Your weekly fact-checks
#Disasters
Factcheck.afp
False: A Qantas airline plane nearly collided with an Emirates airline plane
A computer-generated video does not show a Qantas airliner almost colliding with an Emirates plane on the runway at Dubai International Airport, as false posts viewed millions of times around the world claimed. As of February 23, 2024, there have been no official reports that such an incident ever occurred.
Reuters
Mostly False: Nuclear warning emergency alert video shared across multiple U.S. states
A mock emergency scenario video uploaded to YouTube in 2022 is circulating with the false claim that it shows a nuclear warning broadcast across multiple U.S. states in mid-February.
#Healthcare
Full fact
False: The NHS Covid-19 app cost £37 billion.
Posts falsely claiming that the government spent “£37 billion on a Covid Test & Trace app” are still being shared on Facebook and on X (formerly Twitter).
Health Feedback
Mostly False: COVID-19 vaccine recipients might not be eligible for blood donation.
Social media users claimed that COVID-19 vaccine recipients might be ineligible for blood donation. However, the claim is misleading as COVID-19 vaccine recipients are subject to the same blood donation guidelines.
Vox Ukraine
False: Free medicine and education will be canceled in Ukraine. Issue #99.
Russian propagandists spread fake information, based on an interview with Member of Parliament Dmytro Natalukha, suggesting that Ukraine would abolish free healthcare, and education, and cut social benefits.
#Politics
Reuters
False: Putin did not say US Congress is neglecting border in Carlson interview.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not make a statement during an interview with Tucker Carlson claiming that Russians are amused by the U.S. government's "neglect" of the southern U.S. border. The screenshot circulating online with such a remark is false.
Snopes
True: As of January 2024, more than 7.2 million migrants had illegally crossed into the U.S.
7.2 million migrants illegally crossed into the U.S. over the Southwest border during President Joe Biden's administration. The number specifically reflects border encounters with U.S. officials, not a direct increase in the immigrant population.
Snopes
Mostly True: Trump claims credit for overturning Roe v. Wade during Fox News town hall.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed credit for overturning Roe v. Wade during a Fox News town hall. It is clarified that the U.S. Supreme Court made the actual decision, but Trump can take credit for appointing the conservative justices who made it possible.
Lead Stories
False: Milei is related to Netanyahu.
Investigations refute the speculation that Javier Milei, president of Argentina, and Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, are related based on a shared familial last name, stating that there is no evidence to support this claim.
#Other
USA Today
False: Solar flares caused AT&T cellphone outage.
Claims solar flares caused an AT&T cellphone outage are debunked. Experts state that the solar flares were not strong enough and occurred at the wrong time to cause the outage, clarifying that solar flares of that magnitude would affect high-frequency wavelengths, not cellphone towers.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The largest reservoir of water in space is equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in Earth's oceans.
The largest reservoir of water in space is equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in Earth's oceans, associated with a quasar identified by astronomers.
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