Your weekly fact-checks
#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
False: "There's been numerous other occasions over the years” when the federal government created a reserve similar to a new $1.776 billion anti-weaponization settlement fund.
The Justice Department cited a 2011 settlement with Native American farmers as precedent for its new $1.776 billion "weaponization" victims fund, but the two differ significantly: the 2011 settlement had stricter eligibility standards, greater judicial oversight, less money for more potential recipients, and followed a more conventional process.
CNN
False: Trump, speaking of Iran’s military capabilities, said, “Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, everything’s gone.”
Trump claimed the US and Israel have completely destroyed Iran's military, but this is contradicted by his own earlier admission that Iran retains some missile and drone capacity. US intelligence assessments, per CNN, indicate roughly half of Iran's missile launchers remain intact, thousands of drones are still in its arsenal, and its military is rebuilding faster than expected.
#Politics
PolitiFact
Half True: Marco Rubio states that Cuba’s 22-hour blackouts and a US oil blockade are unrelated.
Blackouts in Cuba have been common for years because the Cuban government has mismanaged and neglected its energy system, historians and foreign policy experts said. The U.S. government’s oil blockade has worsened the situation. The U.S. cut off Venezuela’s oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs and sanctions on other countries seeking to send fuel or do business with the island.
Full Fact
False: Andy Burnham has lost a Labour leadership contest twice—once to Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Burnham has run in two Labour leadership contests and lost both, but Mr Starmer wasn’t a candidate on either occasion. Mr Burnham didn’t stand in the leadership contest Mr Starmer won in 2020.
Lead Stories
False: A real Euronews video report claims that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's press secretary accused him of sexual assault in late May 2026.
The European news channel did not report that Pashinyan's press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, publicly accused him of sexual assault. There are no other credible news reports that she made such a claim. An AI detection tool concluded that the video was likely AI-generated after analyzing its content.
#Healthcare
Snopes
False: Bill Gates created Alzheimer's cure called 'Brain Honey.
Bill Gates is not selling a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The products marketed online under names such as "Brain Honey," "Mind Boost" and "Memopezil" are not supported by evidence showing Gates created or endorsed them. The ads instead fit a classic scam pattern built around false authority and unsupported medical claims.
Lead Stories
False: OpenAI announce plans to let users "securely connect" ChatGPT to their DNA to modify specific parts of their body.
This fake announcement came from a parody account. A disclaimer in its bio states: "These are fake stories." There has been no announcement from OpenAI about technology like this.
#Economy
CNN
False: There is a rebound in manufacturing jobs in the US.
VP JD Vance falsely claimed last quarter saw the biggest manufacturing job growth since Trump's first term, when in fact the gain of 18,000 jobs was smaller than six of the seven full Biden-era quarters in 2021–2022. He also misleadingly touted a "great rebound" in manufacturing jobs under the Trump-Vance administration, while omitting that the economy has actually shed a net 77,000 manufacturing jobs since they took office.
#Technology
Euronews
False: The EU is about to restrict the use of VPNs.
Claims that the EU could restrict the use of VPNs have spread widely online in recent weeks, prompting concerns among some users about digital freedoms and online privacy. However, they seem to have stemmed from a misunderstanding.
#Climate
Snopes
True: A famous environmental activist called Erin Brockovich launch AI data center tracking project.
Erin Brockovich launched an interactive online map in late April 2026 to track AI data centers across the U.S. and collect resident complaints about their environmental and financial impacts. Within weeks, the platform received over 1,800 reports from 47 states, with concerns ranging from water consumption and rising utility costs to noise pollution and potential chemical contamination.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: French schools allowed children to drink alcohol at lunch until 1956.
Until 1956, French schoolchildren under 14 were permitted to drink wine, beer, or cider at school lunches, a practice rooted in historical attitudes that viewed alcohol as nutritious and sometimes safer than water. A 1956 circular restricted under-14s to water, milk, and fruit juice, while older students could still have limited diluted alcohol with parental consent, until a complete ban on alcohol in French schools was introduced in 1981.
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