Is a video showing a statue of Jesus the Redeemer being erected on the Mount of the Cross in Al-Qaa, Lebanon, real? Yes, that's true: The video shows the installation of a statue of Jesus the Redeemer in the Lebanese village of Al-Qaa in the Bekaa Valley. Lebanese media reported that the statue was erected in March 2026 on Jabal…
Does the screen of the coffee shop register in a video recently shared by Benjamin Netanyahu show a date stamp from 2024? No, that's not true: Lead Stories examined the highest resolution version of Netanyahu's video. The date stamp visible on the register's screen reads "15/03/2026." The claim appeared in a March 15, 2026, post by the X account @merlinscapital…
Is a new Disneyland theme park valued at "$100 billion" coming to Ohio as some social media posts claim? No, that's not true: The news originated on Mouse Trap News, a satirical publication specializing in Disney-related stories. The site described the story about a new park in Cincinnati as "totally made-up" in the footer of the article. The story came…
Does a viral video show Downtism Cafe in Tehran being destroyed by a U.S.-Israeli airstrike? No, that's not true: The video appeared on the internet 25 days before the most recent military escalation in the region. It showed the consequences of a fire, not a strike. The claim appeared in a post published on X (archived here, here and here)…
Does a viral video claiming to show a strike on a U.S. military base in Jordan or the Gulf actually show such an attack? No, that's not true: Lead Stories' analysis found multiple inconsistencies pointing to AI, including a fake U.S. flag missing all 50 stars that represent the 50 states. The video did not originate from a credible media…
Does a video show angry people at Ben Gurion Airport throwing things at staff behind the counter in March 2026, demanding tickets to leave Israel? No, that's not true: The video shows a group of Israeli youth throwing objects at Arab employees at Jerusalem's Cinema City theater and chanting "Death to Arabs." It happened months earlier, in July 2025. The…
Is the video of Iran announcing the new leader with a cardboard cutout of Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini real? No, that's not true: In the original video, a framed photo of the Ayatollah is presented and not a cardboard cutout. An online AI detection tool found the video was 73.5% likely generated with AI. The claim appeared in a March 10,…
Is the video showing Donald Trump unveiling a "cardboard Ayatollah" in the Oval Office to Laura Ingraham real? No, that's not true: The video posted on X clearly states it is "Made with AI." The original footage that was posted on Fox News on March 19, 2025, showed Trump revealing the framed Declaration of Independence to Ingraham, not a cardboard…
Does a video show U.S. troops captured in Iran? No, that's not true: An online AI video detection tool found that the clips of the U.S. soldiers are fake but are intermixed with a real clip of President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The parts of the video with the troops contain a SynthID watermark indicating it was created…
Does a video show an American oil tanker struck by Iran and burning in the Strait of Hormuz? No, that's not true: The video shows the aftermath of a collision between two oil tankers, neither owned by the United States, in the Gulf of Oman, east of the strait. The video is from the summer of 2025, predating the Middle…
Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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