Your weekly fact-checks
#TrumpCheck
PolitiFact
Barely-True: “No Republican wins in Nassau.”
On the presidential level, Nassau County on New York’s Long Island voted Democratic between 1992 and 2020. For other offices, the county has often been competitive between the parties. The position of county executive has been dominated by Republicans: Of Nassau County’s 10 county executives, seven of them were Republican.
Associated Press - AP News
False: Trump’s tough immigration policies have led to a drop in car insurance premiums after a spike under the Biden administration caused by illegal immigration.
President Trump claimed his immigration crackdown caused car insurance premiums to fall after a Biden-era spike he blamed on illegal immigration, but experts say the rise was driven mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic—reduced driving followed by more accidents and supply chain–driven repair costs—not immigration. One economist estimated the surge in illegal immigration could account for only about a 0.07% increase in premiums, far short of the roughly 50% post-pandemic jump.
#Politics
PolitiFact
Mostly-True: Sen. Susan Collins votes “with Donald Trump 95% of the time.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, supported President Donald Trump’s position about 95% of the time in 2025, according to CQ Roll Call, a nonpartisan source that analyses congressional votes. The same source found that Collins supported Trump about 90% during his first term. Collins has disagreed with Trump more than nearly all Republican senators, voting against him on some key measures.
Africa Check
False: Kenyan President William Ruto said he will hand over power to his son in 2032
As political activities intensify ahead of Kenya’s 2027 general election, a graphic claiming that President William Ruto has vowed to hand over power to his son is circulating online. However, the quote is fabricated.
#Economy
PolitiFact
Barely-True: “If you live near one of these large data centers, your electricity bills over the last five years have gone up by as much as 267%."
Data centre demand, both current and anticipated, has driven up operating costs for utility companies. That cost has been passed on to consumers, especially in areas with high data centre activity. The 267% figure that Sen. Elizabeth Warren cited refers to wholesale costs rather than residential bills. Regional residential bills have risen significantly in some areas, but not by the number she cited.
#Healthcare
Agence France-Presse - AFP
False: Pap smear test swabs are 'coated' in cancer-causing ethelyne oxide.
Pap smear testing has been safely used for decades to screen for cervical cancer. But across social media, health influencers are claiming the brush used in the test exposes individuals to dangerous amounts of a chemical routinely used to sterilise medical equipment, an assertion that experts stated is false.
#Crime
Lead Stories
False: Somali woman with a slashed face after a Dublin incident on June 8, 2026.
As of June 10, 2026, journalists found no credible news reports or other reliable evidence, such as a police statement confirming the incident occurred. Nor was any evidence found that the image authentically depicts a Somali woman injured in Dublin in early June 2026.
#Conflicts
StopFake
False: 70% of Ukrainians would accept an end to the war to spare lives according to polls.
The circulating chart was digitally manipulated. No credible source contains material corroborating the claims spread in Russian publications. Meanwhile, the most recent polling underscores that a majority of Ukrainians are unwilling to accept a mere “freeze” of hostilities without serious security guarantees from Western partners.
BOOM Live
False: The US struck an oil tanker, Settebello, off the coast of Oman.
A video circulating from March 2026 was traced via the name "Skylight" visible on the ship back to an original Reuters clip from March 1, 2026, showing an attack on the Palau-flagged, US-sanctioned oil tanker Skylight off Oman's Musandam peninsula. The strike killed 2 of the 15 Indian nationals on board, and the footage was falsely linked to a separate US strike on a vessel called Settebello.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Det er sandt: Teslas selvkørende system overtræder færdselsreglerne i København.
I en reklamevideo, der skal fremme godkendelsen af deres nye førerassistancesystem, kører en Tesla gennem Københavns gader, uden at føreren rører en finger. Et klip fra videoen afslører imidlertid, at det selvkørende system ikke overholder færdselsreglerne. Trafiksikkerhedsstyrelsen, der er ansvarlig for godkendelsen, vil ikke udtale sig om, hvorvidt dette vil få dem til at genoverveje godkendelsen.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: Barbie, the famed doll, is actually named Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Behind the world's most famous doll lies a real girl: Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, named after Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler's own daughter and Ken bears the name of Handler's son, Kenneth. Sparked by a racy German doll called Bild Lilli and their mother's idea that little girls dreamed of grown-up futures, Barbie burst onto the scene at the 1959 New York Toy Fair, with Ken arriving two years later to complete the legend.
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