International

Was there credible information behind a tweeted report that President Donald Trump on April 7, 2025 was considering a 90-day pause in imposition of the worldwide tariffs he announced April 2? No, that's not true: The White House "rapid response" social media account called the claim "fake news" soon after its appearance had caused stock prices to briefly rise and…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write "No crying in the casino" in a Truth Social post on April 7, 2025? No, that's true: A fake screenshot purporting to show such a post was the result of digital editing. The fake post was shared widely amid stock market turmoil in response to the Trump administration's implementation of tariffs in April 2025.…

Did the South African Broadcasting Corporation air a news segment saying Ukrainian President Zelenskyy bought a 51% stake in mining company Northam Platinum? No, that's not true: No such video appears on the website or social media accounts of SABC News. The audio in the segment was generated using Artificial Intelligence according to online detection tools and Northam confirmed to…

Did investor Warren Buffett pay $1 trillion in cash to acquire Elon Musk's Tesla Motors company? No, that's not true: The story originated as an April Fools joke and went viral online. No actual news websites reported on any such investment or acquisition. The story appeared as an article (archived here) on GoBankingRates on April 1, 2025 titled "Warren Buffett…

April 2 is International Fact-Checking Day, a global celebration of truth and accuracy. Like every year we want to take the opportunity to say that "Facts Matter". Usually at Lead Stories we are quite content to let the facts speak for themselves, but this year we have a much more eloquent guest speaker, world-famous actor Stephen Fry: Some of our…

Did President Trump post a message to Truth Social about denaturalizing and deporting dual citizens as "traitors" under the espionage act? No, that's not true: A viral image purporting to be a screenshot of such a post was fabricated. The post did not appear on Trump's account. An example of the image appeared in a post on X (archived here)…

It's that day of the year again! April Fools' Day is upon us. We're keeping a running list of the online jokes we spot this year. Seen one we missed? Email [email protected] and let us know! Flightradar24 Airplane tracking website Flightradar24 revived the supersonic Concorde aircraft and made one fly from London to New York, currently being tracked by over…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump write "I am ending all the tariffs today against China, Canada and Mexico" in an April 1, 2025, post on Truth Social? No, that's not true: A screenshot shared by users on other social media platforms was fake. Trump has marked April 2 as a day on which his administration will roll out new tariffs.…

Did United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer post on social media about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on March 30, 2025, but fail to post about Mother's Day on the same day? No, that's not true: Starmer posted about Mother's Day on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. He also wished Muslims a blessed Eid-al-Fitr, the festival which marks the end…

Did Fox News report singer Arnel Pineda had been sentenced to life imprisonment? No, that's not true: The viral video with a misspelled title claiming the lead vocalist of Journey was sentenced to "life inprisonment" was never broadcast by Fox News. No other media have reported on the alleged news either. A viral video (archived here) published on March 25,…

Did actor Richard Gere leave the United States after Donald Trump became president and did he vow "never to return"? No, that's not true: The actor announced the move as far back as April 2024 when Joe Biden was still President and the national conventions still had to happen. The stated reason for the move was that Gere's wife is…

Are emails sent via the public.govdelivery.com email domain and claiming to be about an "unclaimed balance" at Bittrex legitimate? No, that's not true: They appear to be part of an email scam aimed at former users of the now defunct company Bittrex Global. The company itself warned users on its website only to trust emails coming from a limited set…

Did an authentic video show members of the Danish Parliament laughing heartily at a recording of March 2025 remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, outlining his intent to "get" Greenland, "one way or the other"? No, that's not true: The underlying video was recorded in 2019, and Trump's 2025 remarks were digitally superimposed. Rather, the members of parliament cracked up…

Was a March 26, 2025, car crash in Berlin a premeditated act of terrorism? No, that's not true: The German police told Lead Stories that, as of this writing, there is no evidence to support that theory. The incident involved a teenager who, when stopped by police, attempted to drive away, injuring eight people. The claim appeared in a post…

Does a genuine transcript show what Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said after Representative Jim Himes asked a question about retweeting "posts from individuals affiliated with Russian state media" using her personal account? No, that's not true: The fake transcript starts off with things that were actually said but then adds more questions from a "reporter" who wasn't actually…

Did Beyoncé publicly confirm she will move to Italy because she can't "breathe the same air as Elon Musk"? No, that's not true: An AI generated viral article reused a fake quote previously attributed to Oprah Winfrey in another false story. Neither credible media outlets nor the singer's official pages discussed the purported relocation as of March 26, 2025. The…

Did the U.K. make Islam the "main study" in schools on March 26, 2025? No, that's not true: No credible media outlet reported such a policy. Religious education covering different religions has been part of the national curriculum for decades, and students can opt out of attending those classes. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook…

Was former U.S. president Barack Obama caught "laundering money through the Cayman Islands" for private gain in March 2025, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: The viral post misrepresented the words of a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast. That person was talking about U.S. government funding of a "Cuban Twitter", not about Obama's direct involvement…

Does a viral video showing wedding scenes where various little girls are being married to older men authentically show Muslim child marriages, as social media posts are claiming? No, that's not true: The viral footage originated on an Instagram account that posts AI generated videos. Several detection tools found evidence the video was generated using artificial intelligence. The video has…

Does a video confirm a March 2025 discovery of vertical structures that are just shy of 2,000 feet in depth and roughly 1.24 miles underneath Giza Pyramids? No, that's not true: The clip cited a paper that was three years old. It did not make the specific assertions the video host made. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…