Mostly false: “We won’t be able to feed our families in 2050”

On October 23, 2022, Mirjam Herrmann, a Member of the climate activist group “Letzte Generation” threw mashed potatoes on the Claude Monet painting “Les Meules” and asserted: “We are in a climate catastrophe… I’m afraid because science tells us that we won’t be able to feed our families in 2050.“ Though her concerns are valid,…

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Mostly true: Wages grew more than prices in countries that introduced the euro

On December 10th 2021, Boris Vujčić stated in a press conference that people should not fear higher prices after the introduction of the Euro in Croatia. He claims that in recent years wages grew more than prices in the countries that introduced the euro. Our investigation concludes that this claim is mostly true. In 2023…

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fact checking

Mostly false: “The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is fully carbon-neutral”

The World Cup in Qatar is advertised as the first fully carbon neutral tournament. Skepticism about this claim is widespread. Can a major sporting event in a country that is strongly reliant on fossil fuels really produce zero carbon emissions? We checked this claim and found out that it is mostly false: FIFA has highly…

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Mostly true: “EU now spends three times more than Russia on defence”

On November 05th, 2022, Irish left-wing party Independents 4 change (I4C) MP Mick Wallace, tweeted that the “Reality is EU now spends 3 times more than Russia” on defence. After analysing the figures Mr. Wallace refers to in his claim, it becomes clear that the claim is mostly true. Numbers from 2021During a word  exchange…

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False: “The EU has not fulfilled its role as a guarantor and sponsor of the Brussels Agreement”

Aleksandar Vulin, Serbia’s former minister of internal affairs and founder of the political party Movement of Socialists, partly blames the European Union for the escalating situation in Kosovo, which is connected to Kosovo’s  decision to change the license plate policy.  This claim turns out to be false. Serbian newspaper Novosti quotes Vulin’s claim, made on…

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Mostly false: “Herd immunity in Germany has already been reached”

On September 7, 2022, Joachim Kuhs, Member of the European Parliament for Germany, declared on Twitter: “Herd immunity (in Germany) has already been reached: The infection control law is not necessary”. This claim turns out to be mostly false. Kuhs is part of Germany’s far-right opposition party AfD, which works against the government’s infection control…

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Mostly false: “Keep migrants out of the UK by leaving the UN-1951 convention”

On April 26th 2022, the British Democrats said that they want to withdraw from the UN 1951 Refugee Convention. This would make sure no more refugees would enter the UK. At least, that’s what they assert. Due to ‘the obligation of non-refoulment’, article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the need for…

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Mostly false: Without the dissenting votes of the AfD, a vaccine mandate would have been introduced in Germany

On April 07th 2022, German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) politician Alice Weidel claimed on Twitter that the vaccine mandate in Germany only failed because of the dissenting votes of her party. She refers to the voting of the deputies in the Bundestag earlier that day. According to Weidel, only 40 votes more…

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Mostly False : “Most of Wallonia and some of Flanders, are depleting their renewable water resources at the highest rate in northern Europe”

On April 27, 2022, Brussels Times published the article “Major Belgian cities in precarious water situation” where it claimed that most of Wallonia and some of Flanders are depleting their renewable water resources at the highest rate in northern Europe. However, it seems that the author misinterpreted data from Aqueduct making the claim mostly false.…

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Mostly true: diverse teams work better in times of crisis

In a recent talk about women in leading positions Ekin Deligöz, the German undersecretary of the Ministry for Families, Elderly, Women and Youth stated that mixed teams work more resiliently, faster, and more sustainable in times of crisis. This statement proved to be mostly true. “Diversity is not only a self-purpose: mixed teams work more…

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