MARY ALEXANDER • 20 JULY 2024

“Settler savages try to tear a Palestinian child apart in the occupied West Bank,” reads the caption for a photo circulating on social media in South Africa and elsewhere since late June 2024.

The photo shows men pulling at the legs of a small person, horizontal and off the ground, while others – obscured by onlookers – pull at the person’s arms. A man in uniform is at left.

On Facebook, the claim has been posted* as a screenshot of a now-deleted X post with comments such as:

• “They will tell you all the Arab hate them and want to anhilate them. If it’s true maybe there ia a strong reason to this….”
• “This is what Zionism has turned them into.”
• “When basic human standards are violated…. The barbaric nature of the Zionist Israeli settlers….”

Israel is a country in the Middle East and the world’s only Jewish state, established within Palestine in 1948. Today, what remains of Palestine is the tiny Gaza Strip to the west and the larger West Bank in the east, so named because it lies on the western bank of the Jordan river.

Since 1967 Israeli settlements have steadily encroached on Palestinian territories, particularly the West Bank. The United Nations human rights commissioner has reported that some 700,000 Israeli settlers are “living illegally in the occupied West Bank”.

On 19 July the UN’s international court of justice gave an advisory opinion that Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories was illegal, and that Israel was obliged to end its presence, evacuate all settlers and stop new settlements.

But does the photo really show settlers trying to “tear a Palestinian child apart in the occupied West Bank”?

Border police halt illegal occupiers during 2009 settlement freeze

A reverse image search reveals that the photo is almost 15 years old, and the person being pulled at is an Israeli settler, not a Palestinian child.

The photo is part of the Getty Images collection of stock photography, credited to AFP photographer Yehuda Raizner and dated 13 September 2009.

Its caption reads: “Israeli settlers try to pull a fellow settler as he is dragged away by border policemen during clashes at the entrance to the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad, west of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, after Israeli police tried to confiscate a truck containing material to build a new house.”

It adds: “The United States has been trying for months to secure an Israeli settlement freeze while pressing Arab states for reciprocal concessions to clear the way for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks suspended in late December.”

The 2009 attempt at a settlement freeze was just one of many over decades.

There is no Palestinian child in the photo. The claim is false.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Report published by Africa Check on 30 July 2024

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MARY ALEXANDER • 11 July 2024

Has Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni sent “40 truckloads” of troops to put down the recent finance bill protests in neighbouring Kenya?

That’s the claim in the caption for a photo circulating on social media since 25 June 2024.*

The photo shows a convoy of military and other vehicles on a road, heavily armed soldiers standing around them.

The caption reads: “Museveni sends 40 truckloads of UPDF to ‘quell Kenyan treasonous Gen Z demonstrations’.” One post on X has been viewed almost 500,000 times.

The UPDF is the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces. Gen Z refers to the popular notion of generation Z, young people born from 1997 to 2012.

On 18 June a wave of peaceful protests against the controversial Finance Bill 2024 swept Kenya. The bill proposed increased taxes on essential goods from bread to cooking oil, as well as new taxes on digital revenue and motor vehicles. It also set aside millions of US dollars to renovate State House.

When legislators passed the bill on 25 June the protests – largely led by young people – turned violent. Demonstrators stormed the grounds of parliament, setting part of the building on fire. Police responded with force and five people were shot dead.

President William Ruto denounced the protests as “treasonous”. A day later he said he would not sign the bill into law.

According to Kenya’s human rights commission, at least 39 people were killed in the protests from 18 June to 1 July

But does the photo really show troops from Uganda being sent to “quell Kenyan treasonous Gen Z demonstrations”?

Ugandan peacekeeping force contingent occupies DRC town

A reverse image search reveals that the photo has been online for more than a year, since April 2023. And while it does show Ugandan troops, they are not in Kenya.

The photo appears in several news reports on M23 rebels withdrawing from the town of Bunagana in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early April of that year. A Ugandan contingent of the East African Community Regional Force then occupied the town.

It was posted on the X account @UPDFspokespersn on 3 April, with the caption: “Yesterday 2nd April 2023, Uganda Contingent of the East African Community Regional Force officially occupied areas of Bunagana Eastern DRC for a peacekeeping Mission in DRC after M23 left the area for UPDF.”

Yesterday 2nd April 2023, Uganda Contingent of the East African Community Regional Force officially occupied areas of Bunagana Eastern DRC for a peacekeeping Mission in DRC after M23 left the area for UPDF. pic.twitter.com/hA0Wi5SYKz

— – (@UPDFspokespersn) April 3, 2023

Conflict between M23 and government forces, supported by regional peacekeeping forces, has been raging in the DRC’s eastern North Kivu province since 2012. The United Nations has found that M23 receives support from Rwanda.

M23 had reportedly held Bunagana, a strategic town in North Kivu, for more than nine months.

There have been no credible news reports of Ugandan troops being sent to quell the protests in Kenya. And the photo was shot in the DRC in 2023.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 15 July 2024

The post Ugandan troops sent to suppress ‘treasonous Gen Z demos’ in Kenya? No, old pic from DR Congo appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 8 JULY 2024

“Young Ukrainian girls are being forced into the military to fight the war against Russia,” reads the caption for a photo doing the rounds on Facebook in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere since late June 2024.*

The photo shows a group of young women in camouflage uniform with their heads bowed.

The Russia-Ukraine war in eastern Europe has been waging for more than two years now, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its western neighbour in February 2022.

The United States and countries of northern and western Europe have supported Ukraine with aid, weapons and military equipment.

The claim has been posted with comments such as:

• “This Conscription Of Young Girls Is One Too Many. Why Force Them?”
• “They have no respect for women, the west is immoral.”
• “Biden is e v i l.”

Joe Biden is the president of the United States.

But does the photo really show “young girls” forced into Ukraine’s military to fight Russia?

Ukrainian military conscripts must be at least 25

A reverse image search reveals that the photo is one of more than 20 showing a ceremony at Kyiv National University’s Taras Shevchenko Military Institute. Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine.

The photos were posted on the institute’s Facebook page on 11 June. The ceremony was to honour fallen graduates.

The viral photo also appears in a Ukrainian-language news report. A machine translation of its caption reads: “On Tuesday, June 11, the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv commemorated the fallen graduates.”

The report adds: “The rector of KNU Volodymyr Bugrov, the management of the military institute, officers, military chaplains, cadets and relatives honoured the fallen soldiers. The military chaplain of the institute Serhiy Dmitriev and other representatives of the clergy read a prayer.”

This can all be seen in the photos on the institute’s Facebook post.

And a closer look at the viral photo reveals that the women are all wearing the emblem of the Taras Shevchenko Military Institute on their left shoulders. Another photo of graduates wearing the same emblem can be seen here.

Ukraine does conscript civilians into the military, but they have to be adults. In April, the minimum conscription age was lowered from 27 to 25.

The women in the photo are student cadets at Kyiv university’s military institute, their heads bowed during a ceremony to honour fallen graduates. They aren’t being “forced into the military to fight the war against Russia”.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 10 July 2024

The post Photo of Ukrainian university cadets, not ‘young girls forced to fight Russia’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 17 JUNE 2024

Warning: This report fact-checks and links to violent and distressing imagery.

“This is the height of savagery. Nigerians reportedly burnt alive in South Africa this morning,” reads the caption of a video posted on X on 15 May 2024.

The graphically violent video is difficult to describe. Two men, one motionless, lie under a pile of tyres that burst into flames. As one rises to escape the fire he is hacked with a machete. The camera pans to show many more bodies on a road. Blood is everywhere.

A screenshot of the X post was shared on Facebook on the same day with the caption: “Nigerians in south Africa.”*

The following day, 16 May, Nigerian separatist Simon Ekba posted the video on X with a lengthy message to Julius Malema, leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party. South Africa held elections two weeks later.

The message reads, in part: “Dear @Julius_S_Malema this barbarism by South Africans against fellow Africans is completely unacceptable […] The people these guys are killing are Biafrans and Yorubas, they came to SA with Nigeria identity shouldn’t be a death sentence.”

It was soon reposted across social media with the video or screenshots from it.

Ekpa is the self-proclaimed “prime minister” of a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra, a secessionist movement that seeks the independence of southeastern Nigeria from the rest of the country. He is a citizen of Finland.

Xenophobia and the ‘burning man’

Outbreaks of xenophobic violence, mainly against people from elsewhere on the continent, have erupted across South Africa for decades.

The infamous 2008 attacks killed 19 foreigners. One was Mozambican Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave, who was beaten, stabbed and set alight. Photos of flames engulfing a dying Nhamuave – the iconic “burning man” – drew the world’s attention.

Since 1994 “xenophobic discrimination” has killed at least 673 migrants, according to data collected by Wits University’s Xenowatch project.

More recently, anti-migrant sentiment has been taken up by the social movement and unregistered political party Operation Dudula. “Dudula” means “push back” or “force out” in isiZulu. Malema and the EFF have spoken out against Operation Dudula.

But does the viral video really show an attack on Nigerians in South Africa?

‘Mobsters burned alive’ in Haiti

Outbreaks of xenophobic violence in South Africa attract global media attention. Photos of “burning man” Nhamuave, for example, were splashed across newspaper pages the world over in 2008.

But there have been no credible news reports of Nigerians being “burnt alive” in South Africa in May 2024.

Africa Check took screenshots from the video and ran them through reverse image searches. These revealed that it was shot in the troubled Caribbean island country of Haiti in 2023.

A longer version of the video was posted on the website Krudplug on 25 April of that year. Here its description reads:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI: A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said. The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

It was also published by the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper in an article dated 1 May 2023, under the headline: “Mobsters burned alive, public stonings, gang-rape, ransom demands and political assassinations: How violence has gripped Haiti – with civilians now carrying out brutal executions to reclaim the streets.”

News reports on the incident can also be seen here, here, here and here.

Social media users have also claimed that the video was recently shot in Mozambique, and in Kenya (here, here and here).

None of this is true. The video shows an attack on gang members in Haiti in 2023.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Edited version published by Africa Check on 20 June 2024

The post Video of vigilante violence in Haiti, not ‘Nigerians burnt alive in South Africa’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 10 JUNE 2024

On the night of 26 May 2024 an Israeli airstrike on a tent camp in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah claimed at least 46 civilian lives, half of them women, children and older people.

More than a million refugees have fled to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, to escape Israel’s invasion. The bombing was in a part of the city Israeli authorities had designated a “safe zone” for civilians.

The Israel-Gaza war began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel from Gaza on 7 October 2023. As of 5 June 2024, the war has killed more than 36,500 people in Gaza and over 1,200 in Israel.

Soon after the Rafah strike, disturbing images and videos claimed to show its dead and wounded started circulating on social media. Equally distressing videos appeared in news reports, with advisories that the worst footage had been omitted.

One eyewitness described the scene: “I saw bodies everywhere. Children burning. I saw heads without bodies, the injured running around in pain, some alive but trapped inside burning tents.”

The attack came two days after the International Criminal Court ordered Israel to stop its broader assault on Rafah, which began on 6 May. The order came out of South Africa’s ongoing genocide case against Israel.

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

Then a video of a woman condemning the Rafah strike started doing the rounds on social media, with the claim she was US actor Candice King.*

The video begins with text on the screen: “BEHEADED BABIES! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

The woman says: “I’m not talking about you guys or the Israeli government. I’m talking about you guys who still remain silent because you don’t want to lose your sponsor.”

The video’s most common caption reads: “American actress Candice King calls out the Israeli regime for slaughtering babies in Gaza, with last night’s massacre in Rafah standing as the most recent evidence.”

Separate analyses of the strike’s debris by CNN and the New York Times found that the bombs used were made in the US. That country has supported Israel since the 7 October Hamas attack.

US backing has been crucial to Israel. But polls suggest US public opinion on the war has become divided. Celebrity opinion is equally divided.

Did Hollywood actor Candice King, known for her roles in the hit TV series The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, really post the video?

US actor has not mentioned Rafah strike

A quick look at photos and videos of the actor Candice King shows that she is not the woman in the viral video. Their features and hair colour are different – as are their accents.

Reverse image searches of frames from the video led us to the Instagram account of another Candice King, a South African travel influencer. The account’s bio reads: “South Africa’s most followed travel family. Using our voice to free Palestine.”

King posted her Instagram video condemning the Rafah bombing on 27 May. She has posted several other messages in support of Palestine.

The US actor King has not mentioned Rafah on her Instagram or X/Twitter accounts since the 26 May airstrike.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 10 June 2024

The post Which Candice King? South African travel influencer in video condemning Gaza bombing, not US actor with same name appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 5 JUNE 2024

“AMERICAN soldiers watch as RUSSIAN soldiers TAKE OVER a base the US built and paid for in NIGER,” reads the caption for a photo circulating on social media since May 2024.*

The photo shows two people in uniform, their backs to the camera, looking at three armoured vehicles on a dusty road. The vehicles fly the flag of Russia.

Niger is a country in West Africa, bordering Nigeria to the north. In July 2023 the government of its democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a military coup.

In March 2024 the military government revoked a security pact that had allowed the US to station some 1,000 troops on two bases in Niger to help fight insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

A month later the US announced it would withdraw its forces from Niger. In May, the two countries agreed that the withdrawal would be complete by 15 September.

In the meantime, military trainers from Russia arrived in Niger “to develop military cooperation between Russia and Niger”. Russian security forces have also been deployed to the same airbase as US troops. The base, outside the capital of Niamey, belongs to the Nigerien airforce.

But does the photo really show Russian soldiers taking over a “base the US built and paid for” in Niger?

May 2020 encounter between troops in northeastern Syria

Africa Check ran the photo through a TinEye reverse image search and sorted the results by date. This revealed that the photo has been online since May 2020 – more than four years ago.

Further searches led us to a Greek-language news report of an encounter between patrolling US and Russian forces in the Middle East country of Syria in May 2020.

Here the photo is credited to Syria-based freelance Agence France Presse photographer Delil Souleiman, who posted it on X (then Twitter).

#US soldiers stand along a road across from #Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APCs), near the village of Tannuriyah in the countryside east of #Qamishli in #Syria‘s northeastern Hasakah province on May 2, 2020.
DELIL SOULEIMAN / #AFP pic.twitter.com/LfNfOj1Xkk

— Delil souleiman (@Delilsouleman) May 2, 2020

“#US soldiers stand along a road across from #Russian military armoured personnel carriers (APCs), near the village of Tannuriyah in the countryside east of #Qamishli in #Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province on May 2, 2020,” the post reads.

The photo can also be seen on the Getty Images stock photo site with a similar caption. It does not show any military base.

In May 2020 Syria was still in the throes of a civil war that began in 2011. Russia gave the Syrian government military support, while the US involvement was largely against the Islamic State and to protect the Kurdish minority.

There were several reports of run-ins between Russian and US troops in Syria’s northeast in 2020.

The photo was shot in Syria in 2020, not in Niger in 2024.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 7 June 2024

The post Russian troops taking over US base in Niger? No, photo shot in Syria appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 3 JUNE 2024
Published by Africa Check on 7 June 2024

“The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu,” reads the common version of a claim circulating on social media in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and elsewhere since 20 May 2022.*

Other versions include:

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) officially issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu & the Israeli Minister of Defense.
• The International Criminal Court which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for war crimes is the same ICC at which Jack Smith, special persecutor of President Trump was employed.
• Finally, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu … the International Court of Justice has also issued arrest warrants against Hamas leaders.

Benjamin Netanyahu has led Israel’s response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on his country, which killed more than 1,200 people. At least 245 hostages were taken and other crimes – including rape and torture – committed during and after the attack.

It was launched mainly from the Gaza Strip, a 363 square kilometre Palestinian territory wedged between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East.

The Israel-Gaza war has as of 31 May 2024 killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza by both military action and a total blockade of essential supplies such as medicine and food. The war is said to be one of the most deadly of the many conflicts since the state of Israel was established within Palestine in 1948.

In December 2023 South Africa opened a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice for breaching the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention by its actions in Gaza.

The convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.

South Africa accused Israel of “killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, and inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction”.

The case is known as South Africa vs Israel, and continues to be heard. Other countries, including Mexico, Libya and Colombia, have since joined South Africa in its suit.

But it’s not true that an arrest warrant has been issued for Netanyahu. Before we discuss why, let’s look at the difference between the two international courts.

Cases against individuals, cases between countries

The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) both work out of the Hague in the Netherlands to judge crimes against international law.

But there are important differences.

The ICJ – also known as the world court – is the main judicial body of the United Nations and hears disputes between states, such as South Africa vs Israel.

The ICC, by contrast, investigates and prosecutes individual people suspected of committing international crimes. These are set out in a treaty known as the Rome Statute and include crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

ICC prosecutor files request to judges

On 20 May the ICC’s chief prosecutor, British lawyer Karim Khan, applied to the court’s first of two pre-trial chambers for arrest warrants against five people for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the “situation in the State of Palestine”.

The five are Netanyahu, as well as Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.

Khan’s application accuses Netanyahu and Gallant of the crimes of murder, starvation, attacks on civilians and more. The three Hamas leaders are accused of being responsible for similar crimes, as well as rape and torture.

But it’s still an application. The ICC has not issued any arrest warrant for the five. And Netanyahu has not been accused of genocide.

Khan’s application has to be decided by ICC judges in a process likely to take months. In March 2008, for example, the ICC prosecutor requested a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese military leader Omar al-Bashir. ICC judges only issued the actual warrant a year later, in March 2009.

The new application has been condemned by the United states, which has not signed the ICC’s Rome Statute. There is debate about whether the ICC will issue the arrest warrants at all.

At the time of publication, the ICC had not issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Netanyahu.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

The post International Criminal Court hasn’t issued arrest warrant for Israeli PM Netanyahu – judges still to decide appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 10 MAY 2024
Published by Africa Check on 14 May 2024

“Huge group of Africans joined the Russian army,” reads text on a video circulating on social media since April 2024.*

It shows a small group of men, most of them black, in winter camouflage marching and chanting an African song on a snowy parade ground with other troops and the Russian flag in the background.

It also shows the face of the narrator.

“Ghanaians are joining the Russian army! Can you imagine?” he exclaims.

Ghana is a country in West Africa.

“Because the Russian army is the most powerful military on the face of the Earth,” the narrator adds. “These are Ghanaians. This is so amazing. Are you African and want to join the Russian army? President Putin has proven to be the strongest president on Earth.”

The video includes a photo of Russian president Vladimir Putin sipping champagne.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022 divided the world, including countries in Africa. There are reports that Russia has recruited men from Africa, as well as from India and Nepal, to fight in the war.

The claim can also be seen here, here, here and here.

But the soldiers in the video had not joined the Russian army.

Angolan soldiers studying in Russia

The lead soldier carries a red and black flag with a yellow emblem. This is the flag of Angola, a country in southern Africa. Insignia on the soldiers’ uniforms also show the Angolan flag.

Africa Check took screenshots from the video and ran them through a reverse image search.

This led us to a report in the “offbeat” section of the Irish Times, headlined: “Angolan soldiers sing and dance in Siberian military parade.” It’s dated 27 February 2018.

The report includes a similar video of the same soldiers marching on the same parade ground, although shot from a different angle.

“Angolan cadets studying at a military school in Omsk in Russia’s Siberia, joined Russian troops on February 23rd in the annual Defenders of the Fatherland parade which commemorates Russian and Soviet troops, in minus 14 degrees Celsius weather,” its caption reads.

According to other reports and videos from February 2018 – here, here, here and here – the soldiers were members of the Angolan army studying at the Omsk Automotive and Armoured Engineering Institute, a military school in the southern Russian city of Omsk.

They were taking part in the school’s annual Defender of the Fatherland Day parade in Omsk’s Cathedral Square. According to reports, the soldiers won the audience award for their performance.

The soldiers were from Angola, not Ghana. They did not join the Russian army; they were simply studying in the country. And the video is more than six years old.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

The post Video no proof that ‘huge group of Africans’ joined Russian army appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 22 APRIL 2024
Published by Africa Check on 25 April 2024

“WW3 ALERT.”

That’s the fearmongering theme of a false message circulating on social media since mid-March 2024. WW3 refers to a possible third world war.

The message claims that China has said it will “intervene militarily” if the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) attack Russia.*

China, Russia and the US are among the world’s most powerful countries. Nato – also known by its French acronym Otan – is a military alliance formed in 1949 in response to a perceived threat from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union, which fell apart in 1991.

Nato’s members include Canada and the US in North America, countries in Europe, and Turkey, which straddles Europe and Asia. Its newest member is the previously nonaligned European country of Sweden, which joined on 7 March 2024.

China and Russia are not Nato members.

The false claim has recently appeared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) in Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere. Its versions include:

• CHINA WARNS USA AND NATO. “China is ready to intervene militarily anywhere if the US or NATO decide to attack Russia,” said a Chinese Defense Ministry official.
• “China is prepared to get militarily involved anywhere, if the US and NATO decide ro attack Russia.” ~Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defence. The Chinese know that if the US and NATO are not stopped now, it will be China’s turn next.
• TANKEFEI, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense: “#China is ready to intervene militarily anywhere if the #US or #NATO were to undertake to attack #Russia”
• China Declared that they are Ready, to intervene anywhere militarily if US or Nato Attack Russia. It Brics VS West.

Brics is an intergovernmental grouping founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Many versions of the claim include a video of Chinese president Xi Jinping addressing a huge crowd of soldiers, with military vehicles behind them.

Others link to a 17 March article on the India-based website Times Now, headlined: “China ‘Ready to Intervene’ if US, NATO attack Russia: Report”.

But the claim is false, and old. It first appeared online more than two years ago, when it was dismissed by China’s military.

‘Stop manufacturing and disseminating false information’

First, the video of Xi addressing soldiers is more than six years old. It was posted in an article on the UK Guardian’s website, dated 4 January 2018 and headlined: “Chinese army puts on show of military might for Xi Jinping – video”.

The clip shows 7,000 troops at the start of military training outside Beijing, China’s capital. The subtitles to Xi’s speech do not mention the US, Nato or Russia.

Second, the only source Times Now credits in its article is the dodgy Telegram channel WW3.INFO Battlefield Research. The channel has been criticised for posting false information.

Third, the claim dates back to late February 2022 in the days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

At the time it circulated only in French and Spanish. But machine translations show it’s the same claim.

• From French: “Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Tan Kefei said that anytime, anywhere, they are ready to support Russia in case the United States and NATO want to intervene militarily.”
• From Spanish: “CHINA WILL SUPPORT RUSSIA IF THE US AND NATO INTERVENE MILITARY… It was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Defense. #China #Rusia #Ucrania #EEUU #OTAN #Asia #Europa #Francia #Alemania”

The original claim, in Spanish, can also be seen here, here and here.

At the time, it was fact-checked by Agence France-Presse (AFP), which found it had no basis in fact.

The fact-check adds that China’s defence ministry “strongly denied” the claim.

AFP quotes the ministry as saying (in a machine translation from French): “The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence has never made this statement. We urge relevant media to observe professional ethics and stop manufacturing and disseminating false information.”

And there has been no recent credible news that China announced it would mount a military intervention in the still-unlikely event that the US and Nato invade Russia. Such an announcement would have made global headlines.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

The post China ‘ready to intervene’ if US and Nato attack Russia? No, alarmist old claim dismissed by Chinese defence ministry in 2022 appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 15 APRIL 2024

“Happening: Africa invades Haiti.”

That’s the breathless text added to what seems to be a screenshot of an X/Twitter post by CNN,  circulating on social media.*

The post is dated 12 March 2024 and uses the @CNN handle. It reads: “Kenyan present William Ruto reportedly called president Joe Biden to organize the purchase of ‘several dozen’ WW2 era amphibious landing crafts for a naval invasion of the Haitian coast.”

Text below adds: “African nations are about to launch a D-day style invasion on Haiti. Holy fuck.”

The D-Day naval invasion of France was a turning point in the second world war.

On 11 March, the troubled Caribbean island country of Haiti was plunged into fresh turmoil when unelected prime minister Ariel Henry resigned as organised criminal gangs tightened their grip on the country. Earlier in the month a state of emergency was declared after the gangs freed some 3,500 inmates from a prison in Port au Prince, the capital.

Henry came to power after the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021. In January 2024 he left Haiti to visit, among other countries, Kenya. There he signed a deal to fast-track a long-delayed agreement to send paramilitary police to help tackle Haiti’s gang violence.

He has been stranded outside the country ever since.

The Kenya-led international policing mission to Haiti was approved by the UN security council in October 2023. But the day after Henry’s resignation, Kenyan president William Ruto announced that the mission would be “paused”.

Did CNN really tweet that Ruto then asked US president Joe Biden to organise the purchase of “WW2 era amphibious landing crafts” for a “naval invasion” of Haiti?

Ways to spot a fake

There are several signs that the X post is fake.

• On CNN’s verified X account, the profile pic is square with the CNN logo in normal proportions. On the viral image the pic is round and the logo squashed horizontally.
• The post ends with “Twitter for iPhone”. X (then Twitter) removed identification of the app used to make a post – “Twitter for iPhone” or “Twitter for Android” – more than a year ago, in December 2022.
• It uses language that wouldn’t be posted by an international news organisation. Ruto’s title of “president” is misspelled as “present”, and “landing crafts” written instead of “landing craft”.

Several advanced searches for the post on the @CNN X account returned no results. The account hasn’t mentioned, for example, “William Ruto”, “amphibious landing crafts” or “naval invasion” since at least 1 March 2024.

No news of Kenya planning to invade Haiti could be found on any CNN website, or reported by any other media organisation. The X post is fake.

On 13 April Ruto welcomed the establishment of a transitional presidential council in Haiti, a move intended to begin the restoration of order in the country.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 19 April 2024

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