Your weekly fact-checks
#Disasters
Newschecker
False: There were explosions at the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US’ Baltimore before it collapsed.
A video depicting an explosion at the Kerch bridge, which connects Russia and Crimea and experienced a series of explosions in 2023, has been incorrectly associated with the recent Baltimore bridge collapse that occurred over the past few days.
Factcheck.afp
False: Five underwater volcanoes near Hinatuan caused an earthquake in the Philippines.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has said there are no active undersea volcanoes near a coastal town in the southern part of the archipelago nation, contradicting Facebook posts that falsely claimed they had caused a powerful earthquake in early December 2023.
#Conflicts
India Today
Half True: Russian Air Force failed to take off in a fighter aircraft.
A video showing a failed take-off by a fighter aircraft has been circulating on social media, with claims suggesting it was a mishap involving the Russian Air Force. The video is six years old and not from Russia but rather from Belarus.
Politifact
True: Gaza has the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system — anywhere, anytime.
A March report compiled by organizations that evaluate global food emergencies said 677,000 people in Gaza face "catastrophic" food insecurity, based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system. It found no instances in which more people have been classified as experiencing "catastrophic" hunger or famine conditions in any one location since the 2004 creation of the tracking system.
India Today
Half True: Afghan forces captured a Pakistani Army post amid the ongoing clashes.
Four civilians and three military personnel were reportedly injured in Pakistan on March 18 due to shelling from across the Afghanistan border. Amid these events, a video surfaced on social media showing a bunch of armed men throwing stones at Pakistani flags, painted on the walls of an old and worn building. However, this video has been found to predate the ongoing clashes by several years.
#Elections
Factcheck.afp
False: South Korean opposition politicians were kowtowing ahead of the 2024 vote.
A photo showing politicians from South Korea's Democratic Party prostrating before a press conference in 2022 has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely claim it was taken shortly before the 2024 legislative polls. The posts said this showed "desperation" from Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung and predicted a landslide victory for President Yoon Suk Yeol's People Power Party.
Factly
False: The Election Commission of India announces that voting will be conducted using ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission of India did not release any new guidelines indicating the use of ballot papers for conducting elections. In fact, according to the official schedule released for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the commission plans to conduct the elections using electronic voting machines.
StopFake
False: The Pope Congratulates Putin on His Victory in the Presidential Election.
Pro-Russian sources report that Pope Francis allegedly congratulated Vladimir Putin on his election victory in Russia. This was stated by the Russian religious leader Leonid Sevostyanov without any evidence. The Vatican has denied that the Pope congratulated Putin.
#Nordics
Tjekdet
Falsk: Ukrainsk embedsmand tager ansvaret for terrorangrebet på koncertsalen i Moskva.
En deepfake-video af en ukrainsk folkevalgt blev vist på russisk stats-tv. I denne manipulerede video blev det antydet, at Ukraine havde noget at gøre med terrorangrebet i Moskva.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Politifact
True: The Great Lakes of North America account for over 20% of the world’s freshwater supply.
The Great Lakes account for 21% of the world’s freshwater and 84% of North America's surface freshwater, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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