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All English Fact Checks
False: Metformin can shorten the life of diabetics because of lethal side effects Diabetes specialists say the drug metformin has decades of safety and efficacy data, contrary to posts shared repeatedly in the Philippines that falsely claimed it causes "early death" for patients suffering from the condition. The posts shared a fabricated message from a Filipino doctor as well as advertising food supplements that have not been proven to treat diabetes. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
Missing Context: South Korean president overshadowed by first lady in all official photos. Social media posts shared in South Korea have misleadingly suggested that President Yoon Suk Yeol was overshadowed by his wife in "all the photos" released by the presidential office of their recent visits to the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland and within South Korea. But a review of all the official photos from these events found Yoon appeared in most of them. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
Altered Image: JVP labour day rally pays tribute to President Ranil Wickremesinghe. A doctored image of a Sri Lankan opposition party's Labour Day rally has been shared in multiple social media posts that falsely claim the procession included a portrait of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP) had mounted portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and the party's founder Rohana Wijeweera above vehicles in their rally. But photos and videos of the event showed the Wickremesinghe portrait had been digitally added. A JVP spokesperson also told AFP that they did not display the portraits of any Sri Lankans who were not affiliated with their party. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: Ted Cruz has tweeted the same response after multiple mass shootings Following a May 2023 attack at a Texas outlet mall, social media users are claiming US Senator Ted Cruz has tweeted the same message after multiple mass shootings. This is false; the Republican lawmaker has only published the post cited online once -- the other examples are fabricated. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: Wreckage of flight MH370 found nine years later A post has been shared multiple times on social media showing a plane underwater with claims that it belongs to Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that went missing in 2014 with 239 people aboard. But this is false: the image shows a plane sunk in 2019 by the Jordanian government to serve as an artificial reef in the Red Sea. Flight MH370 is still missing as of May 2023. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: A photo shows migrants coming toward the United States in May 2023 Social media users are claiming a photo shows a crowd of people approaching the US border with Mexico before the May 2023 expiration of pandemic-era immigration restrictions in the former country. This is false; the picture was taken in southern Mexico in June 2022. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: Photo shows a hotel in India's western Rajasthan state A photo of a crescent-shaped lake next to a pagoda-like structure in the middle of a desert in China has been shared hundreds of times in social media posts that falsely claim it shows a hotel in India's northern state of Rajasthan. The picture corresponds with satellite imagery on Google Maps of a scenic spot in China's northwest Gansu province. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: Indian wrestlers have called off their protest After top Indian wrestlers gathered in New Delhi to demand the arrest of the sport's federation chief, social media posts falsely claimed to show a photo of the athletes packing up and leaving after they "ended" the demonstration. However, an AFP journalist who visited the protest site on May 9 confirmed it had not been called off. The photo shared in false posts was taken after the protesters spent the night at the site, according to the news agency that published the picture. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: Bola Tinubu appointed Nigeria's first female deputy governor Nigeria’s vice president-elect Kashim Shettima has claimed that Bola Tinubu, who will be sworn in as president in late May, was the first governor to have a female deputy when he was elected to lead Lagos state in 1999. Shettima also alleged that Tinubu appointed the country’s first female state chief justice. But AFP Fact Check found both assertions to be false: Cecilia Ekpeyong and Sinatu Ojikutu were named deputy governors in 1992, while Rosaline Omotosho was appointed the first female state chief justice years before Tinubu became a governor. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)
False: UK COVID vaccine offer for vulnerable young children not mandatory UK-government advice that young children at risk of severe outcomes with COVID-19 be offered the authorised vaccine has sparked false claims online that the shots are mandatory for all children aged 6 months to 4 years, and baseless suggestions that the vaccine is linked to child (Source: Reuters)