Europe

Are there secret, hidden pyramids in Bosnia that are older and taller than the Egyptian pyramids? No, that's not true: An archaeologist who is an expert on the Balkans told Lead Stories that the claims have been circulating for nearly 20 years and are not true. The massive hills near Visoko in Bosnia are not secret pyramids; they are natural…

Did German scientists uncover evidence that Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine batches in the European Union included placebos? No, that's not true: Germany's federal institute for vaccines and biomedicines and Pfizer said all batches are tested and certified. They do not include placebos. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram by holistichealthandmore on January 20, 2024, under the title…

Is a video that shows social media personality Damon Imani interrupting World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab at its 2024 Davos meeting with the f-word real? No, that's not true: Imani wrote on his social media account that the video was satire. The video is edited to show Imani cutting in on Schwab's speech and heckling him with comments where…

Did World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab confess that there is a "political revolution" that is making headway against his "Great Reset" agenda? No, that's not true: Schwab never said that during his remarks made at a summit. A clip of his speech was completely taken out of context in an article by a website known for…

Is this a real video of Damon Imani, a self-described producer and artist based in Denmark, crashing the World Economic Forum 2024 meeting and yelling an expletive at the chairperson, Klaus Schwab? No, that's not true: Imani stated in public social media posts that this is satirical. The video has been clearly edited to replace the initial speaker introducing Schwab…

Does a meeting about "Disease X" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, prove the existence of some sinister plan to start a pandemic intentionally? No, that's not true: The panel discussion to be led by the World Health Organization's director general can be viewed online. The planned agenda is a discussion of preparedness for the next pandemic, not…

Does a viral video show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dancing in a red suit? No, that's not true: The footage of a different person was altered to add Zelenskyy's face. The dance in question was performed by a man from the Russian city of Lipetsk. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on Instagram on January 14, 2024.…

Did Bill Gates say in early 2008 that he wanted to focus on "population control", implying he wants to reduce the population? No, that's not true: Gates made a comment in an interview where he said he expected health programs dealing with certain diseases would affect mortality rates, which in turn would reduce growth in population. There is no credible…

Does a video on social media show a portal -- an entrance way to a supernatural dimension, realm or world -- being opened up over Geneva? No, that's not true: There is no evidence an event like this happened in September 2023. Additionally, the original version of this clip is from a "video creator," not someone purporting to show a…

Was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin killed by Russian cruise missiles in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 3, 2024? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer confirmed to Lead Stories that this claim is false. On January 1, 2024, Austin was hospitalized in Washington, D.C., due to complications from surgery and remained there as of January 10, 2024. Also, this…

Does a viral video show a hidden underground route used for "trafficking"? No, that's not true: The video shows an old, now-defunct salt mine in Romania. It's open to the public and functions as a museum. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on TikTok on March 16, 2023. The text overlay read: go do y'all's research on these…

Does a viral video portray Ukrainian soldiers in 2023 wearing "WW2 era German helmets"? No, that's not true: The footage shows a traditional reenactment event in Belgium. Nothing in the video links the men wearing historic uniforms to Ukraine. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Instagram on December 27, 2023. It opened: Ukrainian soldiers on the…

Did German-born rocket engineer Wernher von Braun found the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? No, that's not true: The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 29, 1958, led to the formation of NASA. It was not the work of a single person or of von Braun, who did not work for…

Does a video show "pro-Palestine activists" setting fire to a police station in Brussels in October 2023? No, that's not true: The footage is from January 2021, when people in Belgium were protesting police violence after a Black man died while in police custody. The video, published on multiple international news websites in 2021, has nothing to do with the…

Did Dr. Meryl Nass represent the World Health Organization (WHO) at a press conference, boldly outlining plans to ignore existing human rights laws? No, that's not true: Nass does not speak for the WHO. She is an internal medicine doctor from Ellsworth, Maine, whose license is temporarily suspended while under review. This symposium was not a World Health Organization press…

Do photos of members of European royal families prove that they are transgender and part of a purported "Elite Gender Inversion"? No, that's not true: There is no publicly available evidence that the monarchs of various European countries are transgender men or women and the photographs and the audio on the video give no evidence for the claim that anyone…

Did a red banner resembling a Soviet flag fly in Berlin over the Reichstag building, the seat of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, on May 8, 2023 to commemorate the 1945 liberation of Europe from Nazi control? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this happened -- the photos and videos are manipulated. The small collection of…

Did the Grim Reaper walk through Westminster Abbey during the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023? No, that's not true: A press officer at the Abbey told Lead Stories that the robed figure seen on TV during the ceremony is a verger, not the symbolic representation of death. A verger is a lay minister who assists the…

Did members of the Queen's Guard in the United Kingdom retaliate against tourists who taunted and harassed them until they finally lashed out? No, that's not true: The video compilation was put together for social media channels by actors who stage public pranks and social experiments. The claim appears in a post and video on Facebook (archived here) published by…

Is there a mystery regarding the license plate of the Mercedes that was purportedly carrying Princess Diana and Dodi al-Fayed on the night they were both killed in a car crash? No, that's not true: The couple rode together in two different cars on that night. The only confusion regarding the license plates is that one photo from earlier in…