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Did Pope Francis order the closure of the Vatican Secret Archives over a scandal revealed in the Epstein files in March 2026? No, that's not true: The post claimed Pope Francis ordered the sealing of the archives in March 2026, but he died in April 2025. There are no legitimate news reports of the Vatican sealing the archives as of…

Did British actress Adjoa Andoh accuse the "Lord of the Rings" movies of blackface over a scene where Frodo's face was covered in ash? No, that's not true: Accounts that boosted the claim on social media as real took it from a self-described satire page. No credible news organizations reported the purported controversy. The story originated from a post (archived…

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…

Did Rep. Ted Lieu confront FBI Director Kash Patel with a secret Epstein recording in which Patel says, "Trump told me to bury it"? No, that's not true: During a congressional hearing in September 2025, Lieu confronted Patel with a recording, but it was not a "secret recording"; it was a publicly available interview with journalist Michael Wolff. Patel was…

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…

Did a U.K. teacher with the name "Ze Berry" actually refuse to teach students who came to school dressed as Harry Potter and Dobby the Elf? No, that's not true: The story was initially published by a meme page. Two online detectors identified the image of "Ze Berry" as AI-generated. The story originated from a post (archived here) on Facebook…

Does a photo show an Iranian missile with "In memory of the victims of Epstein Island" written on it? No, that's not true: An online AI image detection tool found that the image shows signs of digital manipulation, with portions edited or generated using Google AI. A "clean" version of the image without any writing on it also dates back…

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…