Newspunch

Will the World Economic Forum (WEF) "freeze" the "bank accounts of "meat eaters to 'educate them,'" and does the Doconomy credit card refuse to let a consumer buy items when they are "deemed to be a net polluter"? No, neither are true: The CEO of Doconomy told Lead Stories that this claim is "clearly a lie," as the carbon emissions…

Does an "official study" confirm that COVID-19 shots increase the risk of infection from the virus? No, that's not true: One of the authors of the study, Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, said the article uses several numbers from the report out of context. "Our study confirms that vaccines protect," he told Lead Stories in a June 24, 2022, email. The claim…

Did the IRS just begin buying ammunition during President Joe Biden's time in office? No, that's not true: The IRS started buying ammunition, firearms and equipment for its law enforcement divisions more than 100 years ago. It's standard for federal agencies that have many federal law enforcement officers to buy ammunition, firearms and equipment. The claim appeared in an article…

Does a new National Institutes of Health study find that long COVID isn't real? No, that's not true: Nowhere in the study do the authors say long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), is fake. Lead study author Dr. Michael C. Sneller with the National Institutes of Health told Lead Stories, "I want to be…

Did an official study conclude that masks caused more COVID-19? No, that's not true: This is not an official study by a government or medical organization. It is a study written by an individual, Beny Spira, an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. Also, the conclusions section of his report says, "no cause-effect conclusions…

Do Pfizer documents reveal vaccinated people will transfer their COVID-19 shots to the unvaccinated through inhalation and skin contact? No, that's not true: The claim is based on the standard clinical study protocol used for a wide range of medicines. There is no publicly available evidence the mRNA COVID vaccines cause vaccinated persons to cast off excess spike proteins. The…

Did the Irish Examiner publish a report about a sudden increase in heart problems among sports players due to referee whistles? No, that's not true: A spoof image was created using a fake story and the masthead of the Irish Examiner. This was circulated on social media via a screenshot -- but this article never appeared in the Irish Examiner.…

Did Russia go back to using a currency that operates on a gold standard? No, that's not true: Although Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced the abolition of the value-added tax (VAT) on precious metals in March 2022, this change is unrelated to whether the Russian ruble, Russia's currency, is based on the value of gold. The claim appeared in…

Did a former CIA agent confess on his deathbed that he infected reggae legend Bob Marley with cancer? No, that's not true: There is no record of a now-deceased CIA agent named Bill Oxley, beyond a story published in 2017 and later deleted by the publisher, who explained to Lead Stories it was unpublished in a purge of unreliable conspiracy…

Did Jim Carrey say that Hollywood elites eat whole babies for Christmas and that the more they suffer, the better they taste? No that's not true. This story originated on a website that was notorious for publishing questionable stories and has since rebranded. The 2017 story was erased from the websites, and the publisher has provided a retraction stating there…