Snopes.com - Trump's role in Taliban leader's release, a viral gas prices meme, and a firefighter rescue video

​ WEDNESDAY EDITION Snopes Debunker 18 August 2021 Tonight: Trump's role in Taliban leader's release, a viral gas prices meme, and a firefighter rescue video ​ Did Trump Admin Get Taliban Leader Out of Pakistani Prison? A new meme claims: “In 2018, Trump helped Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar get released from prison. In 2020, Trump’s Secretary of State met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. In 2021, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar appears set to become the new president of Afghanistan under Taliban rule.” Nur Ibrahim reports. Read More URGENT: Save Our Snopes Dear Debunker readers, Four years ago, we launched a GoFundMe campaign to fight off legal threats, SLAPP lawsuits, and a takeover attempt by hostile shareholders. Many of you stood up and helped, and we cannot tell you how much we appreciate it. We thought we’d have good news to share with you by now, but that is unfortunately not the case. Although every major court ruling has been in our favor so far, the point of these lawsuits has been — always — to bleed Snopes dry. Now, on the verge of trial, the years of constant legal battles have your favorite fact-checkers in need of rescue. That’s why we launched one more campaign to Save Our Snopes. Will you help us? Contribute Fact Checks and Original Reporting Viral Trump vs. Biden Gas Prices Meme is Highly Misleading We don't recommend basing broad and declarative conclusions on two seemingly cherry-picked pictures showing gas prices. Read Story. Does Oregon Allow H.S. Students to Graduate Without Proof of Reading, Math Proficiency? News outlets and commentators reacted with outrage to Gov. Kate Brown's signing of Senate Bill 744 — but they failed to mention some key context. Read Story. Did This Man Ride on a Plane Engine To Escape the Taliban? A humorous video was repurposed and shared as if it was connected to a real (and deadly) incident in Afghanistan. Read Story. Heath Ledger Did Not Improvise in the Hospital Scene in ‘The Dark Knight’ After a ‘Mishap’ A video with more than 30 million views falsely claimed that Ledger "completely improvised" the hospital explosion scene after a "mishap."​ Read Story. Does a Video Show Firefighters Catching a Suicidal Woman in Mid-Air? The heroic exploits of two Latvian firefighters gained prominence online this month.​ Read Story. View Latest Fact Checks Entertainment Rumors, legends, and lore about Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and its many stars. Read More News US Health Officials Call for Booster Shots Against COVID-19 The doses could begin the week of Sept. 20. Read More Police Caller Must Pay BLM Protesters $4.5K for False Report A former ice cream shop owner accused of calling police on peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters was ordered to pay them $500 each by a judge hearing a state lawsuit citing a new law targeting false, race-based police reports. Read More Taliban Militants Violently Disperse Rare Afghan Protest Taliban militants attacked protesters in Afghanistan who dared to take down their banner and replace it with the country’s flag, killing at least one person and fueling fears about how the insurgents would govern this fractious nation. Read More Woman Comes Face-To-Face with Snake in Australia Supermarket​ The head of the 3-meter-long (10-foot-long) non-venomous diamond python emerged through a space in a shelf above the spice jars in the Sydney store. Read More

View Latest News Staff Pick ​ Vid Shows Lincoln Animatronic Partially Collapsed at Disney World’s Hall of Presidents We also found a second video of Lincoln falling at the Hall of Presidents attraction in 1992. Read More