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Did Donald Trump post an image of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool showing him and Jeffrey Epstein together? No, that's not true: Lead Stories manually reviewed his account on Truth Social for the period between June 1 and June 26, 2026, and found no evidence to support the claim. While images of the pool have been a recurring topic among…

Does a real photo from 1903 show a "Bengali woman carrying a British trader" depicting "the height of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent"? No, that's not true: The image is fake. OpenAI's verification tool detected the image has a SynthID watermark and was made with tools from OpenAI. There are also glitches characteristic of AI-generated images such as…

Does a photo show a police officer who reportedly shot a rabbi during a shooting in Montreal in late June 2026? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the woman in the image is a member of the Montreal police; she is Dasha Nekrasova, an American actress, filmmaker, and podcast co-host. Additionally, the shooting victim was not a…

Have you seen viral videos showing people making Indian street food using feet? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such clips recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. Often the goal of such videos is to generate engagement on social media by baiting people into reacting emotionally via the triggering of disgust and…

Does a video show two towers crashing into each other during the Venezuela earthquakes on June 24, 2026? No, that's not true: An AI detection tool determined that the video was 98.6% "likely to be AI-generated" and appears to be a 3D physics simulation or computer-generated imagery (CGI) effect. In addition, the exaggerated physics of the two buildings leaning into…

Do real, clear images show a person wanted in connection to the "destruction" of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, known as the "Reflecting Pool Dipper"? No, that's not true: The images, while based on real footage, are enhanced with artificial intelligence, and therefore are not reliable in identifying the person in question. The real, blurry footage was posted online by…

Does a real image show Alyssa Thomas smiling as she fouls Caitlin Clark during a WNBA game on June 22, 2026? No, that's not true: No video or photographic evidence shows Thomas smiling while over Clark. The image also originated from a video the original poster labeled as AI-generated. The claim appeared in a post and image (archived here) by…

Does a real video show an angry group of Muslims in England shouting "Unclean" and defacing a butcher shop with graffiti? No, that's not true: The Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool determined with 75.9% confidence the video was AI-generated. Lead Stories visual analysis documented several visual glitches incompatible with reality and typical of AI-generated content. The graffiti lettering appearing…

Did the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi speak at length about his emotions upon seeing a woman holding a "100 year old Messi fan" banner in the stands? No, that's not true: While a centenarian in the stands really did hold up a sign for him, the quotes attributed to Messi are made up. They were published by an X…

Did the WNBA say Caitlin Clark would get a technical foul for lifting her knee toward Alyssa Thomas during a game? No, that's not true: The WNBA did not release such a statement immediately after the game. There are no statements on any of the WNBA official social media accounts saying Clark would get a technical foul. No credible sports…