Did Melania Trump just announce her divorce? No, that's not true: There have not been any public announcements by the former first lady or former President Donald Trump regarding a divorce as of September 27, 2022. No news outlets have reported that Melania Trump made any such announcement. The claim appeared in a video on Facebook on September 24, 2022,…

Did Poland "take the first step towards turning Ukraine into a Polish colony"? No, that's not true: Even a Facebook video that made such a claim admits there are no credible media reports or official statements backing this up. Lead Stories previously debunked similar claims that were initially published on the website of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR. On…

Did thousands of soldiers deploy on the streets of London, crossing the iconic Tower Bridge in the early hours of September 24, 2022, local time? No, that's not true: Not only were there no news reports of any such deployments in the British capital but the bridge shown in the video does not appear to be Tower Bridge, which has…

Does a video of night explosions confirm that Chinese President Xi Jinping was overthrown from power during a coup in Beijing in September 2022? No, that's not true: The footage does not show the capital of China at all -- it was shot in another city, Tianjin, and was uploaded to YouTube in 2017. The claim appeared in a tweet…

Are former President Donald Trump and his allies able to "implore" the U.S. military to trigger the Emergency Alert System (EAS), a national public warning system, if they don't like the midterm elections results? No, that's not true: The EAS is used on a state and local level by officials to notify the public about urgent events such as violent…

Did Russian airlines ban men between 18 and 65 years old from buying tickets to other countries in response to the "mobilization" announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21, 2022? No, that's not true: Despite rumors on social media, there was no such ban at the time of writing. However, high prices, a limited number of available destinations…

Can a president of the United States declassify classified documents and information by simply saying "it's declassified" or by just "thinking about it"? No, that's not true: There is a procedure for presidents to declassify documents and it is spelled out in the Federal Register, which is the official journal of the federal government of the United States. Lead Stories…

Was Barron Trump kicked out of school because his tuition had not been paid? No, that's not true: This clickbait title for a video is false. The title's claim is not discussed in the video, which contains a montage of stock photos with a robo voice-over reading articles from a tabloid website. The video was posted on Facebook Watch by…

Did Russians fleeing President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization of troops for deployment in Ukraine immediately form a "35KM" (about 21.7 miles) line on September 21, 2022 at the Finnish border? No, that's not true: The viral video started circulating online two days before this announcement. According to Finnish officials, border checkpoints saw a slight increase in traffic on September 21,…

Did no Republicans thank U.S. President Joe Biden for taking out the leader of Al Qaeda? No, that's not true: Several GOP members of Congress publicly acknowledged Biden for the July 31, 2022 drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda and one of the conspirators behind 9/11. The claim was shared on a…

Did the U.S. military convict and execute Brian Stelter, a former CNN host, on September 20, 2022? No, that's not true: These claims were posted on a satirical website. Lead Stories had already debunked the site's prior claim that Stelter was arrested by the U.S. military on August 30, 2022, which renders this claim even more impossible. Further, the Posse…

Did an internationally recognized legal tribunal go after "Charles Windsor, aka 'King of England'" on September 20, 2022 to hold him accountable for "Crimes against Humanity committed by his parents"? No, that's not true: The "International Common Law Court of Justice" and its "Special Tribunal" do not exist under international law. The claim's assertion that the late Queen Elizabeth II,…

Was an American flag with no stars behind former President Donald Trump at a rally and does such a flag mean those that refuse to surrender will face "total annihilation"? No, that's not true: The lighting in the image may appear to be obscuring the stars but multiple photographs from news sites and photo agencies from the rally where the…

Does a viral video describing a father's "deathbed confession" prove the U.S. government faked the 1969 moon landing? No, that's not true: There is a significant amount of evidence that NASA landed on the moon and experts Lead Stories spoke with refuted claims suggesting otherwise. In the video, a man who identifies himself as Gene Gilmore (given name Eugene Reuben…

Did a crowd in central London chant "F*** Joe Biden" when the U.S. president's motorcade got stuck in traffic on the way to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II? No, that's not true: The original video from September 19, 2022, the day of the funeral, was overdubbed with audio from another place and time. The claim appeared in a TikTok…

Does a video show a convoy of Chinese military vehicles crossing the Russian border into Ukraine in mid-September 2022? No, that's not true: There were no reports of Chinese military troops or vehicles in Ukraine when the claim was posted. This video dates back to at least August 29, 2022, a date that coincides with the timing of Vostok-2022, a…

Was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy photographed shirtless and wearing an Afro wig at a gay pride event in the United States in the 1990s? No, that's not true: This photo has been digitally edited. The original photo was taken on June 25, 2006 at New York City's 2006 Pride March and does not show Zelenskyy. The edited photo has been…

Did King Charles III sign a proclamation that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election in the U.S.? No, that's not true: The claim uses a screenshot of Charles signing documents related to his accession to the throne. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) posted on September 10, 2022. The tweet included a picture of…

Did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sing in a London hotel lobby bar before Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral? Yes, that's true: Trudeau, accompanied by Canadian musician Gregory Charles on the piano, was belting out "Bohemian Rhapsody" by the band Queen two nights before the British monarch was laid to rest on September 19, 2022. The claim appeared as a…

Does a "newly leaked report" from the RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, reveal the "true motives behind European Destabilization & The Russia/Ukraine War"? No, that's not true: In an email to Lead Stories and a news release on its website, the RAND Corp. called the "supposedly leaked" report "fake." The claim appeared in the September 12, 2022, issue of…