Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2025
This week's election: Japanese House of Representatives
Japan Times
Election Date: 08/12/2026
Japan holds a snap election on Sunday with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's LDP-JIP coalition expected to win a landslide majority, potentially securing over two-thirds of the 465 Lower House seats. The shortened 12-day campaign period favours established parties with strong voter mobilisation networks, while the rising conservative opposition party Sanseito aims to pick off weaker candidates despite fielding 190 contenders.
#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
Half-True: In artificial intelligence, “We're leading China by a lot.”
The U.S. lead over China may not last. Key artificial intelligence industry leaders and experts say China’s AI models are just a few months behind those made in the U.S. The U.S. maintains a commanding lead in the quality and quantity of AI chips, and the U.S. government restricts domestic companies from exporting their most advanced chips to China. The Trump administration recently loosened some of those rules, however. Experts say China has advantages in talent and electricity generation.
FactCheck.org
Mostly False: “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart."
President Trump takes 325mg of aspirin daily despite medical guidelines recommending against aspirin for people without cardiovascular disease, and advising only low-dose aspirin (81mg) when it is prescribed. While Trump may have some plaque buildup that could justify low-dose aspirin, experts say the high dose he takes is unnecessary and increases bleeding risk without additional cardiovascular benefit.
PolitiFact
False: Among Somalis in Minnesota, “92% of them don’t work.”
About 28% of Somalis in Minnesota aren’t working — a far lower percentage than President Donald Trump cited, and a smaller share than for Minnesotans overall. About 9 in 10 Somalis receive some form of public assistance, but these programs typically allow low-wage workers to participate; receiving public benefits does not mean someone isn’t working.
#Politics
Factly
False: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is urging people to make him the Prime Minister so that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will become part of India within six months.
The video has been clipped and misrepresented. The full footage shows Yogi calling for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be made Prime Minister again, and saying that if Modi secures a third term, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will become part of India within six months.
PolitiFact
False: "Right now we're focused on Minneapolis because that's where we have the highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws."
There are about 130,000 immigrants in the country illegally in Minnesota, which is about 2% of the state’s population. Seventy-eight metro areas have a higher percentage of immigrants in the U.S. illegally than the Minneapolis metro area.
Lead Stories
False: Emails between Elon Musk and Jeffrey Epstein show that Musk rejected Epstein's invitation to Epstein's private island.
Emails show Musk and Epstein planned holiday visits at the end of 2012 and 2013, but their schedules eventually did not align. Both men seemed eager to meet up on Epstein's now-infamous Little St. James Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was Epstein, not Musk, who cancelled the second visit.
#Technology
Snopes
Mostly False: In January 2026, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that would allow the government to remotely shut down vehicles.
Congress passed legislation requiring automakers to install technology that can "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation" if it detects impaired or drunken driving. The legislation does not give the government the ability to control that technology at will. The legislation was passed in 2021, and a January 2026 amendment to a budget bill that would've prevented it from going into effect was defeated in the U.S. House.
#Healthcare
FactCheck.org
False: Past health guidance created a “generation of kids low in protein” and Americans should get “dramatically” more of the nutrient.
Federal officials claim new dietary guidelines correcting a "generation of kids low in protein" misrepresent the evidence, as most Americans already consume protein near or above the new recommended range of 1.2-1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight daily and there is no widespread protein deficiency in the U.S. While certain groups like older adults, people building muscle, or those losing weight may benefit from higher protein intake, nutrition experts say claims that Americans need to "dramatically increase" protein consumption are unsupported by data.
#Conflicts
Lead Stories
False: A video showing a muzzle flash, smoke, and sparks from a bullet hitting pavement accurately shows the handgun taken from Alex Pretti misfiring just before he was fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
The short video was created by an artificial intelligence tool, although based on a real video of that moment. The social media post that shared the video said it was "AI enhanced," which means blurring and overall quality is improved.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: En kræftdiagnose i Grønland er ensbetydende med en dødsdom.
Den amerikanske ambassadør Mike Waltz' påstand om, at en kræftdiagnose i Grønland er »næsten en dødsdom«, er en betydelig overdrivelse, selvom Grønlands kræftdødelighed er næsten dobbelt så høj som Danmarks på grund af senere diagnoser og komplekse sociale faktorer. Grønlændere modtager gratis specialiseret kræftbehandling i Danmark, og sundhedsudgifterne pr. indbygger er næsten ens i de to lande.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam in China can retain an amount of water voluminous enough to slow and change the rotation of the Earth.
China's Three Gorges Dam does slightly slow Earth's rotation by 0.06 microseconds per day due to the moment of inertia created by relocating 39 trillion kilograms of water 175 meters above sea level, while also shifting the pole position by about 0.8 inches. However, this effect is extremely small and similar mass shifts occur naturally through earthquakes, glaciation, and other geological processes that routinely alter Earth's rotation.
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