Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2024
This week's election: Irish General Election
BBC
Election Date: 29/11/2024
Ireland is heading into a general election this week, with Simon Harris of Fine Gael calling for the dissolution of the Dáil after earlier suggesting the government would serve its full term. The election is a pivotal moment for both the ruling coalition and opposition parties. Sinn Féin, which saw major gains in 2020, now faces setbacks from poor recent election results, internal controversies, and challenges addressing key voter concerns like housing and immigration. Meanwhile, Fine Gael hopes to capitalize on a pre-election budget boost and renewed leadership to improve its standing after prior losses.
#Politics
PolitiFact
False: The U.S Senate accidentally passed a bill banning Trump from becoming President, and Biden is planning to sign it.
The Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks Act, would bar members of Congress, the president and the vice president from buying and selling securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts and other comparable holdings. It passed the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senate Committee on July 24 on an 8-4 vote. Neither the full U.S. Senate nor the House has voted on the bill. The bill would not ban anyone from serving as president or in Congress, but would impose financial penalties for noncompliance.
Snopes
True: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz was the lone "nay" vote against the 2017 Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act.
Gaetz was the lone "no" vote on the bill. Seven Republicans and five Democrats in the House did not cast any vote for the bill. It passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. Gaetz was also under investigation in 2021 to determine whether he violated federal sex-trafficking laws that make it illegal to induce someone younger than 18 to travel across state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. Gaetz allegedly paid for a 17-year-old girl to travel with him about two years earlier.
Snopes
False: Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network was used to tally swing state votes during the 2024 election, allowing him to "rig" or "hack" the election in favor of Trump.
Weeks after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, claims circulated that Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and supporter of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, had handed Trump the victory by hacking election results using Starlink, his satellite internet company. News outlets have rated this rumor as unfounded.
Full Fact
False: India has been removed from the BRICS core committee.
There’s no evidence for this. There have been no announcements or credible media reports that India has been removed from any BRICS “core committee” or the broader group itself.
#Healthcare
Factly
Mostly False: Turmeric, neem leaves, apple cider vinegar, lemon water, intermittent fasting, and lifestyle changes effectively cured my wife’s cancer – Navjot Singh Sidhu
Sidhu issued a clarification, stating that his wife’s fight against cancer involved surgeries, chemotherapy, hormonal and targeted therapies, a strict diet plan, and determination to combat the disease. While neem leaves, turmeric, and intermittent fasting may assist in the supportive management of cancer, there is no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of apple cider vinegar and lemon in cancer management. Furthermore, there is no medical consensus or scientific evidence to substantiate the claim that neem leaves, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, lemon water, or intermittent fasting can cure cancer.
Lead Stories
False: Cleveland Clinic Warns Wave of Mass Deaths Will Wipe Out Covid-Vaxxed Within '5 Years'.
The medical center issued no such warning. A spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic stated there is no scientific basis for the claim that the COVID-19 vaccine will lead to myocarditis and mass deaths.
Africa Check
False: Basil leaf and ginger mixture cures infections.
A viral Facebook video claims that boiling African basil (scent leaf) and ginger can cure all infections due to their antibacterial properties. While these ingredients are valued in traditional medicine, experts caution that the claim is misleading and unsupported by credible studies. Pharmacology professor Ezekiel Iwalewa warns that relying on this remedy could delay necessary medical treatment for serious infections. The mixture may help in limited cases, but its general effectiveness is exaggerated, and both ingredients can have harmful side effects.
#Conflicts
Full Fact
False: FC Barcelona has cut all ties with Israel.
A screenshot of a TikTok video, claiming that "FC Barcelona has cut all ties with Israel" has been shared widely on social media. However, this is not true. A spokesperson for FC Barcelona confirmed the club has not made any such statement.
FactCheck.org
False: Trump Ended Violence in Gaza.
Attacks by Israeli forces and Hamas continue to kill or displace people in the Gaza Strip. But social media posts misleadingly claim Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election led Hamas to call for an end to the war in Gaza. Hamas has called for a ceasefire several times before the election. And the violence has continued since Election Day.
StopFake
False: Ukraine Admitted Odesa Residents Were Killed by Ukrainian Missile.
The command of the Ukrainian Air Force did not claim that the residents of Odesa were killed by a Ukrainian missile during the Russian attack on the city on November 18. On the contrary, the Ukrainian Air Force stressed that during the Russian missile attack on Odesa, part of a shot down missile fell in the residential sector of the Prymorskyi district of the city. The Russian narrative blaming Ukrainian air defenses for civilian casualties is a key disinformation tool aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian armed forces and justifying their own war crimes.
#Nordics
Faktisk
Det er ikke sant: Gutter og menn sjekker testosteronnivået for å øke styrken og få en dypere stemme.
Det er ikke vitenskapelig bevist at menn med normale testosteronnivåer som bruker medisiner i doser som øker litt til et unormalt nivå, faktisk får en dypere stemme eller blir sterkere i trening. Men forskning viser at menn med lave testosteronnivåer opplever økt sexlyst etter behandling med testosteronmedisiner.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Real Squirrels Were Trained to Crack Nuts in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'
Forty squirrels were trained to crack nuts in the new film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Even with sophisticated computer-generated technology available, Tim Burton, the director, opted for real effects. For the film, the squirrels were used for 10 months, including training, and the American Humane Association supervised the training to make sure no animal was made to do anything which might cause it distress.
Sign up to test the new release of the Factiverse AI Editor
Factiverse is planning to release a new version of our AI editor in the coming months and we are looking for feedback from dedicated users.
Sign up here to access the beta and help enhance real-time fact-checking!
Check out the Factiverse Blog
Want to know more about the world of misinformation and fact-checking? If so, make sure to out the Factiverse Blog! We explore these topics to give our readers a better understanding of these topics while also giving guidelines on how organisations can protect themselves. Click here to look at our list of posts.