International

Does satellite imagery show the moments when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was surrounded by three circling UFOs before suddenly vanishing in a bright flash of light? No, that's not true: This video does not show satellite imagery or the actual disappearance of Flight 370. The images of the clouds came from a website that supplies background images for 3D artists.…

Does a photo show China's President Xi Jinping suffering a stroke in July 2024? No, that's not true: The image in a social media post is an Associated Press photo from March 11, 2024. Xi was pictured wincing after taking a sip from a cup at the National People's Congress. The Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party was…

Does a video compilation of clips showing extreme weather include authentic footage of Hurricane Beryl striking Cancun, Mexico, on July 5, 2024? No, there's no evidence that's true: At least two of the clips were available online before the hurricane formed. This means they could not possibly depict Hurricane Beryl. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook Reels on…

Did French officials state that "a religious attack" caused the spire of France's nearly thousand-year-old Rouen cathedral to catch fire on July 11, 2024? No, that's not true: As of July 12, 2024, the cause of the fire was still under investigation, according to the mayor of Rouen and a city portal. No credible media organizations have reported otherwise. The…

Was a military-like zone with fences set up last minute where President Joe Biden was scheduled to give his press conference on July 11, 2024? No, that's not true: A video on social media shows fences around the Walter E. Washington Convention Center that were previously set up for security for the 2024 NATO Summit. The Metropolitan Police Department in…

Does a video show British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken watching England score against The Netherlands in the Euro Cup? No, that's not true: While Starmer is in this video, he is watching the game with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, not Blinken. The original video came from a post on Starmer's verified official…

Does a video on social media capture a meteor over Budapest, Hungary, in July 2024? No, that's not true: The original video was taken during mass protests in the Hungarian capital on February 16, 2024 and other videos from the event do not show any meteor. People's outfits were much more consistent with winter weather than with midsummer temperatures in…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly say, "It's God's job to forgive terrorists, my job is to send them to him"? No, that's not true: The attribution, which dates to 2015, was refuted shortly after it was made. Lead Stories could not find any other public figure who said that exact quote. The claim appeared in a post on Instagram…

Does an authentic photo show singer Mariah Carey holding a cellphone with a message that reads, "Palestine does not exist"? No, that's not true: The photo was digitally altered to change the original image on the phone, which displayed a game from a cellphone app. The real photo and app, which Carey also describes on her official Instagram account and…

Did President Joe Biden say he had sex with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's wife at the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024, as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: The official White House transcript of the president's remarks reflect that he said "I was talking to your wife." That's easily confirmed by the video in the…

Does a video show a group of protesters with Palestinian flags shouting offensive sentiments about France, Jewish people and the police after the 2024 French legislative election? No, that's not true: The video predates the election. Additionally, what the people in the protest are yelling sounds like a pro-Palestinian slogan, not the death threats a social media post claims were…

Did President Joe Biden call NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg an "intellectual wigger" at the NATO summit in Washington in July 2024? No, that's not true: Listening to recordings confirms the official transcript of the president's remarks at the summit, in which Biden said "intellectual rigor," not "intellectual wigger." No credible evidence or verified report supports this claim. The claim appeared…

Did the French left-wing coalition announce that it would introduce a "90% TAX on anyone earning €400,000," leaving those taxpayers with "just €40,000"? No, that's not true: According to Eric Coquerel of the left-wing New Popular Front, the rate of 90 percent is planned to apply to the amounts that exceed a certain income bracket. Claims on social media incorrectly…

Does a viral video show authentic footage of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France's Emmanuel Macron dancing before becoming president? No, that's not true: Heavily edited, it contained a substantial amount of deepfake shots. Other people's faces were digitally replaced with those of Zelenskyy and Macron. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on June 29, 2024, under…

Does an image of French politician Marine Le Pen show her crying after her party lost the second round of July 2024 French elections? No, that's not true: The image is a still from a 2017 video from French radio network Europe 1 that captured her laughing so hard she started crying. Translated, the video's title read: "When Marine Le…

Does a video show people waving Algerian flags after the second round of the 2024 French legislative election? No, that's not true: The video is from sometime in 2019. At that time, people gathered in a Parisian square to support a pro-democracy cause in Algeria. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on July 7, 2024. The…

Does a video compilation show Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica on July 3, 2024? No, that's not true: The compilation consists of older, unrelated video clips from intense weather events in other places. None of the footage was shot in Jamaica. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on July 3, 2024. It was captioned: Hurricane Beryl Caribbean…

Did a German preprint study published in February 2024 by Christof Kuhbandner and Matthias Reitzner prove that COVID-19 vaccines caused the number of deaths per year to rise above recent trends, as several online posts and articles implied? No, that's not true: While it's true there has been a documented increase in excess mortality during the pandemic years, German health…

Does a photo of the "Roman tidal baths" on Malta demonstrate that the sea level has been consistent for thousands of years? No, that's not true: The waterfront architecture known as the Roman Baths of Sliema were not built during the Roman Empire thousands of years ago, but some time in the late 19th century -- so their seaside existence…

Does a video on social media show a crowd waving more Palestinian flags than French flags and celebrating victory for the political left in July 2024 French elections? No, that's not true: The video posted to "prove" the claim was shot during a pro-Palestinian march a month prior to the July 2024 French elections. A French news outlet's article confirmed…