Your weekly fact-checks
#Elections2024
This week's election: Niue Electoral Constitutional Referendum
Pacific Island News Association
Election Date: 31/08/2024
Niue is an island in the South Pacific Ocean that is self-governing in free association with New Zealand and is fully responsible for internal affairs. The Speaker of the Niue Assembly, declared Saturday, 31 August as the date for the national referendum to decide on the proposed amendments to the Constitution. The Referendum is held in conjunction with the Village Council Elections. The electorate is being asked to decide on four amendments – these are to change the title of Premier to Prime Minister, to increase the size of Cabinet by adding two more Ministers, to extend the term of the Assembly from three to four years, and to name the Auditor-General of New Zealand as the official auditor instead of the current Audit Office of New Zealand.
#Politics
USA Today
False: Trump couldn’t land in Bozeman, Montana, because he owed the airport $12,000.
The Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport said Trump does not owe the airport any money. Mechanical problems prompted a landing in Billings, Montana, instead of the planned destination. Trump flew from Billings, Montana, to Bozeman, Montana, in a private charter, a City of Billings spokesperson said.
PolitiFact
False: Kamala Harris posted about banning Barron Trump’s friend from X because he wore a “Biden Loves Minors” shirt.
The post is not on Harris’ official X accounts. Social media analytics show that Harris has not deleted any X posts in the last 30 days. A Harris spokesperson told USA Today that Harris did not repost the image of Donald Trump’s son’s friend, Bo Loudon, wearing a derogatory T-shirt.
PolitiFact
Mostly-True: Gov. Tim Walz delivered paid family leave in Minnesota but “Republicans are blocking” a Biden-Harris proposal.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill in 2023 that provides paid family leave starting in January 2026. Democrats in Congress have proposed the Family Act since 2013, but this paid family leave plan has not progressed. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better proposal initially included four weeks of paid family leave, but Sen. Joe Manchin, then a Democrat, objected to the bill. Without Republican support, that doomed the bill. The legislation that became the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act did not include family leave.
Africa Check
False: Kenyan legislator Babu Owino plans to quit the opposition ODM party ahead of the 2027 elections.
A Facebook post apparently by Kenyan politician Paul Ongili, popularly known as Babu Owino, is circulating on social media. According to the post, Owino may leave the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to form his own party for the 2027 elections. The post claims that Owino is frustrated with the current dynamics of the party, despite his respect for party leader and former prime minister Raila Odinga. The post contains several grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that are unlikely to be found in a legitimate post by Owino.
#Conflicts
StopFake
False: Manipulation: Kursk Has Never Belonged to Ukraine.
Archaeological findings, historical documents, chronicles, and oral folklore prove that in different historical periods, Kursk and the Kursk region were Ukrainian. In January 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree «On the Territories of the Russian Federation Historically Inhabited by Ukrainians,» which mentions the Kursk region among other territories.
Full Fact
False: Israel's Channel 12 asked the public whether it agreed that soldiers should be allowed to sexually assault prisoners with their hands tied.
Social media posts circulating online claim an Israeli broadcaster asked the public whether they agree that Israeli soldiers should be allowed to assault tied-up prisoners, but this is not what the poll actually asked. The broadcaster has never polled or broadcast such a question. A screenshot of another poll they conducted has been digitally altered to show this.
Reuters
False: French authorities said the Rouen cathedral fire was a religious attack.
A video showing a blaze at Rouen’s historic cathedral in northern France on July 11 has been shared with a post that falsely claimed authorities said it could have been a religious attack. However, Reuters has found no credible evidence that authorities in France said the fire could have been a religious attack. Seine-Maritime prefecture, the authority for Rouen’s department, said the origin of the fire was unknown.
#Healthcare
Health Feedback
False: The WHO declaration of a public health emergency is a scheme to use vaccines “stocked up in warehouses”; bird flu, parvovirus B19, and monkeypox are “rebranding” of the same virus.
There are real, evidence-based reasons for the World Health Organization’s declaration of mpox as a public health emergency. More specifically, these reasons include the identification of a new, more virulent variant of the virus mpox coupled with a rising number of cases in several African countries. The mpox virus, bird flu, and parvovirus B19 aren’t the same virus. They’re well-characterized and distinct viruses.
Health Feedback
False: Wisdom teeth are meridian lines connected to the heart; removing them causes heart issues.
Evidence shows that removing wisdom teeth can reduce the risk of tooth and gum infections. This can, albeit indirectly, reduce the spread of infection to other parts of the body, such as the heart. There is no scientific evidence confirming the claim that meridian lines are real. By this reasoning, there is no support for the claim that interfering with meridian lines by way of wisdom teeth removal leads to heart issues.
#Economics
Full Fact
False: Studies show each illegal migrant costs the taxpayer roughly £400,000 over their lifetime.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick MP claimed last week that studies show each person arriving in the UK “illegally” “costs the taxpayer roughly £400,000 over their lifetime”. This figure is based on a report which estimated that the net cost of “asylum migration” to the Dutch treasury averages €475,000 per immigrant (approximately £400,000). It didn’t look at the cost of asylum seekers or ‘illegal migration’ in the UK.
#Nordics
Faktisk
Falsk: Verdens land gjør ikke nok for å bekjempe klimaendringene. De planlegger til og med å øke utslippene sine.
Under Arendalsukas ungdomspartilederdebatt 14. august uttalte FpU-leder Simen Velle at han mener Paris-avtalen «er en jævlig stor vits». Dette begrunnet han med at det er mange land som har gått med på mål som ikke krever at de skal kutte klimagassutslipp, men at de kan øke utslippene sine frem mot 2030. Dette er riktig når vi ser på tidligere klimamål for landene innen 2030 sammenlignet med nivået i 1990. Men disse klimamålene er nå utdaterte, og alle landene har oppdatert sine mål til å være mer ambisiøse.
#WTF?! What The Fact of the week
Snopes
True: The U.S. Capitol contains an empty tomb originally built to hold the remains of George Washington.
The U.S. Capitol contains a tomb that was originally built for George Washington, the first U.S. president, but was never used and remains empty. As the official website for the Architect of the Capitol explains, the space intended to serve as Washington's tomb is located directly underneath a vaulted first-floor space known as the Crypt because of its "resemblance to similar areas in churches." The original structure of the Capitol was completed in the 1820s, and Congress began planning to transfer Washington's remains to the building. The transfer was scheduled to take place in 1832, during celebrations for the centennial of Washington's birth but was refused by a relative of Washington.
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