Your weekly fact-checks
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#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
False: Protesters against the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota are conducting “fake protests done by agitators and professional insurrectionists. …They're professional troublemakers.”
President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly characterised Minnesota protesters as paid professionals. Although it’s common for professional community organisers to be involved in protests, reporting by multiple news outlets, statements from people on the ground and experts’ observations show thousands of Minnesotans have been voluntarily protesting. Experts in social and political movements told us the majority of protesters aren’t paid, but it’s a common talking point aimed at dismissing the legitimacy of grassroots activism and criticism of the government.
PolitiFact
False: Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “Only criminals carry guns on our streets; we need law and order.”
This isn’t a real Truth Social post from President Donald Trump. It’s fabricated.
#Politics
Lead Stories
False: Alex Pretti wore pink dresses and crowns.
The person shown wearing the pink dress is an altered image of Ben Taylor, a comedian who appeared on the reality show Fishtank. The image does not show Pretti.
PolitiFact
False: Conservative commentator Evan Kilgore is one of the Border Patrol agents who shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Evan Kilgore is not a federal agent and he was at home in Ohio when federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Snopes
True: In Minnesota, licensed gun owners are permitted to carry a loaded firearm at a protest.
Licensed gun owners in Minnesota are legally permitted to carry loaded firearms at protests under state and federal law. FBI Director Kash Patel falsely claimed otherwise after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse who was carrying a gun at a protest on January 24, 2026.
#Conflicts
Vishvasnews
False: Recent Video Of US Flag Burning In Iranian Parliament.
The viral video has no connection to the current tensions between Iran and the United States. While authentic, it captures a May 2018 protest against the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It has no connection to the current 2026 tensions in Iran.
WebQoof - The Quint
False: Video shows Iranians fleeing their country amid violent protests.
The video is actually from Nepal in 2025 and shows people harvesting yarsagumba in Dolpa, not Iranians escaping unrest
Lead Stories
False: ICE protesters beat up staff at Minneapolis hotel Jan. 25, 2026 and police never came.
The hotel's employees weren't harmed and the police were present during the protest. The Minneapolis Police Department told Lead Stories that one of its officers happened to be inside the hotel the moment the first reports about the gathering arrived, even before the additional patrols were dispatched there. The department's representative said that the police made two arrests and that it was "federal supervisors on scene who refused further assistance from MPD" after that.
#Healthcare
Soft Media Hub LLP
Mostly False: China plans to approve Russia's Free-Cancer Vaccine, sign mutual pharmaceutical ties with Russian firms, which will destroy the US and European pharma industry.
There are no official statements to confirm that there has been such an approval. Russia and China are working together in personalised cancer treatment, and on Jan 9, 2026, China and Russia agreed to jointly study and strengthen cooperation on vaccine development. As of now personalised there are no official reports on joint cancer vaccine approval and production.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Donald Trump hævdede, at USA returnerede Grønland til Danmark efter Anden Verdenskrig.
På World Economic Forum i Davos hævdede præsident Trump, at USA »gav Grønland tilbage til Danmark« efter Anden Verdenskrig og kaldte denne beslutning »dum«, men historikere siger, at dette er forkert – Grønland var aldrig amerikansk territorium under Anden Verdenskrig. Selvom USA havde militær tilstedeværelse der i henhold til en aftale fra 1941 og tilbød at købe Grønland i 1946, bevarede Danmark den politiske og administrative kontrol hele tiden, så der var intet at »give tilbage«.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
False: Denmark sold Epstein's Island to the US in 1917.
Denmark sold Little St. James (later known as "Epstein island") to the U.S. in 1917 as part of a $25 million deal for the Danish West Indies, which became the U.S. Virgin Islands. The sale also included an agreement where the U.S. accepted Danish control over Greenland, and Jeffrey Epstein didn't purchase the island until 1998, decades later.
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