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All English Fact Checks

A White House press...: A White House press release says that Dr. Monica Bertagnolli,President Joe Biden’s pickto lead the National Institutes of Health, received tens of millions of dollars in research money from Pfizer. The image circulating online has been manipulated; the official announcement didn’t include the funding statistics. Additionally, while Pfizer awarded grants to a nonprofit that Bertagnolli headed up, the money did not go directly to her. The Biden administration, Bertagnolli and the nonprofit have confirmed the funding was largely used to support a major breast cancer clinical trial. But social media users are sharing the misleading screenshot, which includes the same headline and letterhead asMonday’s news releasefrom the White House, but then goes on to say: “From 2015 through 2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her research grants.” “So basically Joe Biden’s nominating Pfizer to run the National Institutes of Health,” wrote one Twitter user who shared the screenshot. “This is open, evil Big Pharma corruption.” But the passage referencing the Pfizer money was not included in the White House announcement. Instead, it comes from a 2022 story by the Daily Signal, a political news website published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The story ran after Bertagnolli was tapped to lead the National Cancer Institute, which is under NIH. It cites data from aCenter for Medicare & Medicaid Services databasethat tracks payments certain health care providers receive from drug and medical device companies. The public database shows Pfizer’s grants went to theAlliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a nonprofit foundation that supports cancer research. Bertagnolli served as its president until becoming director at NCI. The Biden administration stressed the grants were awarded to the nonprofit, not directly to Bertagnolli. “This not-for-profit ran large, nationwide clinical trials on cancer prevention,” Emilie Simons, a White House spokesperson, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “Funding for large clinical trials like these come from a number of sources, including companies participating in the trials. That’s standard.” Bertagnolli didn’t respond to emails seeking comment, but the Daily Signal article quotes her as saying in a statement that the Pfizer funding went to Alliance, and that “virtually all” of that money went towards a breast cancer clinical trial involving more than 6,000 patients across multiple countries. “The funding was distributed across many different health care institutions—both academic and community—to conduct the trial,” she said in the statement. Suzanne George, the alliance’s interim chair, backed up Bertagnolli’s comments, saying the majority of the funding supportedclinical trials of palbociclib, which was developed by Pfizer under the brand name Ibrance for the treatment of breast cancer. “Dr. Bertagnolli did not directly or personally receive any of these funds,” she wrote in an email. Pfizer, meanwhile, declined to comment specifically on Bertagnolli or the research it funded, but said in a written statement that “grantees are not individuals but rather institutions chosen for their credentials and experience.” (Source: Associated Press - AP News)

Missing Context: A photo shows both President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Adolf Hitler wearing the same symbol. An image shared on Instagram shows a picture of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Adolf Hitler. In the image, cross insignias on both of their chests are circled, appearing to imply that they are wearing the same symbol. But they aren't. The cross sign on President Zele (Source: Full Fact)

False: "Chinese communist” troops on the ground at U.S. southern border. The number of Chinese immigrants encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the southern border with Mexico has risen sharply in recent months, in part because China recently reopened after strict border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said.The vast majority of the Chinese migrants are single adults, and likely young men, but that is not proof that China is sending troops disguised as migrants. Experts said it’s common for migrants from any country to be what the video calls "military age." (Source: PolitiFact)

Debunked: No, a UN r...: Debunked: No, a UN report doesn't call to decriminalise sex 'between adults and children' (Source: TheJournal.ie)

All German Fact Checks

Frei Erfunden: Jedes Neugeborene, dessen Eltern nach Deutschland geflüchtet sind, erhalte ab September einmalig 10.000 Euro zusätzlich zum monatlichen Kindergeld. In Sozialen Netzwerken wird immer wieder behauptet, Geflüchtete erhielten mehr Leistungen aus dem Sozialsystem als Deutsche. Seit Anfang Mai macht ein neues Video aufTiktokundTwitterdie Runde: 10.000 Euro soll ab September jedes in Deutschland geborene Kind von Geflüchteten gesch (Source: Correctiv)

Falscher Kontext: Ein Video zeige, dass sich die israelische Delegation bei einer Sitzung des UN-Sicherheitsrats geweigert habe, „weitere russische Lügen“ anzuhören. Sie habe eine Kerze zu Ehren der ukrainischen Opfer angezündet und den Saal verlassen. Der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen (UN) traf sich am 25. April in New York, um über die Situation in Palästina und den Nahen Osten zu sprechen. Ein Videoausschnitt, der die israelische Delegation zeigt, verbreitet sich anschließend irreführend weiter. Bei der Sitzung hätte (Source: Correctiv)

Frei Erfunden: Die 14-jährige Lea Mueller werde in Magdeburg (Sachsen-Anhalt), Lindenberg (Bayern) oder Hatten (Niedersachsen) vermisst. Gleich an mehreren deutschen Orten soll die 14-jährige Lea Mueller vermisst werden. In Facebook-Beiträgen werden etwaMagdeburg,LindenbergoderHattengenannt. In allen Beiträgen heißt es wortgleich: „Wir brauchen Ihre Hilfe! Ein junges Mädchen wird vermisst und ihre Familie bittet u (Source: Correctiv)