JD Vance revealed he struggled after Charlie Kirk's assassination, staying up all night researching conspiracy theories and watching videos of the shooting until his wife Usha told him she was "really worried" about him, report Reanna Smith and John O'Sullivan. www.themirror.com/news/us-news...

Ufology research has pointed towards a "significant" surge in UFO sightings on Christmas Day with 75 reported cases in 2021 and an uptick in reported sightings during the festive season, reports Matt Atherton. www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-n...

The pilot of a private jet was left stunned after spotting a small, silver cylinder hovering near his wing thousands of feet above Rhode Island, reports Stacy Liberatore. archive.ph/D5Tsg www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...

Some near-death experiences present unusual features, such as encounters with people not known to have died. We are collecting well-documented cases for systematic study, writes Alexander Batthyány. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cons...

The short days and long nights of winter provide us with the opportunity for reflection on dark topics such as the supernatural, writes Juliet Wakefield. theconversation.com/why-do-so-ma...

Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, reports Michelle R Smith. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

www.huffpost.com/entry/maga-c... Before you grit your teeth and respond to something a MAGA friend or family member sent you, read this, writes Lauryn Higgins.

Extensive redactions and the limited number of documents released related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein angered some Republicans and did little to defuse a scandal threatening the party ahead of 2026 midterm elections, reports Nathan Layne. www.reuters.com/world/us/rep...

Next year will be the ten-year anniversary of the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy, and one Republican Senator is trying to reignite the lie that inspired at least one gunman, reports Sarah K. Burris. www.alternet.org/mike-lee-267...

Six absurdist signs resembling official city council information boards have popped up across New Zealand’s second-largest city, reports Eva Corlett. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Andrew Tate has suggested that his loss to Chase DeMoor may have been decided by a higher power. The self-proclaimed misogynist was beaten up by Chase DeMoor on his boxing debut in Dubai, report Will Jenkins, Martin Domin and Archie Griggs. www.express.co.uk/sport/boxing...

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? The odds of snow on the big day comes down to a mix of climate and weather, reports Andrea Thompson. archive.ph/m7hYv www.scientificamerican.com/article/will...

Epstein victim’s sister who reported his abuse 30 years ago says: ‘They can’t call me a liar now,’ writes Hugh Tomlinson. observer.co.uk/news/interna...

At AmericaFest, conservative leaders insulted one another, revealing serious rifts over conspiracy theories, antisemitism and who belongs in America, report Richard Fausset and Ken Bensinger. archive.ph/EASwZ www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/u...

Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, reports Michelle R Smith. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

From TPUSA to the White House, the feuds are spiraling out of control, writes Anna Merlan. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The U.S. reportedly plans to overhaul the country’s childhood vaccine schedule. The move could set public health back decades, write Lauren J. Young & Tanya Lewis. www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

Conservative influencers clashed at Turning Point USA's annual youth conference over the future of President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement, reports Jonathan J. Cooper. apnews.com/article/turn...

It may sound like something out of a horror film, but a grave dating back to the early Bronze Age has been discovered in Oppin, Germany, seemingly with measures put in place to stop the body from rising from the dead. Yes, like zombies, writes Liam O'Dell. www.indy100.com/science-tech...

Climate misinformation is undermining emergency response during crises. Canadian governments need to develop co-ordinated efforts to tackle it, reports Sadaf Mehrabi. theconversation.com/climate-misi...

When to set the health record straight, and when to just pass the rolls, writes Caroline Rubin. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

Some Pakistani Australians say the false identification of one of the alleged Bondi attackers has had a serious impact on their lives, report Afnan Malik, Josie Harvey and Zacharias Szumer. www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

Studies found conspiracy beliefs were higher in societies with lower freedom of speech and lower population support for freedom of speech. Additionally, the experimental reduction of perceived freedom of speech increased conspiracy beliefs, writes Vladimir Hedrih. www.psypost.org/conspiracy-b...

Officials in the US state of Rhode Island have denounced misinformation that they said complicated their multiday search for the gunman who killed two students and wounded others at Brown University. www.france24.com/en/live-news...

A “vampire” woman with a rare case of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome triggered by the sun has revealed how she copes knowing that just 30 seconds of UV exposure would leave her hospitalized, reports Alyce Collins. www.newsweek.com/woman-dubbed...

Scientists have discovered a large mineral structure under the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, reigniting conspiracy theories about the notorious stretch of water, reports Kit Roberts. www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-n...

There is one area of the UK which seems to have more ghostly sightings than any other - and one spirit in particular, reports Maria Letícia Gomes. www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-n...

Finding alien Earths requires seeing Earth-sized planets at Earth-like distances from Sun-like stars. A new discovery completes the roadmap, writes Ethan Siegel. bigthink.com/starts-with-...

A new study shows AI writing is turning traditional measures of research quality upside down, writes Vitomir Kovanovic. theconversation.com/what-the-hyp...

Former nun Mary Hughes alleges she was subjected to multiple forms of abuse during her 60 years at a Carmelite monastery in Melbourne, reports Danielle Kutchel. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

In a new study from DW Akademie and the Nest Center, researchers explore Russian disinformation in Mongolia through social listening, reports Alex Bodine. akademie.dw.com/en/tracking-...

President Donald Trump is expected to sign a defense bill this week that orders an investigation into whether the U.S. military bioengineered Lyme disease, reports Claire Cameron. www.scientificamerican.com/article/rfk-...

The school that inspired author John Marsden is facing potential legal action from parents over allegations of physical abuse, reports Josie Taylor. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

An AI-generated fake video circulated on Facebook, falsely claiming a coup d’état in France. Alerted by a concerned African counterpart, Emmanuel Macron criticised Facebook after the platform refused to remove the misleading content, reports Héloïse Mélan. www.france24.com/en/video/202...

Vladimir Putin was questioned on the existence of aliens during his annual televised news conference, reports Holly Bishop. www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/puti...

From broad cheekbones and a flexible back to a small prefrontal cortex, here’s everything an anatomist thinks makes the Grinch so one-of-a-kind, writes Lucy E. Hyde. theconversation.com/dissecting-t...

Polling shows that nearly half of Americans now believe aliens have visited this planet—and that the number who aren't sure has dropped by two-thirds. The reasons why, experts say, are complicated, writes Becky Ferreira. www.wired.com/story/americ...

For now many fakes are easy to spot. But audiences could find it increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction as tech improves, reports Josh Taylor. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has terminated several multimillion-dollar grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics following the association’s criticisms of the policies of the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr., reports Maya Yang. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US social media platform X incentivised the spread of inflammatory misinformation in the wake of the Bondi Beach shootings, report Will Jackson, Gillian Aeria and Libby Hogan. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

The disappearance of Jay Slater took the febrile world of online sleuthing and tragedy trolling to new levels. Grieving relatives are among a growing number facing online attacks and struggling to tackle callous misinformation, report Tom Parmenter and Emily Upton. news.sky.com/story/online...

In this edition of Truth or Fake, Maya Yataghene takes a closer look at how a Russian-linked influence network, known as Storm-1516, is amplifying misleading narratives around real-life protests. www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...

From fake "Muslim raids" to myths about canceled Christmas lights, DW Fact check exposes how holiday traditions are being targeted — and how news of a foiled Bavarian terror plot amplifies fear, report Ines Eisele and Aldo Sanchez Vera. www.dw.com/en/fact-chec...

In a recent paper, a team of SETI and astrobiology specialists examines four controversial claims about the existence of extraterrestrial life. From these, they present recommendations for addressing future claims of discovery, writes Matthew Williams. www.universetoday.com/articles/les...

Benny Johnson says he did “some very bad things.” But in Trumpworld, that’s a plus, writes Anna Merlan. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The ability to see the dark patterns behind the sham of reality gives believers a sense of power, reports James B. Meigs. www.wsj.com/opinion/free...

Can a conspiracy theorist effectively run disaster response? Thanks to Trump, we’re about to find out! Reports Molly Olmstead. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Vice President JD Vance was confronted about being called a conspiracy theorist by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and indicated he’s okay with it for the most part, reports Sarah Ewall-Wice. archive.ph/Cz5bY www.thedailybeast.com/vance-backs-...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced this week that he’s taking on Lyme disease—and boy, did his woo-tinged tendencies emerge fast. Kennedy has previously argued that Lyme is "highly likely to have been a military weapon," reports Ed Cara. gizmodo.com/rfk-jr-is-ta...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed Vanity Fair deliberately doctored their White House expose to make Donald Trump’s team “look bad,” reports Cameron Adams. archive.ph/r8SWC www.thedailybeast.com/little-marco...