Fact Check
Monday 9 December 2024
-
“Syrian security sources have, however, confirmed that ‘Hama is completely safe, with armed forces stationed around the city.’”
By the time Iran’s Press TV portrayed reports of successful rebel advances in Hama as Western propaganda, the Syrian army already lost the city. -
“The operation was carried out with 16 ballistic and winged [cruise] missiles and a drone in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and the hits were accurate and direct.”
The is no evidence the Houthis successfully struck a U.S. warship. All three commercial vessels escorted by the Navy reportedly are intact and en route to their destinations. -
"The decision of the Georgian government not to raise the issue of negotiations with the EU until 2028 and to decline EU grant budget support does not mean suspension of Georgia’s European integration process."
Delays in European Union negotiations and rejection of financial support significantly undermine practical steps required for accession. This move compromises Georgia's EU alignment, stalls reforms, and fuels European doubts about Tbilisi's genuine commitment to integration. -
“The [MOFCOM] spokesperson emphasized that China is firmly opposed to ‘forced labor’ in any form and there is no forced labor in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.”
Source: Global Times, November 26, 2024United Nations, independent researchers and media have all documented credible allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang. -
"Kenya is a safe haven for many people and has been for many years and will be for years to come."
State-sanctioned abductions, refugees included; extrajudicial killings; torture and enforced disappearances are on the rise in Kenya, according to independent reports by international observers, the United Nations, local rights groups and investigative journalists. -
"[T]here are no means of countering such weapons [hypersonic ballistic missile Oreshnik] today. … It is impossible."
Hypersonic weapons like Russia’s Oreshnik missile present a formidable challenge to existing missile defense systems. However, defenses capable of intercepting them do exist. -
"The resolution was a clear sign of reducing the noble concept of human rights to a tool for exerting political pressure on independent nations."
Iran continues to force confessions, execute individuals who committed crimes as minors and subject detainees to torture in violation of its obligations under international law. -
"[The Malian army] has achieved in two years what foreign organizations, including MINUSMA, have not been able to achieve in 12-13 years."
International observers independently report a sharp increase in violent attacks on civilians, including by the junta’s forces, with the conflict spilling over to new territories. -
“Every escalation between China and the Philippines — without exception — has been caused by Philippine provocations and violation of China’s sovereignty. Calm will return once the Philippines stops those activities.”
China has dismissed an international ruling outlining the Philippines’ rights in the South China Sea, and repeatedly engages in aggressive actions to maintain its dominance in the region. -
“In the history of our relations with the African continent, there has never been any shadow – never; we have never exploited African peoples, nor been engaged in anything inhumane on the African continent.”
Various human rights groups accuse Russia of committing crimes that amount to crimes against humanity in Africa. Several reports also have exposed Russia’s illegal export of gold worth more than $2.5 billion from Africa to sponsor its war in Ukraine. -
“Rather than respecting her dignity and focusing on the mental health challenges she was facing, these groups saw an opportunity to fuel their anti-government agenda.”
Witness reports and Iran’s systematic use of punitive psychiatry to undermine dissent contradict government claims that the woman had a mental health crisis and was not protesting enforcement of the country’s mandatory dress code. -
“[W]e have always recognized the borders of Ukraine within the framework of our agreements after the collapse of the Soviet Union. … But later, as is known, the Ukrainian leadership amended the Basic Law and announced its desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and we did not agree to this.”
Ukraine abandoned its constitutional neutrality to pursue EU and NATO membership only in 2019, years after Russia annexed Crimea and backed pro-Russia separatists in Donbas. NATO considered Ukraine’s membership after Moscow invaded Georgia, starting a war in Europe.