Right-wing influencers amplified a fabricated statement attributed to the Islamic State group in an effort to link New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the extremist organization after his victory in the US financial capital’s highly anticipated election. Independent experts and terrorism-monitoring organizations told AFP the fake had not appeared on official IS channels and did not resemble the group’s authentic communications.
Whenever you come across a claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has purchased a new luxury property or that his wife Olena Zelenska has gone on an extravagant shopping spree, it’s worth pausing and taking a closer look. Many such “shocking revelations” that have circulated in the past have turned out to be baseless.
Still, these stories keep resurfacing, following a familiar pattern: an obscure journalist or a “whistleblower” posts allegations about a suspicious purchase, which are then amplified by networks of local websites or influencers sympathetic to Russia. From there, the story spreads further through smaller channels and social media groups.
Such sources seek to undermine the legitimacy of Western support for Ukraine’s defense and to erode trust in Ukraine’s leadership. Similar stories may resurface in the future, especially ahead of significant decisions and votes in the European Union or the United States concerning financial, humanitarian, and military aid to Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia, the host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, has unveiled plans to build a football arena on top of a real estate complex in a futuristic new megacity project, but an image purported to depict the Gulf nation’s plan to construct the world’s first “sky stadium” was made with AI. The creator of the visual that went massively viral in late October and even duped media outlets told AFP it is AI-generated, while a source told AFP the “sky stadium” design is “completely fabricated”.
Posts about allegedly exploding electric cars have been circulating on social media for a long time. However, the footage usually shows cars with combustion engines that the authors of such manipulations misleadingly label as electric vehicles. According to available data, electric cars are in fact safer in this regard, as fires and explosions occur far less frequently. What do these viral posts look like, and how widespread is the narrative about exploding electric cars? We describe this phenomenon in our prebunking article.
Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on oil and gas facilities in Russia, with one strike hitting the major Orenburg gas processing plant in southern Russia on October 19, 2025. But an image of firefighters battling a massive blaze shared online was in fact taken more than a year ago in the Kursk region.