Tag: fact check

  • Fact-check: Is PM Shehbaz Sharif’s UN address the most watched on the UN’s YouTube channel?

    Fact-check: Is PM Shehbaz Sharif’s UN address the most watched on the UN’s YouTube channel?

    The government on Monday, shared a picture on the Instagram page ‘govtofpakistan’ which claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech got more views than any world leader on the official YouTube channel of the UN.

     

     

    The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that PM Shehbaz Sharif’s speech was watched by 137,000 viewers on the UN’s official channel.

     

    Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Federal Minister of Broadcast and Information Attaullah Tarar, while declaring the success of Pakistan’s foreign policy, said, “Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s address was most watched at the UN General Assembly.”

     

    Is this claim true?

    On the YouTube channel of the United Nations, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s address has not remained on top in terms of views, rejecting the Pakistan government’s claims of the most-watched premier at the UN.

     

    Shehbaz has 179,000 views on the UN’s official YouTube channel so far since it was uploaded on September 28.

     

     

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu was watched 212,000 times and remains on top in terms of views on YouTube.

     

    The President of the United States (US), Joe Biden, has a total of 110,000 views so far, since it was uploaded on September 22.

     

     

    President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian’s address has 152,000 views on the UN’s YouTube official channel.

     

    Furthermore, the address of the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, has 58,000 views.

     

     

    At the time the claim was made, Netanyahu had more views than Shehbaz on the UN’s YouTube channel. Journalist Mansoor Ali Khan also revealed this information on his YouTube channel.

     

  • False claims link bailed Mahal Baloch to BLA suicide attacker

    False claims link bailed Mahal Baloch to BLA suicide attacker

    A series of violent attacks took place on August 26 in Balochistan, including a suicide attack by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in Lasbela.

    The BLA identified one of the bombers as Mahal Baloch in the attack on the Frontier Corps (FC) camp.

    On social media, people linked her to a recently bailed woman named Mahal Baloch, who was alleged to have possessed a suicide jacket.

    Geo Fact Check has reported that these claims are false.

    The confusion stems from two Baloch women having the same names.

    Imran Baloch, the lawyer for the bailed Mahal Baloch, told Geo Fact Check that his client is from Turbat and is alive, while the suicide attacker was from Gwadar, a coastal area of Balochistan.

    Baloch, a 30-year-old widow with two children, was charged with carrying a suicide jacket, which she vehemently denied, according to Imran.

    On May 10, 2023, she was granted bail by the two-judge bench of the Balochistan High Court.

    Moreover, the lawyer has revealed pictures of the two women, proving that they have no resemblance and are, thus two different people.

    On August 26, the Majeed Brigade, a faction of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), carried out multiple attacks, resulting in seventy-three casualties.

  • Fact Check: Viral video of Mahrang Baloch’s arrest actually from 2020

    Fact Check: Viral video of Mahrang Baloch’s arrest actually from 2020

    A video circulated on social media on Thursday shows Baloch activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch being dragged into a police van, suggesting that she has been arrested.

    Dawn.com, however, conducted a fact check and confirmed that the video is from 2020.

    This spread of misinformation coincides with renewed unrest in Balochistan following protests by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in Gwadar on July 28. The protests were against human rights violations and exploiting the province’s resources. The demonstrations led to arrests and violent clashes with security forces.

    Since then, the arrest of prominent leaders has intensified the protests.

    Currently, the BYC has signed an agreement with the provincial government to end the protest, as their demands, including the release of all those arrested, have been met.

  • Pakistani bank statements unacceptable for UK visa? Fake news!

    Pakistani bank statements unacceptable for UK visa? Fake news!

    A letter circulating all over social media claiming that the United Kingdom will no longer accept financial documents from major Pakistani banks for visa or immigration applications and that English language tests, including IELTS, will be considered unacceptable for Pakistani students has turned out to be fake.

    In the letter allegedly issued by UK Visas and Immigration, it was stated that certain Pakistani banks’ statements would no longer be acceptable for UK visa applications.

    The letter then goes on to name nine major banks in the country.

    It also listed English language tests allegedly rejected by the UK, including Oxford ELLT Digital, IELTS Life Skills, and Pearson Test of English.

    The British High Commission in Islamabad debunked the letter as false, clarifying that no such restrictions have been imposed.

    The official statement by the Commission was posted on X (Twitter) account and confirmed by the Geo Fact Check team via mail. It stated that the Commission is aware of a “fake document being shared pretending to be from UK Visa and Immigration.”

  • FACTCHECK: Did Umair Jaswal really say, ‘Mera aur Khawar Maneka ka gham aik jaisa hai’?

    FACTCHECK: Did Umair Jaswal really say, ‘Mera aur Khawar Maneka ka gham aik jaisa hai’?

    On Sunday, Neo News posted an article with the title “Mera aur Khawar Maneka ka gham aik jaisa hai: Umair Jaswal”. Later, they deleted the article as singer-cum-actor Umair Jaswal explained that a fake X account with his identity appeared on social media after his former wife Sana Javed married cricketer Shoaib Malik.

    Umair Jaswal also confirmed in his Instagram stories that multiple posts were going viral on social media from unverified and fake accounts.

    The tweets from a fake account with the name @ImairJs were going viral. In one of the tweets, the poster, pretending to be Jaswal, compared himself with the former husband of former first lady Khawar Maneka.

    The famous singer also confirmed that his X (previously Twitter) account has a different user name, @umairjaswal.

    On Saturday, famous cricketer Shoaib Malik posted photos of his wedding with actress Sana Javed.

    Since Sana and Malik had worked together in the past, when the cricketer acted as a model and walked on the ramps, fans believed the earlier images were from one of those photoshoots. However, confirmation of their marriage came from family sources and Malik’s social media post.

  • Sarfraz Bugti refuses to provide details of 14 bombing attacks by Afghans

    Sarfraz Bugti refuses to provide details of 14 bombing attacks by Afghans

    Caretaker government officials are not providing any information to support their claim that Afghan nationals were involved in 14 out of 24 suicide bombing attacks in Pakistan in 2023, Geo has reported.

    Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti disclosed on October 3 that from January until October, Pakistan has witnessed 24 suicide bombing attacks.

    “Of those 24 bombings, 14 have been carried out by Afghan nationals,” he added. “Afghan people attacked us. This includes the Peshawar mosque bombings and the one in Qilla Saifullah and Hangu, amongst others.”

    Sarfraz Bugti also claimed that the government has all the essential proof.

    “Afghan nationals are involved in the attacks on us. We have evidence. We have evidence of everything,” he stated.

    Sarfraz Bugti repeated his claim in multiple interviews with both international and Pakistani news channels.

    The interim government used these metrics to order all undocumented immigrants, as well as 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face deportation.

    Earlier last week, Sarfraz Bugti told Dawn TV that almost 400,000 Afghans have left Pakistan so far.

    Last month, Geo Fact Check reached out to the interior minister and asked for evidence of the involvement of Afghan nationals in suicide bombing attacks, but the interior minister hasn’t responded back until now.

  • Viral video about Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is actually from four kilometres away

    Viral video about Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is actually from four kilometres away

     A video going viral on the other side of the border shows a group dancing at what seems to be an event. The video was spread in India with claims that liquor and meat were served at the event in the Gurdwara Sahib. It is to be noted that meat and alcohol are strictly prohibited in Sikhism and their use is considered against the Sikh protocol. Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib is the second most holiest place for Sikhs around the world for it is believed that Guru Nanak breathed his last here.

    General Secretary, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Jagdip Singh Kahlon called it “unacceptable”. A number of publications also posted the video quoting statements from BJP leaders like Manjinder Singh Sirsa condemning the incident.

    Reputable Journalist Shiraz Hassan debunked the news as “totally false news”. He goes on to elaborate, “The event venue was at least 4KM away from Srri Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara – the whole area is known as Kartapur and the event was organized in Doda village!”

  • Fact-check: Is Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen dead or alive?

    Fact-check: Is Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen dead or alive?

    News about veteran Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s death started circulating on social media today.

    A social media post about Sen’s death that the Indian media was quoting was from Claudia Goldin’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which turned out to be a fake account.

    Claudia Goldin is an American economic historian and has been announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize Economics for this year.

    Sen’s daughter took to X and tweeted:

    “Friends, thanks for your concern but it’s fake news: Baba is totally fine. We just spent a wonderful week together w/ family in Cambridge—his hug as strong as always last night when we said bye! He is teaching 2 courses a week at Harvard, working on his gender book—busy as ever!”

    Seema Chishti, Editor The Wire, corrected the misinformation, clarifying that Sen is very much alive.

    Other accounts also corrected the misinformation being spread about Sen’s death.

  • Journalist corrects Indian media spreading misinformation about Pakistan

    Journalist corrects Indian media spreading misinformation about Pakistan

    Naimat Khan, a journalist working with Arab News, pointed out false news being widely circulated by Indian media.

    Indian news platforms have been reporting that Maulana Qaiser Farooq has been shot and killed in a target attack in Karachi, alleging that he was one of the prominent leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and was a close associate of Hafiz Saeed.

    Khan, however, fact checked and corrected the outlets by stating that Maulana Qaiser Farooq, killed by unknown assailants in Karachi, was associated with Gulshan-e-Umar, a branch of Binori Town, a top Deobandi seminary in Karachi. He pointed out that this institution has no connection with Hafiz Saeed.

  • ‘This is no boarding house’; German Ambassador fact checks Indian ad

    Dr Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India and Bhutan, was forced to fact check an advertisement printed in an Indian newspaper on X (formerly Twitter).

    The ad was of a boarding school fair, complete with a picture of an impressive building. And while India does have numerous buildings built on European architecture styles, the one in the ad, however, was actually Schloss Bellevue — residence for the German Federal President’s principal official in Berlin.

    Ambassador Philipp factually corrected the advertiser as well as the newspaper with humour, directing the post to “Dear Indian parents” stating, “this building is no boarding school! It is the seat of the German President in Berlin. Our Rashtrapati Bhavan as it were.”

    Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India in New Delhi.

    “There are good boarding schools also in Germany – but here, no child will be admitted”, he said, jokingly.

    Dear Indian parents – I found this in today’s newspaper. But this building is no boarding school! It is the seat of the German President in Berlin. Our Rashtrapati Bhavan as it were. There are good boarding schools also in Germany – but here, no child will be admitted

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