Claim: A picture shows the dead bodies of 13 people who died during the 2023 Hajj. Fact: The image dates back to at least 2017. On 10 July 2023, Facebook user ‘Ahmad Raza’ posted (archive) an image of multiple dead bodies, lined up in white cloth, inside what appears to be the Kaaba, or the […]
Claim: A collage of three pictures prove that Seema Haider is an Indian spy. Fact: The pictures show three different women. The black-and-white image shows Usharani Narendra, one of India’s first woman sub-inspectors of police. Another one depicts Major Samia Rehman, a Pakistan Army officer who has served in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DR […]
Claim: The world’s oldest olive tree is found in “Jerusalem, Israel” and is “estimated to be over 3000 years old”; a picture accompanying the claim shows a gnarly old tree with an extremely thick trunk. Fact: The picture shows the Olive Tree of Vouves in the Ano Vouves village in Kolymvari, which is located on Greece’s […]
Claim: A video shows animals roaming the streets of France after protestors freed them from a zoo as riots erupted in the country over the killing of an Algerian teenager Nahel M in June 2023. Fact: The video is unrelated to the June and July 2023 protests in France but is actually a compilation of […]
Claim: London’s iconic landmark Trocadero building — previously an entertainment complex — will be turned into a three-story mosque by property tycoon Asif Aziz. Fact: The entire Trocadero building is not being converted into a mosque, and nor will it utilise three floors. Originally built as a restaurant in 1896, the Trocadero was later turned […]
Claim: A video shows the Swedish presidential palace on fire after the incident of the Holy Quran burning in Sweden. Fact: The clip is not from Sweden. It shows the Manila Central Post Office in the Philippines, engulfed in fire in May 2023. Sweden has faced condemnations from Muslim countries for permitting an Iraqi refugee, […]
Claim: Pakistan’s former minister Fawad Chaudhry has mocked India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission in a recent interview. Fact: The clip is from May 2019, when Chaudhry commented on the disputes over sightings of the Ramadan and Eid moons in Pakistan as the Minister of Science and Technology. He has not given any remarks on India’s recent […]
Claim: A video shows the Congo Army chief being dragged away from his vehicle into a building by his wife, who has accused him of cheating. Fact: The video does not, in fact, show the Congo Army chief but another man. Moreover, the clip is from a movie and shared online in a misleading context. […]
Claim: A video shows a woman being shot dead in the Manipur state of India. Fact: The video is old and not from Manipur. On 21 July 2023, the chief of Public News’ Karachi bureau, Samar Abbas, retweeted a video (archive) showing a woman in the Manipur state of India being forced to kneel down […]
Claim: US Marshals have arrested Bill Gates and charged him with “war crimes against humanity”; he is now being held under armed watch at Guantanamo Bay. The text is attributed to the Washington Post. An accompanying photo shows Gates strapped to a gurney. Fact: Gates has not been arrested and the accompanying photo has been […]
Claim: Germany has banned at least 12 spices manufactured by Shan Foods after ethylene oxide was found in it. Fact: At the time of publishing, Shan Foods’ spices have not been banned in Germany. At least 12 spices with specific batch dates have been recalled after the authorities issued a warning that these products contain […]
Claim: Afghan singer Hasiba Noori was shot dead by unknown assailants in Peshawar in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Fact: There is no truth to the claim. Hasiba Noori has released a video statement saying that she is alive. Police in Peshawar and Quetta have also denied receiving information about any such targeted killing. On 17 […]