South Korea’s embattled leader Yoon finds allies among young conservative men

Seoul, South Korea Reuters As impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol fights for his political survival, the embattled leader has found an ally among young conservative men. Park Byeong-heon, 25, was a crowd favourite at a pro-Yoon rally on Sunday, cheered on as he gave a 10-minute speech in English aimed at foreign media, […]
We fact-checked some of the rumours spreading online about the Trump assassination attempt

Reuters Misinformation and conspiracy theories were spreading online after an assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday. Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was alleged to have shot at the Republican presidential candidate from a rooftop during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounding Trump’s right ear. One spectator died and […]
Essay: 15-minute cities – how to separate the reality from the conspiracy theory

Town planning academics ALEX NURSE, ALESSIA CALAFIORE and RICHARD J DUNNING – in an article first published on The Conversation, look at what 15-minutes cities are really about…
Sight-Seeing: Buying into conspiracy theories can be exciting – that’s what makes them dangerous

DONOVAN SCHAEFER, an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, explores – in an article first published on The Conversation – why people are attracted to conspiracy theories…
QAnon draws from several faith groups, numbers more than 40 million – study

RNS A new study finds devotees of the conspiracy theory movement known as QAnon number in the tens of millions, a sizable coalition that claims a number of white evangelicals but draws from other religious groups as well. And while QAnon believers are vastly outnumbered by those who reject or doubt their claims, researchers say […]
StrangeSights: Peruvian Santa goes to great heights to deliver presents; Birds Aren’t Real (or are they?); and, a life-sized Gingerbread(-like) house…

DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Survey: White evangelicals, Hispanic Protestants, Mormons most likely to believe in QAnon
RNS A new survey reports white evangelicals, Hispanic Protestants and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the most likely to believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory, a trend researchers suggest correlates with the kind of media they consume. The survey, released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute, focused on the […]
Addressing conspiracy theories: United Methodist pastor’s podcast ‘Cross Over Q’ challenges QAnon, comforts its victims

EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on how one United Methodist vicar is addressing the QAnon conspiracy theories…
“Conspiracy culture”: How Catholicism has become a breeding ground for conspiratorial thinking

CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports on the rising trend of a conspiracy culture within Catholicism…
Study reveals half of US Protestant pastors say they’re hearing conspiracy theories in their churches

RNS They’re not just on friends’ and family members’ Facebook pages or weird corners of the internet. About half of all Protestant pastors in the United States say they’re hearing conspiracy theories in their churches, according to a study released Tuesday by LifeWay Research. PICTURE: Tom Carnegie/Unsplash/Creative Commons The study found 49 per cent of […]