SciCheck Digest It’s not known what sparked the wildfires in Maui, although some evidence points to downed power lines. The conditions were ripe for fire, as large amounts of invasive grasses were dry due to drought and high winds helped to rapid
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Maui Did NOT Ban New Building Unless There Was A Serious Natural Disaster
Did government officials in Maui pass a law prohibiting new building unless some sort of "serious natural disaster" occurred, thereby raising suspicions about the cause of the deadly August 2023 wildfires on the Hawaiian island? No, that'
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ No, Hawaii didn’t pass a law allowing development only in the event of a natural disaster
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.
PolitiFact→ Donald Trump – Did Fulton County DA Fani Willis campaign to ‘get Trump'? No, she didn’t say that
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump.’”
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ Video of light flashing through sky above a beach was taken in Florida, not Maui, contrary to claims
CLAIM: A video of a beam of light traveling through clouds across the sky above the ocean was filmed in Lahaina, in Maui, around the time of the wildfires.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NASA In Hebrew Does NOT Translate To ‘To Deceive’
Does NASA translated from Hebrew mean "to deceive" in English? No, that's not true: NASA is an English-language acronym that stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In Hebrew, there is a word that is pronounced like
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show 2023 DEW Attack On Hawaii — It’s A 2018 SpaceX Launch From California
Did a laser beam from a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) blast Hawaii just before the wildfires started in August 2023? No, that's not true: This is not a photo of a DEW laser hitting Hawaii. It shows a time-lapse image of a SpaceX rocket lau
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Latvia Did NOT Plan To Invade Russia In 2023 Or Between 2011 And 2015 — It’s A Parody Account’s Claim
Have Latvia's "secret plans" to invade Russia recently been exposed? And does information from military archives confirm these plans? No, that's not true: The author of the claim later publicly referred to it as "obvious satire." The stor
FactCheck.org→ Injection Protects Babies from RSV Hospitalization, Has Not Been Linked to Deaths
SciCheck Digest Each year, respiratory syncytial virus hospitalizes 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved an antibody injection for babies to protect them during the RSV season. There i
Full Fact→ Mountain Dew drink doesn’t prove Maui fires were ‘planned’
The claim has been shared widely online following wildfires on the Hawaiian island.
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: Georgia officials didn't “forget” to redact the names of the grand jurors who indicted former President Donald Trump; that's standard in the state.
The Dispatch→ New Georgia GOP Chair Straddles Trump and Kemp on 2020 Election Question
Plus: Where is Doug Burgum?
Logically→ France is not preparing air strikes against Niger to retain its economic influence in the country
Logically→ Obamas and other celebrities’ estates and mansions survived the Maui fires not because they were directed
Logically→ Video extract shared to claim Putin snubbed a handshake with French President
Logically→ Old visuals captured by International Space Station passed off as visuals from Chandrayaan 3
Logically→ Digitally altered image used to claim laser beam started fires in Hawaii
Logically→ Visuals of a transformer exploding in Chile shared as footage of Hawaii wildfire
Logically→ No, the Governor of Hawaii did not say that a ‘bomb and fire went off’ in Lahaina
Logically→ Edited video of BBC news clip shared as President Biden’s ‘confession’ that Buhari died 6 years ago
Logically→ పులి స్నానం చేస్తున్నట్టు గా వైరల్ అవుతున్న వీడియో కర్ణాటకలోని కూర్గ్ లో తీసినది కాదు
Logically→ ಶಾರ್ಟ್ ಫಿಲಿಮ್ ನ ದೃಶ್ಯವನ್ನು ಹರಿಯಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಮರ ವಿರುದ್ದದ ಹಿಂಸಾಚಾರ ಎಂದು ತಪ್ಪಾಗಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ
Logically→ Old video of mulch fire in Cleveland passed off as visuals of wildfires in Hawaii and California
The Dispatch→ Strolling Toward a Shutdown
Plus: So much for the hopes for a room-temperature semiconductor.
Logically→ రామాయణంకి సంబంధించి రాహుల్ గాంధీ చేసిన వ్యాఖ్యలని క్లిప్ చేసి వైరల్ చేశారు
Logically→ RFK Jr. makes false claims about children’s vaccines safety
Logically→ No, this video does not show a ‘direct energy weapons attack’ on Maui
The Dispatch→ Braindead Partisanship
McMuffindom and bongism.
The Dispatch→ Curb Your Enthusiasm
Even ‘We the People’ need checks and accountability.
The Dispatch→ Donald Trump’s RICO Nightmare
A primer on the racketeering case brought by Fani Willis.
The Dispatch→ Systematic Reviews of Gender Transition Treatments, Explained
The American Academy of Pediatrics is playing catch-up with European health officials.
Logically→ ৰামায়ণৰ ওপৰত ৰাহুল গান্ধীৰ মন্তব্যৰ অসম্পূৰ্ণ ভিডিঅ’ ভাইৰেল হৈছে
Logically→ এই ভিডিঅ’টোত মণিপুৰৰ এক কুকি-মেইটেই যুটিয়ে একেলগে গান গোৱা নাই
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Hawaii’s Governor Green Did NOT Announce State To Take Ownership Of Lahaina To Turn It Into A ‘Smart City’
Did Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announce in mid-August 2023 that the state will take ownership of Lahaina to convert it into "a smart city"? No, that's not true: The governor discussed a range of measures aimed at protecting housing security f
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Laser Beam Was NOT Present In Press Photo Of Burning Lahaina Church — Photo Was Swiped And Edited To Deceive
Did an orange laser beam ignite a fire in a Maui church that was already consumed in flames, surrounded by blowing embers, and palm trees bending in a heavy wind? No, that's not true: This photo has been altered. The original photo by Mau
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO ‘Secret CDC Report’ Shows Hundreds Of Thousands Of Children ‘Died Suddenly’ Following Rollout Of COVID-19 Vaccines
Does a "secret CDC report" show hundreds of thousands of children "died suddenly" in the United States following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout? No, that's not true: The author or authors of the article making the claims did not find any su
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ A photo of a US Navy test was edited to add a UFO rising out of the ocean
CLAIM: A photo shows a UFO emerging from the ocean next to a naval ship and a large explosion. AP’S ASSESSMENT: Altered photo.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Speed Of ‘Fire and Fury’ Book Publication Does NOT Prove Maui Fire Was Planned Or Foretold
Is the unusually fast publication speed for the book "Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and Its Implications for Climate Change" a sign that something is suspicious -- that the author either was tipped off the disaster was go
The Dispatch→ The End of Electability
As Trump’s jeopardy deepens, his primary lead grows.
ABC News / AP Fact Check→ Misinfo about ‘suitcases’ of ballots and a burst pipe in 2020 return after Trump’s Georgia indictment
CLAIM: On election night in 2020, a burst water pipe at a ballot processing site in Georgia’s Fulton County allowed workers to steal the election from former President Donald Trump.