&Quot;Climate Change&Quot;

Did Sarah Ferguson, the host of the Australian daily current affairs news program "7.30," pose several testy and loaded questions to Bill Gates when she interviewed him, resulting in Gates finally declaring, "OK that's enough. This interview is over. Thank you"? No, that's not true: It's a deepfake video circulating on social media. Ferguson did have Gates as a guest…

Did liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race? No, that's not true: In remarks to the Munich Security Conference in February 2023, Soros said DeSantis is "likely to be a Republican candidate," but he didn't say he was endorsing the Sunshine State's governor or wanted him to run.…

Did former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton state that cash should be banned to combat climate change? No, that's not true: Clinton never made such an assertion during a speech in Gujarat, India, and Lead Stories has not found any proof that she has ever publicly made such a statement. The claim originated from an article (archived here) published by…

Was Greta Thunberg's detainment by police in Germany staged? No, that's not true: The spokesperson of the Aachen police department told Lead Stories that Thunberg's interactions with the police at the scene were real, but no arrests were made -- police escorted activists from the protest to collect their personal information. The claim was in a video on Instagram on…

Did President Joe Biden just form a "union" with Mexico and Canada that ended U.S. sovereignty? No, that's not true: The claim misconstrues the Declaration of North America, a trilateral partnership aimed at addressing major regional issues like security, sustainability and inclusiveness. The declaration says nothing about sovereignty and does not "give away American interests." The claim appeared in a…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) issue an order directing the public to bathe once weekly or less as part of an effort to combat climate change and save the planet? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that WEF has issued such an order, nor does it have the authority to do so. The site that the…

Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) tweet that "Christmas must be abolished" to fight climate change? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this is a real tweet and it does not appear on the official WEF Twitter account. The claim appeared in an article published by News Punch on December 24, 2022, titled "WEF Wants To Cancel…

Is "The Human Meat Project" an organization that harvests food from donated human bodies "to solve overpopulation" and the problem of climate change? No, that's not true: The unnamed creators of the Human Meat Project website clarify in the site's "Terms and Condition of Use Agreement Policy that "This is purely a conceptual art project and will not be acted…

Is the World Economic Forum (WEF) calling for a new initiative to "slaughter" millions of cats and dogs in order to decrease the effects of climate change? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this is a real WEF initiative. NewsPunch, where the claim originated, fabricated the claim using some material from a CNN article that does not…

Did Qatar ban the German team's plane landing there for the FIFA World Cup because of the aircraft's inclusive logo and mural? No, that's not true: The plane left Frankfurt, Germany, and landed in Muscat, Oman, for training in mid-November. The German team boarded a smaller plane from there to fly the shorter distance to Qatar for the World Cup.…