Ireland

Does this video show an explosion at the European Parliament headquarters in Strasbourg, France? No, that's not true: A press officer for the European Parliament told Lead Stories that the claim video portrayed "inaccurate information" and, "There was no such event at the European Parliament." Local media in Strasbourg reported on violence in the area near the European Parliament headquarters,…

Does a video on Mexico's Milenio Television channel show a Mexican cartel member carrying a U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank missile? No, that's not true: Raytheon Technologies, which makes the Javelin, told Lead Stories that the video shows another type of shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon. The claim appeared in a post on Twitter (archived here) by Mexican journalist Azucena Uresti on May 31,…

Did a public high school in Georgia implement a "business model" assignment in which students had to devise ways of "raising and eating human babies to solve the world hunger problem?" No, that's not true: At two points in a video interview shared to social media, it was stated that the supposed business model was meant as a high school…

Did President Joe Biden "push away" or snub U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when Biden arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 11, 2023? No, that's not true: The video in this post has been digitally edited. It was shortened to seem as if Biden did not recognize Sunak and instead mistook a British military member in uniform as the…

Were Corn Flakes, the cereal product that launched the Kellogg Company, invented to "kill the libido" of patients at a health resort? No, that's not true: Several versions of the Kellogg Company's website attribute the creation of the cereal to an accident. Although John Harvey Kellogg, who is often credited as the creator of the cereal, was known for his…

Did 80 Canadian doctors die after being vaccinated for COVID-19? No, that's not true: As of December 12, 2022, there had been no COVID vaccine caused deaths - of doctors or non-doctors - in Canada, according to the national public health agency. The claim was made with no evidence that the vaccines caused any physician deaths. Publicly available information shows…

Did a tourist in Northern Ireland record a giant's "door" opening in the mountainside at Giant's Causeway? No, that's not true: This was part of a promotional video made by An Taisce - The National Trust for Ireland, a nongovernmental charity that works to conserve Ireland's national environment and maintain Irish landmarks. An Taisce, translated from Irish (Gaeilge) to English…

Does this video show an Irish dance group celebrating the death of Queen Elizabeth by dancing to "Another One Bites The Dust" outside Buckingham Palace? No, that's not true: The video was posted more than seven months before her death and appears to have been an homage to the queen, who was alive and well at the time. The group,…

Dan Mac Guill has been a fact checker and claim selection supervisor at Lead Stories since August 2022. He is from Dublin, Ireland, and worked as a reporter for TheJournal.ie from 2014-16, before helping to establish the Republic of Ireland's first fully-dedicated fact-checking service, for that outlet. From 2017 to 2022, he wrote for the fact checking and debunking website…

Is monkeypox the same thing as modern-day leprosy or the condition mentioned in the Bible? No, neither is true: Whether using the biblical or today's medical definition, leprosy is very different from monkeypox. "In ancient times, leprosy was a 'catchall' term for any disease that particularly affected the skin," according to The Leprosy Mission International. In an email to Lead…