Latest news with #Euroverify
Euronews
5 days ago
- Euronews
How the Liverpool car-ramming sparked the spread of misinformation
A week after a car ploughed into crowds during a Liverpool FC victory parade, turning scenes of joy into horror, UK police have named the suspect as Paul Doyle. Doyle, who comes from the Liverpool area, has been charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and six other serious counts. Almost 80 people – aged between nine and 78 – were injured in the incident last Monday, with at least 50 of them treated in hospitals. The city had been celebrating Liverpool's 20th Premier League title when the driver ploughed into fans. Police believe he had tailed an ambulance in order to pass road blocks onto Water Street, which was closed for the victory parade. Merseyside Police swiftly disclosed the suspect's nationality and ethnicity hours after the attack, describing him as a 53-year-old white, British man from the Liverpool area. Shortly afterwards, they ruled out terrorism as the motive of the attack and said they believed the man acted alone. Experts praised the police's intervention to quickly fill the "information void." An attack in the English town of Southport last July – in which a 17-year-old murdered three young girls – triggered the wild spread of disinformation about the suspect's identity, culminating in violent street riots. Experts say police acted swiftly last week amid the Liverpool car ramming incident in a bid to stamp out speculation and avoid any unrest. Yet, despite the police's swift action, speculation and false claims about the suspect still spread rapidly on social media in the hours after the crash. Social media posts shared later on Monday evening, after police revealed a 53-year-old had been detained, claim to show a screenshot of the "real" driver of the Ford Galaxy car that had rammed into the crowd. A post shared at 21:46 local time on Monday reads: "The initial reports said he was 53 years old and white. Those reports appear to be wrong. This is the driver from the van. Young, and definitely not white. Coverup already running." The same claim was replicated in posts across X, Facebook and Instagram, falsely claiming the police were hiding the real identity of the driver. The claim is false and Merseyside police have confirmed to Euroverify that the man in the photo isn't the suspect. Several posts relaying the false claim remain on X, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform, without any Community Notes to alert users that the information is untrue. We traced the screenshot of the man to a TikTok video shared from the Liverpool parade earlier that same evening. The man can be seen joking around, entering the police car and wearing a policeman's hat. TikTok users point out in the comments on the video that he's being falsely signalled as the driver in other social media posts. According to Euroverify's analysis, this TikTok video was taken on a location on James Street in Liverpool city centre, which was closed for the Liverpool FC parade, according to information provided by the club, suggesting it was taken during the celebrations on 26 May. Another video shared widely online shows a man struggling with police on the ground at the scene of the incident. This man is falsely described as the "53-year-old white, British man" detained by police, with social media users claiming he was not the driver of the vehicle. "Apparently the guy on the floor is the 53-year-old white man who was also arrested, NOT the driver!" one Facebook post claims. We identified the location of the scene as Water Street in Liverpool's city centre, where the crash happened. The images are consistent with corroborated images of the scene of the crash. But the claim is false: Merseyside Police confirmed to Reuters that the man pictured in this video is not the suspect detained. Euroverify detected further uncorroborated claims about the suspect, including several posts alleging he is a member of the UK police force and that a cover up is underway to conceal his identity. The suspect has since been identified as a former Royal Marine, who is a father of three and a local businessman. The UK is about to see the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War as it seeks to send 'a message to Moscow,' the British defence secretary John Healey said on Sunday. Healey said plans for defence spending will be enough to transform the country's military, though he said he does not expect the number of soldiers – currently at a historic low – to rise until the early 2030s. The British government aims for defence spending to hit 2.5% of the country's national income by 2027 – with Healey saying plans are still on track to reach this target. There is 'no doubt' this figure will hit 3% by the 2030s, Healey believes. Westminster will on Monday respond to a strategic defence review overseen by Healey and former NATO secretary general George Robertson. This review is expected to be the most consequential since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and make a series of recommendations advising the UK on how it can deal with emerging threats both on the military front and in the cyberspace. It will reportedly commit £1.5 billion (€1.78 billion) to build six new factories to make munitions to revive the UK's industrial base. Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine highlighted deficiencies in the West's ability to procure weapons – with UK military officers warning about the nation's low amount of munitions.
Euronews
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Fact check: Could an ‘experiment' have caused the Iberian blackout?
An article published last week in British newspaper The Telegraph alleges that the massive electricity outage that left the Iberian Peninsula in darkness on 28 April was triggered by a Spanish government 'experiment' with renewable energies. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph's World Economy Editor, wrote that according to 'sources in Brussels', Spanish authorities were 'probing how far they could push reliance on renewables' in preparation for Spain's phase-out of nuclear reactors. He gave no further details regarding his sources and provided no evidence to back up the claims. The accusations were picked up by major Spanish and international media, such as El Periódico, El Mundo and Antena 3, as well as The Daily Mail and CNN, and amplified by social media users. But a closer look at the article finds that it was in fact published as an opinion-editorial rather than a news article and Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is a regular Telegraph columnist. He uses the 28 April outage to criticise the energy policies of Spain's socialist government led by prime minister Pedro Sánchez. Under a plan agreed in 2019 under Sánchez, Spain will phase out its nuclear power plants over the next decade to focus instead on green energy sources, a move Evans-Pritchard describes as reckless. In his commentary Evans-Pritchard cites 'Brussels sources' as having confirmed that Spain conducted an experiment in the run-up to the blackout. But he then says: 'If it is established that the blackout was a controlled experiment that went wrong, and if this information has been withheld from the public (...) the Spanish Left faces electoral oblivion for a political generation.' Euroverify reached out to the Telegraph to request clarification on the number of sources consulted as well as their function in relation to ongoing investigations into the incident, but have yet to receive a reply. We also asked the European Commission whether they could refute or corroborate the claims. A spokesperson said that the executive would not comment until it had seen the investigation into the causes of the blackout. The Commission has given Spain three months since the date of the outage to present a technical report outlining the incident, a requirement under EU law. An expert European panel is also leading its own probe to be presented to the Commission. Meanwhile, the Spanish government has 'categorically denied" the claims made in the Telegraph. Spain's deputy prime minister María Jesús Montero claimed that there were 'corporate interests' behind the article, adding that the British newspaper is 'known for spreading fake news, lies and trying to distort public opinion.' A spokesperson for Red Eléctrica, the partly state-owned company responsible for managing the Spanish grid, told Euroverify that it 'categorically denied' the claims, adding that it was an example of 'fake news.' To establish whether such a government-led 'experiment' on the grid could, in principle, be feasible, Euroverify spoke to three electrical engineering experts. They explained that while no hypothesis can be completely disregarded, the prospect of such an experiment is highly unlikely. 'Anything could be possible, but this (theory) doesn't seem reasonable,' Manuel Alcázar-Ortega, deputy director of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, told Euroverify. 'From a technical point of view, Red Eléctrica has had a simulator that replicates the entire transmission grid. So these simulations do not need to be done in real life. They can be done in this simulator.' The simulator is used to test the grid's capacity and foresee the evolution of the grid in order to develop its infrastructure and adapt to its future needs, Alcázar-Ortega explained. Professor Dirk Van Hertem, researcher at the EnergyVille research centre in Belgium, confirmed that such computer simulations are used to analyse the grid. He added that while real-life tests can be done in practice, there was 'no evidence that they were done at that moment' in Spain. Van Herteam added that the time in question would not have been conducive to test the grid's capacity to absorb renewables as it was 'not the moment with the highest renewable penetration in Spain.' One month since the blackout, investigations have failed to draw firm conclusions, despite the first analyses pointing to a strong 'oscillation' in the electrical network half an hour before the outage as well as consecutive failures in substations in the south-west of Spain. The lack of answers has fuelled speculation over the impact of an increasing share of renewable energy in the grid. Asked whether renewable energy could have played some part in the outage, Alcázar-Ortega said: 'Everything seems to indicate that it did, with the caveat that the culprit is not renewable energy itself, but probably how this resource has been managed.' Spain has seen an exponential growth in the share of renewable energy in its mix in recent years, with wind, solar, and hydro generating a record 56.8% of Spain's electricity in 2024. 'This has not been accompanied by systems that would allow us to compensate for the inertia that the system was losing due to it not having a replacement of the real inertia that traditional electric generators provide,' Alcázar-Ortega said. System inertia in the grid helps keep frequency within an acceptable range. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are considered 'inertia-less', making the power grid more unstable and susceptible to outages. 'It is not the fault of renewables, but rather of not having the storage systems or other types of 'grid-forming' inverters (...) capable of providing this frequency control,' Alcázar-Ortega added. The Spanish prime minister has said that there is 'no empirical evidence that the incident was provoked by an excess in renewables,' accusing pro-nuclear groups of capitalising on the incident to campaign against the phase-out of nuclear plants.
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Fact-checking claims NATO troops are preparing to attack Russia
A video circulating online falsely claims to show British tanks ammassing in the Estonian capital of Tallinn as part of a NATO plan to "attack" the Russian city of St Petersburg. One post sharing the claim on X has been seen over 800,000 times. It wrongly claims that "NATO has arrived in Estonia. British soldiers and tanks in Tallinn plan to attack Saint Petersburg." At the time of publication of this article, no community notes cautioning users of the false information was added to the post on the Elon Musk-owned platform. The same claim has been amplified across several platforms including Instagram and Facebook. Euroverify found that the footage in fact shows the British Army's Royal Dragoon Guards in Tallinn on 24 February 2025 as part of a parade to celebrate Estonia's Independence Day. Over 1,000 Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) and NATO allied troops took part in that annual military parade to mark the 107th anniversary of Estonia's independence. Vehicles from the United Kingdom, France and the United States were part of the annual procession. Euroverify identified the site of the footage in the centre of Tallinn, near the Estonian Drama Theatre. The site can be seen in the image above captured from Google's Street View. The same address was closed for traffic during the parade to allow for the passage of tanks. A closer look at the number plate of the tank seen in the video (DT16AA) corresponds to a tank pictured by the Estonian press agency ERR taken during the Independence Day procession. According to fact-checkers at Reuters, the tank was pictured in Estonia between May and December 2024, proving that they had not "just arrived" in the Baltic country as online users claim. We can conclude with certainty that the video does not show a military escalation in Tallinn, but rather a tank being loaded onto a vehicle following the procession in February. The video has been re-circulating in recent weeks, accompanied by unfounded claims of a military escalation, just as troops from seven allied countries, including the UK and France, joined military drills in Estonia. Those drills, codenamed Exercise Hedgehog, are part of NATO's efforts to improve the "interoperability and integration" of allied forces, according to the alliance. The X account responsible for the false claim has made similar unfounded allegations about an impending "siege of Saint Petersburg" and constantly shares anti-NATO, pro-Kremlin disinformation Open source intelligence experts have linked the account to the Matryoshka campaign, described as a "coordinated" operation by the French cyber agency. Romania's new president, Nicușor Dan, has been officially sworn in, ushering in a tentative close to the worst political crisis to grip the European Union country in decades after the annulment of the previous election but several challenges lie ahead. Dan, a 55-year-old mathematician and former mayor of Bucharest decisively won the 18 May runoff, beating his hard-right opponent George Simion, who later challenged the results in the Constitutional Court but was rejected last week. At the inauguration ceremony in a joint session of Parliament, Dan signed the constitutional oath. In a speech afterwards, he promised to tackle Romania's economic woes and to be a president "open to the voice of society." "The Romanian state needs a fundamental I invite you to continue to be involved with all the social force you have proven, to put positive pressure on the institutions of the Romanian state so that they can reform," he said. "I assure you that I will be a president who listens to the voice of society and who is a partner to that society." The May election rerun was held months after the Constitutional Court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Călin Georgescu led the first round, following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow denied. The court's unprecedented decision last year plunged Romania, which is an EU and NATO member, into a period of unprecedented political turmoil. The presidential role carries a five-year term and significant decision-making powers in national security and foreign policy. In the presidential runoff, Dan ran independently on an "Honest Romania" ticket, reaffirming Western ties, continued support for Ukraine and fiscal reforms. Addressing the economic challenges that lie ahead, Dan said that "put Romanian state is spending more than it can afford." "It is in the national interest for Romania to send a message of stability to financial markets. It is in the national interest to send a signal of openness and predictability to the investment environment," he said. Many observers viewed the election outcome as crucial to maintaining Romania's place within Western alliances, especially as the war continues in neighbouring Ukraine. At the same time, the continent scrambles to arm itself as the United States' commitment to European partners has waned under US President Donald Trump. As Dan begins his mandate, he faces the immediate challenge of nominating a prime minister who can garner the support necessary to form a government, a tall order in a country where a rejection of the political class led to the emergence of figures like Georgescu and Simion. Dan will also have to contend with a string of other crises, such as a large budget deficit, deep societal divisions exposed by the chaotic election cycle and the war that drags on next door. Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says that forming a new cabinet will be "a major test" that will indicate whether Dan is capable of mediating between the fragmented political parties. "Dan will face fierce resistance from the state apparatus and old politicians in his pursuit to start reforms," he told The Associated Press. "Although the economic crisis is urgent, the political and societal divisions are those that the new president has to address in the longer term." He added that, with populism growing in popularity, a deeper political crisis was "put on hold and a new one will be in the making" ahead of future elections. "The success of his presidency will decide if we can avert such a crisis or not," he said. A day after he won the presidency, Dan had a call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he conveyed to Rutte that Romania "will remain a steadfast ally" within the alliance. Dan first rose to public prominence as a civil activist with his Save Bucharest Association, tasked with saving built heritage and fighting against illegal real estate projects in a system he described as a "real estate mafia." He won hundreds of lawsuits. He also joined a wave of anti-corruption protests that gripped Romania through the mid-2010s. In 2016, he founded the reformist Save Romania Union party, at the time largely viewed as an anti-corruption party, but later left. In 2020, he successfully secured the mayorship of Bucharest and was elected last year for a second term. As mayor, Dan tackled some key infrastructure projects, such as modernising Bucharest's ageing residential heating systems, which previous mayors have been accused of neglecting.
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Fact-checking claims Pope Leo XIV is a registered US Republican
Weeks after Robert Prevost was elected the first US-born pope, speculation about his political leanings and affiliations continues to spread online. Some commentators are purporting that voting records show Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is formally affiliated to the US Republican Party. Pro-Trump influencer Charlie Kirk first planted the theory an hour after white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel on May 8, indicating Pope Leo's election by the papal conclave. In a post on X, Kirk said: "Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV. He's a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad. Our data shows he's a strong Republican, and he's pro-life." The post is accompanied by a screenshot claiming to be Robert Prevost's voting card. Prevost's name, age and date of birth are correctly displayed. The word "Republican" also appears next to "party." But the state of Illinois does not register voters by political party affiliation, according to judicial advocacy group Alliance for Justice. It means this cannot be an authentic voting card as the state does not register voters as either Republican or Democrat. In other US states, voters do declare party affiliation when registering to vote, and this sometimes determines in which primary elections voters can cast their ballots. Primary elections, or primaries, are ballots that political parties in the US use to select candidates for a general election. Voters can chose in which party's primary they want to vote. Hoewever, state voting records shared with Euroverify by the office of the attorney general of Will County, Illinois, show that Prevost did vote in three Republican primary elections in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Voters in the state are, however, not bound to pick the same party's primary from year to year. This is therefore not conclusive proof that Prevost is affiliated to the Republican party. Prevost's party affiliation is also registered as "undeclared" in general elections between 2012 and 2024. According to Reuters, citing a public information officer for the Illinois state elections board, Prevost had requested ballots for the 2008 and 2010 Democratic primaries when registered to vote in Cook County, Illinois. Euroverify was unable to independently fact check this information. Social media users have also been searching for signs of Prevost's political leanings in content in content shared by him online prior to his election as pope. Months before his election, he shared an article published by the National Catholic Reporter criticising comments made by JD Vance. The article, titled "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others", blasts a comment made by Vance during a Fox News interview, suggesting that Christians should prioritise love for their "fellow citizens" and "own country" over "the rest of the world." In April, he also shared a post critical of Donald Trump's immigration policies, specifically the controversial decision to deport Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, which has been described as Supreme Court judges as "an error." In an emotional tribute on Sunday afternoon, tennis legend Rafael Nadal was honoured during a ceremony at the Roland Garros tournament in Paris. The record 14-time French Open winner, who officially retired in November, returned to the court not as a competitor but as a celebrated legend. Greeted by thousands of fans wearing orange 'Merci Rafa' shirts, Nadal received a standing ovation as he stepped onto the clay one final time. No longer in his signature headband or capri pants, the Spaniard arrived in a dark suit, visibly moved by the outpouring of affection. As the crowd cheered, Nadal fought back tears, delivering a speech in French, English, and his native Spanish, as he reflected on two decades of triumphs, setbacks, and unforgettable memories at Roland Garros. "I don't know where to start after playing on this court for the past 20 years. Winning, losing — but especially being moved every time I've had the chance to be here.' Nadal retired with a staggering 112-4 record at the French Open and a flawless 14-0 record in finals, an achievement unmatched in the sport's history. His impact on the sport was acknowledged not only by the crowd but also by fellow greats Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, who joined him on court in a powerful moment of solidarity. Once fierce rivals, the quartet known as the Big Four stood together in celebration, not competition. 'We showed the world that we can fight as hard as possible, but being good colleagues and respecting each other very well. And for me, it means a lot that you are all here,' Nadal said to his greatest rivals. In keeping with his family values, Nadal thanked his longtime coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, along with his wife and young son. His appreciation extended to fans and the French public, whom he credited with making him feel at home throughout his career. 'Thank you, France. Thank you, Paris. You have given me emotions and moments I could never have imagined. You can never know how gratifying it is to be appreciated in the place that matters most. ... You made me feel like a Frenchman,' Nadal said. 'I can no longer play in front of you anymore, but my heart and my memories will always be linked to this magical place.' The tribute culminated in two lasting symbols of his legacy: a commemorative trophy and a newly installed plaque on the Philippe-Chatrier central court, engraved with his 14 titles and his shoe footprint -- a literal symbol of the mark he left on the sport and on the clay of Roland Garros.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fake news claiming Burkina Faso detained French spy spreads virally online
AI-generated videos falsely claiming a French woman was arrested for espionage in Burkina Faso have spread virally online, triggering a wave of disinformation. The videos claim to show Claire Dubois, a French NGO worker in her early thirties, being summoned and detained by Ibrahim Traoré, the military officer who seized power in Burkina Faso in September 2022. Unfounded claims seen by Euroverify claim Dubois was a French spy who gathered military intelligence "under the guise of humanitarian work". There is no evidence to back the claims, and the original video planting the story was first published on YouTube with a disclaimer saying it was a 'work of fiction'. "The situations and dialogues depicted are entirely fictional and do not reflect any actual events," it reads. But the disclaimer has been removed from videos shared on platforms including TikTok, Facebook and X. One TikTok video spreading the claim has been viewed over two million times. The fake news was also amplified by Russian state-sponsored media outlets such as Pravda, despite it being initially labelled as fictional. Four French intelligence agents were released in December 2024 after being held for a year in the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou accused of espionage, after mediation efforts by Morocco. A further three French diplomats were also expelled from the country in April last year. There have been no reports of humanitarian workers accused of espionage. While no evidence has emerged to demonstrate Russian involvement in the spread of this false claim, several African TikTok influencers Euroverify has seen propagating the material also promote anti-Western and anti-Ukraine content that fits within the Kremlin's disinformation playbook. Burkina Faso and neighbouring Niger and Mali in the Sahel have long been considered strongholds of pro-Russian propaganda campaigns in Africa. Moscow has backed the post-coup governments in all three countries, where disillusionment and frustration with the former colonial ruler, France, has left a void. Pro-Kremlin, anti-Western propaganda is now helping cement the popularity of leaders such as Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré, a 37-year-old military commander who is considered a staunch Kremlin ally. During his recent visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for Victory Day celebrations on 9 May, Traoré told state-owned media Russia Today: 'My biggest regret is to have spent a good part of my youth listening to radio such as RFI (Radio France Info) and France 24." "So (Russia Today) can do a lot to awaken the conscience of the young people so that they understand how the world works and don't let those others take over.' While little is known about the extent and sophistication of pro-Russian disinformation operations in these countries, a 2024 report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies identifies Kremlin-linked actors as the predominant sponsor of disinformation campaigns in Burkina Faso. It says these campaigns pay African influencers to spread propaganda, and that Russian embassies help set up so-called "grassroots front organisations" to generate and amplify disinformation locally. In Burkina Faso, groups such as African Initiative, which has been sanctioned by the European Union, are used to push a "pro-Russian agenda" while providing aid and "promoting Russian culture" to local communities, according to research organisation African Digital Democracy Observatory. A 2024 EU report on foreign interference describes African Initiative as a "state-linked" Russian actor that serves as a "central hub" for "executing Russian FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference) operations in Africa."
