Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2025
This week's election: 2025 Bolivian general election
BBC News
Election Date: 17/08/2025
Bolivia will hold general elections on 17 August 2025, with a possible runoff on 19 October, amid political and economic unrest and a split in the ruling MAS between President Luis Arce and former president Evo Morales. Arce has declined to run again, MAS has nominated Eduardo del Castillo, Morales’ party was deregistered, and opposition groups have formed a Unity Bloc while several candidates attempt to run under smaller party labels.
#TrumpCheck
Lead Stories
False: Trump ordered the complete clearance of homeless people in 50 states.
Trump declared on his Truth Social account, "the Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," in reference to Washington, D.C. He issued an executive order on August 11, 2025, declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia. He said his administration had begun removing homeless people from parks in the nation's capital during a press briefing but he has not announced this would happen in all 50 states, as of the publication of this article.
Snopes
Mostly False: U.S. President Donald Trump said to Ireland: "If you try to economically isolate Israel, you will bear consequences."
In August 2025, social media posts falsely claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Ireland with “consequences” over its proposed boycott of Israeli settlements, when the wording actually came from a letter by 16 Republican House members led by Rep. Claudia Tenney. The misattribution appears to have originated from a Middle East Monitor post pairing the quote with Trump’s image, despite no evidence he made such a statement or that Congress as a whole endorsed the position.
Snopes
True: A survey found that 47% of Republican voters said they'd still support U.S. President Donald Trump even if he were officially implicated in the late Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes.
The question asked of around 1,000 American voters was: "If Donald Trump was officially implicated in Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking activities, would this make you more likely to vote for another party, or would it not affect your vote for Donald Trump?" Forty-seven percent of Republican respondents said such a revelation would not affect their vote, though based on other polling data this appears to reflect voter loyalty more than approval of the alleged actions.
#Politics
Newschecker
False: PM Narendra Modi posted on X criticizing the Election Commission and expressing support for MP Rahul Gandhi’s protest against it.
A 2014 X post by Narendra Modi criticizing the Election Commission for denying him a rally in Varanasi is being shared out of context to falsely suggest he now supports Rahul Gandhi’s protest over alleged electoral malpractices.
Africa Check
False: Kenyan governor James Orengo has died.
Social media posts falsely claim that the governor of Kenya’s Siaya county, James Orengo, has died. He has since appeared in public, proving the rumour false.
#Economy
Factly
False: India has cut off 50% of its pharmaceuticals exports to the USA following the recent tariff hikes.
This viral video is AI-generated, and there are no reports indicating that India has reduced its pharmaceuticals exports to the USA by 50% following the recent tariff hikes imposed by Donald Trump. As of 11 August 2025, the USA has not imposed tariffs on Indian pharmaceutical imports.
#Healthcare
Newschecker
False: A news report by Rajat Sharma shows that India's decision to reduce the exports of generic drugs to the US by half.
A viral video claiming Rajat Sharma reported that India cut generic drug exports to the US by 50%, causing a medical crisis there, is fake. Fact-checkers found no credible evidence for the claim, and AI analysis confirmed the clip was a deepfake with artificially generated audio and visuals.
#Conflicts
DW - Deutsche Welle
False: Russian Spetsnaz RAID and capture senior UK officers in Ochakov!
A fabricated Russian disinformation story falsely claimed that three British military officers were captured in a spetsnaz raid on a Ukrainian naval base, using AI-generated images with obvious visual flaws and nonexistent identities to lend it credibility. Despite being debunked by fact-checkers and experts, the narrative spread through Russian and foreign media, amplified by conspiracy theorists and former British MPs, illustrating how such campaigns target both domestic Russian audiences and skeptical foreign readers.
Agence France-Presse - AFP
Half-true: Israeli protesters blocked aid convoy from entering Gaza
A video shared online of Israeli protesters blocking aid trucks from entering Gaza is a year-and-a-half old, contrary to posts implying it shows a fresh blockade after UN agencies warned the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine. While Israeli activists have reportedly continued with attempts to prevent supplies from entering Gaza, the clip and similar footage was shared in news reports from January 2024.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Russisk spildevand for blågrønne alger i Østersøen.
Et viralt Facebook-opslag hævder, at blågrønne alger i Østersøen skyldes fosfor fra russisk spildevand og ikke kvælstof fra landbruget, og at kvælstofemissioner fra landbruget ikke spiller nogen rolle. Forskere siger, at dette er vildledende, da det meste fosfor kommer fra diffuse kilder og landbruget, og kvælstof fra dansk landbrug er den vigtigste årsag til algevækst og iltforbrug i danske farvande.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
BBC
True: The US has lost at least three nuclear bombs that have never been located.
Since 1950, the US has experienced at least 32 “broken arrow” nuclear accidents, with three nuclear bombs still missing to this day in locations such as oceans, swamps, and fields. One of the most famous cases occurred in 1966 when two US planes collided over Palomares, Spain, scattering four nuclear bombs—three were recovered, but one remains lost in the Mediterranean Sea.
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