Europe

Does a social media post from April 2024 show a "current" cover of German news magazine Der Spiegel, featuring Donald Trump with a lit match and a headline that calls him a "Fire Devil"? No, that's not true: The Der Spiegel edition shown was published in 2020, not 2024. Additionally, according to a Lead Stories translator, the headline more appropriately…

Does a photo show a pro-Palestine protester in the United States defiantly using an officer's riot shield as a mirror as she applies her lip gloss? No, that's not true: This photo's authentic caption says it shows a protester in Tbilisi, Georgia. A different photo from a Reuters photographer covering the April 16, 2024, demonstrations in Tbilisi against a proposed…

Did "Spetznas" snipers fatally shoot the World Economic Forum's head of the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, Kiva Allgood, on April 26, 2024? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that this happened. In addition, the website where this claim appeared has a record of publishing fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by…

Did the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony feature a "figure of death holding a NEEDLE"? No, that's not true: The "figure of death" was actually a puppet of Lord Voldemort, the villain from the "Harry Potter" book series. Lord Voldemort is holding a magic wand, not a needle. Lead Stories could not find any evidence that the London Olympics had…

Did Piers Morgan interview controversial wellness coach Barbara O'Neill about a "Diabetes Solution" on his program "Uncensored"? No, that's not true: The video circulating on social media is fabricated, using an AI voiceover to simulate a conversation between Morgan and O'Neill. The Hive Moderation detection tool determined that the video's audio track was 100 percent likely to be AI. A…

Was a Guantanamo Hospital orderly arrested for trying to murder World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab on April 22, 2024? No, that's not true: This claim appeared on a website that publishes fabricated content. No credible evidence exists to substantiate this claim. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on April 25, 2024. Titled "Red Hats…

Did Dr. Oz promote a weight-loss "coffee trick" endorsed by Adele? No, that's not true: A viral video making the claim utilized AI-generated sound. Lead Stories found no evidence confirming that Dr. Oz ever promoted this "coffee trick" or that Adele ever endorsed it. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on the page named "Transforming Women"…

Is corn syrup "illegal in much of the world," as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that corn syrup is banned in any country. The claim stems from a common misconception that high fructose corn syrup is banned in the European Union, which is false. The sweetener was formerly regulated under a…

Did the CIA declassify a 1957 file in 1999 that proves true the theories about the hidden history of an advanced global civilization, the Tartarian Empire? No, that's not true: The CIA document "National Cultural Development Under Communism" contains mention of "Tatars of Transcaucasia" and "the history of Tartaria," along with a Communist directive to revise that history to "eliminate…

Did a viral image portray Beyonce's "first big 'country' show in a nearly empty stadium"? No, that's not true: The 2024 claim came from a satirical network that explicitly warns the audience that it does not publish fact-based stories. The shared picture showed a 2023 concert of Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe at Wembley Stadium, with Beyonce's photo superimposed on…

Did a Delta Force strike team arrest 86-year-old World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab on April 12, 2024? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that this happened. In addition, the website where this claim appeared has a rrecord of publishing fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on April 15, 2024,…

Is the world's first permanent electrified road open in Sweden as of April 2024? No, that's not true: Several short sections of prototype electrified roadway in Sweden have been used to test various charging methods for electric cars and trucks. But the first large-scale, permanent and open-for-public-use electrified road has not been constructed. A 13-mile pilot project was to be…

Is the "Budwig Diet" -- a diet rich in low-fat cottage cheese and organic flaxseed oil -- a scientifically proven treatment or preventative for cancer? No, that's not true: Oncological experts agree that there is "no reliable evidence to show that the Budwig diet can treat or prevent cancer" in humans, writes Cancer Research UK. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer…

Do photos document archaeologists found tombs in Crimea containing the remains of giants? No, that's not true: This clickbait story is made up and it uses fake images of giant skeletons to drive traffic to a website with potentially malicious ads. The fake images used in the post on Facebook do not even appear in the recycled article on the…

Did Russia's President Vladimir Putin publicly announce after Iran's aerial strike on Israel that Moscow will back Iran if the U.S. attacks "Iran's soil" in U.S. support of Israel? No, that's not true: As of this writing, Putin has not made this public statement or any others directly referring to the Iranian attack or potential further developments in the region.…

Was World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab hospitalized as of mid-April 2024? No, that's not true: An organization representative told Lead Stories on April 15, 2024, that the organization has been "targeted by conspiracy narratives," adding, "Professor Schwab's health is excellent." Additionally, no evidence or reporting supports the claim. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X…

Did online talk show host Tucker Carlson release a photo of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "captured" and being sent to a high-security prison in Russia? No, that's not true: The image posted on social media is a screenshot from the Ukrainian sitcom series "Servant of the People" that Zelenskyy starred in before becoming president of Ukraine. The show's production company…

Are officials in London legally prohibited from removing bat boxes that protesters place on the city's traffic surveillance cameras? No, that's not true: It's illegal to install anything over these traffic cameras, which monitor vehicles entering and exiting the Ultra Low Emission Zone in and around the British capital. A spokesperson for Transport for London, which runs the city's transportation…

Does a photo of a toddler walking past the debris of burned village homes portray the damage caused by foreign mercenaries in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image is a screenshot of a 2015 staged music video. In 2024, the picture was reused by the resources formerly controlled by now-deceased Russian mercenary boss Evgeny Prigozhin. The claim appeared in…

Did the World Economic Forum declare that "pedophilia 'sexual orientation' must be added to LGBTQ+," as an article published by The People's Voice reported? No, that's not true: A representative of the international non-governmental organization told Lead Stories that "such claims are completely unfounded and do not reflect the values, goals, or activities of the World Economic Forum." A spokesperson…