France

Does a video show Muhammad Moin Al-Din, an 86-year-old man, caught in the act of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl in the tall grass of an agricultural field as a viral tweet claimed? No, that's not true: This false narrative has been attached to a short clip from a controversial 2004 Iranian TV series. The original series had a strong…

Did the CIA issue a warning to U.S. citizens to avoid using the Paris Metro during the 2024 Summer Olympics? No, that's not true: No official statements or credible sources confirm such a warning as of June 18, 2024. Additionally, warnings and travel advisories are typically issued by the U.S. State Department, not the CIA. The claim appeared in a…

Does a video show President Joe Biden trying to sit on "a chair that doesn't exist" on June 6, 2024, during ceremonies commemorating D-Day in France? No, that's not true: The video that went viral on social media has been edited to crop out the moment Biden sits down on an existing, tangible chair. In the extended video, Biden is…

Did China's Defense Ministry warn it would "intervene militarily" if the United States or NATO attacked Russia? No, that's not true: No credible evidence supports this claim. Additionally, there are no official statements or credible reports from the Chinese government or its Defense Ministry to support this assertion. Nor is there any report of such a statement in China Daily,…

Does a photo of a replica of the Statue of Liberty, purportedly made from the ruins of a Syrian artist's house, confirm that it is real? No, that's not true: The Statue of Liberty replica was made using a computer, creating a photomontage of rubble from a destroyed building in Syria, the artist has said. Also, a Google News search…

Does a video show French prisoners celebrating the killing of two police officers in an ambush in May 2024? No, that's not true: The video predates the attack by almost a year. The ambush happened as a prisoner named Mohamed Amra rode in a prison van; a car struck the van and gunmen shot the two officers, allowing Amra to…

Did French Air Force aerobatic jets accidentally emit smoke that displayed the Russian flag to mark the May 8, 2024, arrival of the Olympic flame in the French city of Marseille? No, that's not true: The eight Alpha Jets left smoke trails in the colors and order of France's tricolor -- blue, white and red. Russia's tricolor is white, blue…

Did controversial naturopath Barbara O'Neill endorse a recipe of thyme oil said to "eliminate 97% of lung tumor cells," as a post on Facebook suggested? No, that's not true: O'Neill is the subject of a fake post on Facebook designed to look as though it belongs to O'Neill. A link in the post's comment section redirects users to an unrelated…

Does a photo from Ivanka Trump's graduation, with Donald Trump not shown, prove that Trump did not attend his daughter's commencement ceremony? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found Ivanka Trump's Facebook photo album documenting her 2004 graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. The album has two photos, one of them shows her in a graduation cap and gown, standing…

Does a viral video prove that Israel voted "for Palestine" during a United Nations Security Council meeting? No, that's not true: In the meeting the then-president of the U.N. Security Council read a list of the countries supporting a resolution on Gaza days after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. He included Israel but he immediately corrected himself and…