chanting, clapping, and drumming recorded in Belfast during the June 2026 anti-immigrant protests? No, that's not true: The clip had been online since May of that year. The original caption said it showed soccer fans in Germany. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published on X by @KDJRadioShow…

Did a group calling itself the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) release a new message amid the June 2026 anti-migration protests in Northern Ireland? No, that's not true: The video, featuring an anonymous narrator, was originally released with a Sept. 20, 2025 datestamp. Reposts of the video circulating in June 2026 have an "ITS TIME" caption box obscuring that original datestamp.…

Did U.K.'s Prime Minister Keir Starmer publicly threaten to arrest X owner Elon Musk along with other "336 million Americans"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories reviewed Starmer's public comments about Musk and did not find anything remotely close to what social media attributed to the prime minister. The claim about hundreds of millions to be arrested is implausible on…

Does a viral image circulating on the internet show Belfast knife attack victim Stephen Ogilvie with bloody slash marks and stitches on his face in the hospital? No, that's not true: The Police Service of Nothern Ireland confirmed to Lead Stories that the man in the image is not Ogilvie, who was attacked in Belfast on June 8, 2026. A…

Does a video show masked, armed members of the anti-immigrant "New Republican Movement" responding to a Belfast, Northern Ireland, knife attack in early June 2026? No, that's not true: The footage is from that group, but the video is from December 2025, six months earlier than the incident. In the clip, a statement is read that threatens local politicians over…

Does a viral video of fires capture the aftermath of the June 9, 2026, anti-immigration protests in Belfast, Northern Ireland? No, that's not true: The recording showed explosions that same day on a gas pipeline in Russia's Dagestan. The original sound did not include any chants -- that was later digitally added to the version of the video that went…

Does a real photo show a Somali woman with a slashed face after an alleged Dublin attack on June 8, 2026? No, that's not true: As of June 10, 2026, Lead Stories found no credible news reports or other reliable evidence such as a statement from the police confirming that such an incident occurred. Nor was any evidence found that…

Does a video from June 2026 show a fire lit by rioters in Belfast, Northern Ireland after a knife attack incident involving a refugee from Sudan? No, that's not true: The video predates the June 8, 2026, knife attack in Belfast. Video of the individuals setting fire to a home was originally published on X almost a year ago, on…

Was the person injured in what news media described as an attempted beheading in Belfast as young as 15 years old? No, that's not true: The authorities said the victim was a man in his 40s. He was in the hospital in serious condition but alive as of June 9, 2026. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and…