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All English Fact Checks

False: Photo shows Pope Francis in his simple bedroom. A photo of Pope Francis visiting the monastic cell of a venerated Italian saint in southern Italy has been shared hundreds of times in social media posts that falsely claim it shows the 86-year-old pontiff in his bedroom. Since he was elected pope in 2013, Francis has opted to stay at a modest guesthouse rather than the lavish papal palace in the Vatican. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

Misleading: Indomie noodles popular in Nigeria is not produced locally The recall of a popular noodle brand in Malaysia and Taiwan has generated controversy and false claims in Nigeria where noodles are sold under the same brand. One claim holds that Indomie noodles found in Nigeria are not manufactured locally. This is misleading: the company producing Indomie noodles in Nigeria began operations in Ogun state in 1996 and later opened two other factories in Rivers and Kaduna. The recall was confined to Asia. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Photos show Texas shooter Mauricio Garcia Social media users claim two mugshots show Mauricio Garcia, the 33-year-old man authorities say killed eight people at an outlet mall in the US state of Texas. This is false; the Dallas County Sheriff's Department told AFP the pictures show a different person with the same name as the gunman who was killed at the scene by police. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Kenyan minister says Odinga won 2022 polls Following Kenya’s opposition-led protests against the high cost of living and claimed election fraud, a clip emerged online purporting to show the country’s defence minister Aden Duale, an ally of President William Ruto, saying that opposition leader Raila Odinga was the true winner of last year’s presidential elections. But this is false: the video was doctored using old footage. The original video was edited to make it seem like Duale was referring to the 2022 election when he was actually speaking about Kenya’s 2007 polls, which pitted Odinga against Mwai Kibaki. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Drinking cold drinks after eating mangoes can kill people Health experts have contradicted Facebook posts shared repeatedly in Bangladesh that claimed consuming cold drinks after eating mangoes can be deadly, saying they were "baseless" and "completely false". The posts cited an alleged case in which a group of tourists apparently died after eating the fruit in neighbouring India, but AFP found no evidence that the incident ever happened. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: This is footage of Jordan Neely Several videos showing erratic to violent behavior in the New York City subway are wrongfully claimed to show Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black man who was killed on May 1, 2023 by a fellow rider in an attack caught on camera. The clips, which accumulated millions of views, are unrelated to Neely's case, currently under investigation by New York prosecutors. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

Misleading: Invisible ink pens are used by Thai electoral officials at polling stations Social media posts in Thailand have shared a baseless rumour warning voters that electoral officials plan to give them "invisible ink" pens at polling stations in the general election on May 14. The posts claim the ink would fade away after voters cast their ballots, leaving them open to interference. An election monitoring group said the claim was "disinformation" which previously circulated during the 2019 election. The election commission said it would provide voters with regular ballpoint pens and they would also be allowed to bring their own pens. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Artificial woman made in China Online users in West Africa have shared a video with claims that it shows an “artificial woman” made and sold in China. But AFP Fact Check found this to be false: the clip, which has drawn hundreds of views, features an advert for an American video game developed by the Quantic Dream studio and released in May 2018. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Avalanche strikes tourists in Pakistan's Naran area. A video of an avalanche hitting people has been viewed more than a hundred thousand times in social media posts that falsely claim the accident occurred in Pakistan. The video was in fact filmed in northeastern India, near its border with China. Similar videos of the avalanche were posted weeks earlier by Indian news organisations. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

False: Wet sand was used to fill multiple potholes along King Charles's coronation procession route. Thousands of people have shared claims on social media that sand was used to fill potholes on the procession route for King Charles' coronation. But this is not true. Some of the claims we've seen circulating include what appears to be a screenshot of a since-deleted tweet , whic (Source: Full Fact)