Bill Gates says vaccines are overrated and that COVID vaccines don’t work. Biden’s ancestor was a criminal robber who got off with only three years of hard labor, which is now the maximum sentence in many states for such crimes as robbery or burglary.
The world of journalism is complicated, and fake news 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
COVID-19 vaccinations are not ineffective, according to Bill Gates.
False claim: A tape from a conversation with billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates has been posted on social media, with the allegation that the footage shows him admitting that COVID-19 vaccinations are useless.
Truth:
- The film was released on social media as part of a dialogue between Bill Gates and Britain’s former health minister Jeremy Hunt, which took place on November 5, 2021 at a Policy Exchange event in the United Kingdom.
- Contrary to what the posters imply, Bill Gates did not declare in the chat that COVID-19 vaccinations are useless, but rather that, in his view, research into vaccines that limit viral transmission, which they do not successfully do today, should be included in preparation for the next pandemic.
- COVID-19 vaccinations, on the other hand, are very successful at avoiding serious illness and are presently in use all over the globe.
USA
It is untrue that President Joe Biden’s distant ancestor was a rail robber.
False claim: A social media post says that genealogical research has revealed that President Joe Biden had a distant ancestor called Remus Biden, who was hung for horse theft and railroad robbery in Texas in 1889.
A black and white photograph of a man being prepped to be hung follows the posts.
Truth:
- The identical wording used to disseminate the Joe Biden ancestor hoax has previously surfaced on the internet in recent years, with variants mentioning everyone from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to former Vice President Al Gore and former Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
- A reverse image search reveals that the guy in the black and white photograph is really train robber Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum, who was killed in Clayton, New Mexico, on April 26, 1901.
Italy
It is not true that PCR testing cost $250 in New York.
False claim: Fabio Volo, an Italian actor, writer, and radio presenter, said in an episode of “Otto e Mezzo” that the “COVID exam to get to Italy” from New York “costs $250 euros.” “Where I live, there is a pharmacy, and every Friday there is a wait because many individuals are not vaccinated, and in order to go out on Friday or Saturday night, they get the COVID test on Friday,” he stated.
Truth:
- The assertion is incorrect. The cost of living varies greatly throughout the nation. According to the website of the New York State government, the Health Department’s COVID Express program has many locations across the city where tests are “free to all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status.”
- “A fast COVID test at the pharmacy normally costs less than $20,” according to a September 2021 piece in the New York Times.
Brazil
COVID-19 vaccination problems did not kill Pfizer CEO’s wife.
False claim: According to posts on Facebook and WhatsApp in Brazil, Myriam Bourla, wife of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, died on November 10 from issues related to the COVID-19 vaccination.
Truth:
- “Our CEO’s wife is alive and well, contrary to what was stated on the Internet,” Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose said in a statement to the Associated Press.
- On November 10, the same day that his wife supposedly died from the vaccination, Albert Bourla posted a picture of him and his wife at an Atlantic Council event on his Twitter account.
Nigeria
The photo does not depict the guy who was deported from Spain after giving the police money he discovered.
False allegation: Nigerian Facebook users published a picture of a guy clutching a brown envelope next to a police officer, along with the claim that the photograph was an African illegal immigrant who was deported from Spain after returning to the police 4,250 euros that had been misplaced on the street.
On Eunomia, you may discuss this news.
Truth:
- The photograph was first published in various stories in the Spanish press on August 14, 2020, according to a reverse image search.
- According to accounts, an unidentified guy discovered 4,350 euros in a suitcase in Valencia and took it to the police station. Police officials eventually tracked out the money’s rightful owner and returned the funds to him.
- According to accounts, the guy in the photograph is the rightful owner of the money, who was reunited with it after being apprehended by Spanish police in France, where he was employed.
China
Li Yundi, a Chinese pianist, was not offered a professorship at Yale.
False allegation: Posts on Chinese social media say that Yale University offered Chinese pianist Li Yundi a professor post after he was jailed in Beijing on suspicion of employing a sex worker on October 21.
Truth:
- Robert Blocker, dean of Yale University’s School of Music, disputed that Li Yundi had been offered a seat on the faculty in a statement released on October 31.
- Li’s imprisonment comes amid a crackdown by Chinese authorities on the cultural and entertainment industries, which analysts have characterized as an effort to enhance “ideological control.”
- Li rose to prominence in China after winning the 14th Frédéric Chopin international piano competition in Warsaw in 2020 at the age of 18, being the youngest contestant in history to do so.
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