Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2024
This week's election: Panama Presidential Elections
The New York Times
Election Date: 05/05/2023
Panama's upcoming presidential election on May 5th is steeped in controversy, as former President Ricardo Martinelli's disqualification due to a money laundering conviction has led to his running mate, José Raúl Mulino, stepping in amid widespread dissatisfaction with the political establishment. The political crisis is being exacerbated by the economic downturn and social unrest. This has hindered foreign investment and led to a downgrade in Panama's credit rating.
#Conflicts
Full Fact
False: A photo shows the aftermath of an explosion on a German warship that was retreating from Yemen after a failed mission.
A photo showing flames and smoke coming from a ship has been shared on social media with the caption "German warship retreats from Yemen after unsuccessful mission." The photo in question was taken in 2018 after a German warship misfired a missile during a training exercise off the coast of Norway.
AFP
False: The UN portrays Iran's attack as self-defence.
A post published on Facebook claims the United Nations called Iran’s missile barrage “self-defence”, adding the US purportedly threatened to cease its support of Israel in the event of a military response. However, these claims are misleading: the UN has stated it has not endorsed the military tactics of either Iran or Israel and Secretary-General António Guterres was citing a letter from Iran when he used the phrase “self-defence”. The US State Department also rejected the claim.
Africa Check
False: "China is ready to intervene militarily if the US or NATO decide to attack Russia,” said a Chinese Defense Ministry official.
China is not ‘ready to intervene’ if US and Nato attack Russia. These are false claims that have resurfaced online. They were previously dismissed by the Chinese Defence Ministry in 2022.
StopFake
Mostly False: Kharkiv residents are currently leaving the city en masse.
The video being shared on social media was most likely filmed in 2022, at the very beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainians were leaving the city en masse, evacuating families abroad or to areas of the country farther away from Russia and Belarus. There is no talk of any mass evacuation of Kharkiv now.
#Healthcare
AFP
False: Eating 3 ripe papaya seeds a day without drinking water can cure cancer.
Health authorities said there was no evidence to support taking papaya seeds as a cancer cure after social media posts touted the tropical fruit as a way to "destroy" cancer cells. A Thai scientist who was falsely cited in some of the posts has stated he had not conducted any studies into the benefits of papaya seeds.
Africa Check
False: HIV can be cured using gene therapy.
That’s the false claim circulating on Facebook in the southern African country of Zambia since late March 2024. Scientists announced important developments in the search for a cure for HIV in March 2024. But promises on social media of a cure using gene therapy are made by doctors that are not credible and should be ignored.
AFP
False: COVID-19 vaccines caused a 14,000 per cent increase in US cancer cases.
Studies show that COVID-19 shots save lives, but anti-vaccine advocates claim they have caused a huge spike in US cancer cases since the pandemic. This is false; the social media users and websites erroneously cite unverified reports of adverse events following inoculation, and public health authorities have found no evidence linking the jabs to cancer.
#Politics
Africa Check
False: US President Joe Biden warns of South African sanctions if the ruling party ANC wins the 2024 elections.
A video circulating on social media shows US President Joe Biden allegedly threatening to sanction South Africa if the governing African National Congress wins the 2024 elections. The video has been proven to be generated by an AI tool and should therefore be ignored.
USA Today
False: Image shows Trump soiled himself in court.
On April 20th, a Threads post shows what appears to be a CNN headline about an embarrassing incident involving a former president. "Trump soils himself in court," reads the purported headline. The image is fabricated. A spokesperson for the news network said it didn't report such a claim. There is no evidence of the article on CNN's website.
AFP
False: Indian Cricketer MS Dhoni voted for the Congress party.
An old photo of cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been shared hundreds of times with a false claim it showed him gesturing in support of the opposition Congress party in the general election currently underway in India. The picture was published in 2020 by his cricket team to celebrate they have reached six million followers on the social media platform X.
#Nordics
Faktisk
Sant: Det siste året har det blitt 133 færre politifolk i Oslo.
Det stemmer at det har blitt 133 færre politifolk i Oslo det siste året, hvis man legger til grunn at en person fullfører ett års arbeid. På en pressekonferanse tirsdag ble det opplyst at politiet styrker innsatsen i flere områder i Stor-Oslo. De siste to ukene har det vært minst 13 alvorlige voldsepisoder i Oslo.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The Mafia was involved in the making of "The Godfather"
Real members of the Mafia were involved in the making of the 1972 film "The Godfather." According to various reports and firsthand accounts from those involved in the production, the filmmakers received assistance and advice from people connected to the Mafia — whether solicited or not.
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