International

Did Pope Leo XIV misquote Jesus as saying, "Blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion"? No, that's not true: The pope wasn't reading a Scripture passage at the time; he was delivering a homily on peace while in Bamenda, Cameroon, on a tour of Africa. The sentence in question excerpted a famous line from the Gospel…

Did President Donald Trump post on social media saying he gave Pope Leo XIV his job and that he ordered acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to investigate the Catholic Church? No, that's not true: The fake screenshot with a blue verification badge was made to look like a post from @realDonaldTrump on the X platform -- but Trump has not…

Is a paper by Dr. Drew Pinsky, Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Harvey Risch, and nine others claiming that ivermectin and mebendazole improve cancer outcomes in 84.4% of cases a proper medical study? No, that's not true: Research experts told Lead Stories that the paper relies on an uncontrolled, self-reported survey with major bias, no independent verification of diagnoses or outcomes,…

Does an image of Pakistani government officials being searched by U.S. military members during Iran peace talks that took place in April 2026 show a real event? No, that's not true: The image showed several signs of AI generation. Additionally, there were no news reports that such a search actually happened. The claim appeared in a post published on X…

Does a real video show the Saudi foreign minister stating that "the era of relying on the US has ended"? No, that's not true: According to three translation tools, the caption fabricated the content of the video it claimed to summarize. In reality, the clip showed Faisal bin Farhan discussing in 2022 Saudi Arabia's cooperation with the West and the…

Does a viral video show a real-life scene of a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flying over a U.S. military ship in the Persian Gulf "to raise troop morale"? No, that's not true: The account that initially uploaded the clip on social media disclosed that it was not real footage. The original label said that the clip was digitally created. The…

Is there an "official poll" in Hungary that shows Viktor Orbán with 68% and Péter Magyar with 35% of the vote as some social media posts imply? No, that's not true: Official polls would add up to a total of 100% and this one adds up to 103%, mathematically impossible. None of the social media posts with the phrase "Orbán…

Does a video show a real incident where British kids trapped a police officer inside a chain of locked shopping trolleys? No, that's not true: This video is a skit and the people are actors. The video was originally published on Facebook by the Official Jarvo69 Page, which boasts they are the "Greatest Prankster on Earth." The video resurfaced in…

Did Lucas Morel discover a World War II era resistance printing operation in a secret room hidden in his basement in Lyon, France? No, that's not true: This fictional clickbait story set in Lyon, France originated on YouTube and is illustrated with AI-generated images. Lyon is known as the "Capital of the Resistance" in France, but other details of this…

Were Dalton Knecht, Clayton Kershaw, Andre Iguodala and many other sports celebrities and their associates fatally shot, "while tryiпg to break υp a bar fight"? No, that's not true: Nearly identical stories mentioning them and other people were published by a network of foreign websites and Facebook pages. There were no credible news articles about such events. The Knecht version…

Does a tell-all book by Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar's ex-wife accuse him of committing an act of sexual gratification in front of their children and cooking a live puppy in a microwave? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a book exists. The website where the story about the book originated was registered anonymously just days…

Did French President Emmanuel Macron publish a clip purporting to show Jeffrey Epstein kissing Melania Trump? No, that's not true: Neither his social media accounts nor news reports confirmed that. The video consisted of a digitally modified photo taken from the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice DOJ, altered to insert Melania Trump's face. The claim appeared in…

Did CNN rely on an unnamed "fake news site from Nigeria" to report on Iran's ceasefire statements on April 7, 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that CNN relied on a Nigerian website. The initial CNN report said that the statement attributed directly to the Supreme National Security Council was…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin say "Don't dare to touch the Strait of Hormuz" on April 1, 2026? No, that's not true: The posts attributing those words to him originated from self-described satire and parody accounts. The fake story was spreading across social media platforms paired with a well-known video meme showing Putin walking. The claim appeared in a post…

Did a microphone at a press briefing catch the audible sound of a fart from Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war? No, that's not true: The press briefing clip published by the Iranian Embassy in Kenya has been edited to include a fart sound effect. The original video published on Instagram on March 13, 2026, the day of the press…

Did official Iranian accounts publish a video of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, walking into a military operations room? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the video was ever posted to any official government account or any account closely linked to the government. The video showed signs of AI generation. The claim appeared in a post and…

Did viral posts share a real Trump Truth Social screenshot about a C-130 crash producing eight Air Force vacancies? No, that's not true: Trump did not post this message, according to Lead Stories' searches of his Truth Social account. No credible media organization reported Trump making such a statement. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X where…

Did Donald Trump post on Truth Social that he would be "vaporizing an entire nation of ANIMALS" on Tuesday? No, that's not true: There is no evidence such a post was published on Trump's account. The profile description of the account that posted a screenshot of the non-existent Trump post stated its posts were for amusement, suggesting it is a…

Does a video show American F-15 pilot Col. David Eberly after he was captured by Iran in April 2026? No, that's not true: The video shared on social media in the days after an American F-15 fighter jet was shot down during a mission over Iran shows Col. Eberly after his F-15 was shot down over Iraq and he was…

Does a photo show a "captured" American in Iran wearing an authentic U.S. military uniform? No, that's not true: The image is AI-generated, and online detection tools indicate it is fake, including a SynthID watermark indicating it was created or edited using Google AI tools. There are no reliable reports of an American service member being taken captive by Iran.…