A map of a bunker in Azovstal, Ukraine has been released by the Ukrainian government. The area was also featured in Pope Francis who said that those without vaccines will go to hell.
The “moral duty to get vaccinated” is a phrase that was used by Pope Francis who said the unvaccinated will go to hell.
The news industry is complicated, and fake articles and photographs are often disseminated on social media. Every week, the editorial staff at Blasting News identifies the most common hoaxes and incorrect information to help you distinguish truth from untruth. Here are some of the most widely circulated misleading statements this week, none of which are true.
World
The allegation that a scroll of the Book of Esther was discovered in Iran is false.
False claim: “In the 5th century BC, under the reign of Xerxes I, social media users circulated photographs of a claimed original scroll of the Book of Esther, a narrative that narrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from a scheme to annihilate them.” A Jew living in Iran just discovered the ancient book of Esther.
The scroll dates back 1500 years. “The beauty is everything written in pure gold,” says one of the postings’ description.
Truth:
- Lawrence Schiffman, a professor and head of the Global Network for Advanced Research in Jewish Studies at New York University, told the AFP that the paper is plainly a forgery with an arbitrary arrangement of Hebrew characters.
- According to AFP, Jodi Magness, an archaeologist and professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, the scroll has a star of David, which she claims did not become a symbol of Judaism until the Middle Ages.
USA
The White House has decided not to sell coins commemorating Zelensky.
False claim: US social media users circulated photographs of two commemorative coins featuring Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s portrait, along with the claim that the products were manufactured by the White House as part of its “Historical Moments” series.
Truth:
- The coins in the postings were made and are being sold by a business named the White House Gift Shop, according to a reverse image search.
- The shop, contrary to its name, is private and has no ties to the United States presidency or the Joe Biden administration.
- “The White House Gift Shop is privatized,” stated Anthony Giannini, the shop’s CEO and executive director, in a statement to the Associated Press.
- On the official White House website, there is no mention of the commemorative coins commemorating Zelensky.
Italy
The map of the Azovstal steel plant’s subterranean bunker is really a board game image.
False claim: Italian social media users shared an image of a bunker with a research laboratory, a greenhouse, a cistern, and a dormitory, claiming that it was a representation of an alleged underground shelter at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, southern Ukraine, which has been the target of a Russian-led offensive in recent days.
The hashtag #BiolabsinUkraine is used in the postings to promote the conspiracy belief that the Azovstal harbors a hidden NATO facility with biological laboratories. Some Italian TV productions have even utilized the picture of the bunker to depict the combat in Azovstal.
Truth:
- According to a reverse image search, the picture circulated on social media is from a board game called “Blackout: Journey into Darkness,” which was never produced when its Kickstarter campaign failed.
- The game is set in a post-apocalyptic planet overrun by parasitic organisms that compel mankind to live in bunkers. It was designed by Richard T. Broadwater.
Latin America is a continent in South America.
Pope Francis did not declare that anybody who refuse to be vaccinated would go to hell.
False claim: Social media users in Latin America is a continent in South America. have shared an alleged reproduction of a front page from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo with the following headline: “Pope Francis predicts negationists will go to hell for not getting vaccinated.” “At the ceremonial mass this New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis will ask negationists to get vaccinated to enter the kingdom of heaven and will warn that if they don’t, they will have to deal with the devil himself,” the article’s subtitle reads.
Truth:
- Although Pope Francis has spoken out in support of vaccination against Covid-19, there is no record of his saying that individuals would “go to hell” if they do not get vaccinated, either in the press or via official Vatican channels.
- A reverse image search reveals that the photo of Francis on the top page of El Mundo was shot by AFP journalist Filippo Monteforte at the Epiphany Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on January 6, 2022 –not on New Year’s Eve as claimed– and not on New Year’s Eve as claimed.
- A check of the website’s other content reveals that the front page was originally published on April 27, 2021, but did not include the digitally edited title regarding the Pope.
Asia
In the photo, Russia is not providing food to Shanghai in 2022.
False claim: In Asia, social media users published a picture of boxes labeled with images of Chinese and Russian flags, along with the claim that the boxes contain food provided by Moscow to Shanghai, which is experiencing a food crisis due to a Covid-19 epidemic.
“Even in the face of Western intimidation and sanctions, beleaguered Russia contributed 6 million catties (3,600 metric tonnes) of grains and flour to help Shanghai combat the epidemic,” says the caption of the photos.
Truth:
- The picture shared on social media was uploaded on Twitter by China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on April 3, 2020, according to a reverse image search.
- The photograph, according to the journal, depicts medical supplies transported by China to Moscow in 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Africa
The article asserting a correlation between referee whistles and athlete cardiac issues is false.
False claim: South Africans on social media have circulated a claimed screenshot of an article from the Irish Examiner claiming that referee whistles are causing players’ heart issues.
Truth:
- There is no trace of the item that is spreading on social media on the Irish Examiner’s website or its Twitter and Facebook profiles, according to a search.
- The Irish Examiner’s editor, Tom Fitzpatrick, told Reuters that “no such item has ever been published” by the publication.
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