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Your hourly fact checks

All English Fact Checks

False: CLAIM:Photos show children who weretrafficked as “sex slaves”beingrescued from tunnel systems beneath Central Park in New York City. THE FACTS:Avideo spread online in recent days misrepresenting the early pandemic images asthe supposed rescue operation. (Source: Associated Press - AP News)

False: The voice to parliament will put Australia’s land and resources into conservatorship, just like those imposed on US singer Britney Spears. The claim the voice to parliament will put Australia’s land and resources into conservatorship is false. The proposed voice will not have any power or ownership over land or assets. Even if it did, a law expert told AAP FactCheck it will operate as an advisory body without any power to compel anyone to do anything. (Source: Australian Associated Press - AAP)

False: An international pandemic treaty will allow the World Health Organization to dictate health policy in member countries. The claim a proposed international pandemic treaty would give the World Health Organization control over member nations’ domestic health policies is false. The draft treaty specifically states signatory countries will retain sovereignty over health matters within their borders, including their response to future pandemics. The WHO has no legal authority to force member nations to accept its recommendations. (Source: Australian Associated Press - AAP)

Misleading: A report related to the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins was never released by the former coalition government. The claim that the former coalition government did not release a report into what Scott Morrison’s office knew about Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape is misleading because no such completed report exists. Phil Gaetjens, then head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, began an inquiry into the matter in February 2021 but his investigation was permanently suspended in August 2021. The report has never been completed. (Source: Australian Associated Press - AAP)

False: Video shows robbery incident at Lucky Chinatown Mall in Manila A graphic video of a man assaulting a woman in an elevator has been viewed hundreds of times in Facebook posts that falsely claim it shows a robbery in a mall in the Philippine capital, Manila. However, the clip has previously circulated in news reports that say it shows a robbery at a train station elevator in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, in 2019. (Source: Agence France-Presse - AFP)

Altered: Photo of Nicola Sturgeon in a police vehicle is edited An edited photograph showing Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon in the back seat of a police vehicle was widely circulated online after she was arrested as part of a police investigation in June 2023. Sturgeon was questioned and held for more than seven hours by Pol (Source: Reuters)