A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue headlines of the week. None of these stories is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out; here are the real facts:
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NOT REAL: Autopsy Results From Vince Foster’s Exhumed Body-Cause Of Death To Be Changed!
THE FACTS: U.S. Navy doctors haven’t found evidence former White House deputy counsel Vince Foster was the victim of a homicide. A story on the usapoliticstoday site claimed the body of Foster, who worked in the Clinton White House until he killed himself in 1993, had recently undergone an autopsy at “the Naval Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.” There is no naval hospital in Norfolk. The Navy said in a statement that its closest hospital, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, “has verified that an autopsy was not performed on Mr. Vince Foster at their facility.”
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NOT REAL: Muslim nurses refuse to wash hands before operations, the reason why is insane
THE FACTS: Muslim nurses in Britain must scrub up before caring for patients, although those with concerns about modesty under Islamic law can then don disposable over-sleeves to keep their arms covered. A story on the site vtamedia falsely claimed the nurses could use religious reasons to skip hand-washing. British health care guidelines were updated in consultation with “Islamic scholars and chaplains” in 2010 to accommodate religious dress.
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NOT REAL: 22 Clinton Foundation Employees Arrested On First Day Of New Investigation
THE FACTS: An investigation into whether the Clinton Foundation accepted donations in exchange for political favors while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state did not result in 22 arrests on its first day. The satire site ladiesofliberty published the article claiming people were charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and perjury. Other conservative websites have since run stories with identical wording. While the article cites U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he has made no such announcement. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said the arrests didn’t happen.
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NOT REAL: Busted: Soros Paid March For Our Lives Protestors $300 Each
THE FACTS: An online classified advertisement seeking merchandise sellers for a March for Our Lives in Los Angeles does not mean that liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros and his foundations paid protesters $300 each to rally at the main event in Washington. The Tea Party Commander Center story included an image of the ad for the March 24 event in Los Angeles. Laura Silber, spokeswoman for Soros’ Open Society Foundations, said neither Soros nor the foundations paid protesters. Students organized the rallies in support of increased gun control after a Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
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NOT REAL: Cocaine Found in Coors Light Nationwide
THE FACTS: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t found “thousands” of instances of Coors beer contaminated with cocaine. An article that originated in 2014 on the site huzlers continues to be shared on social media, claiming people reported feeling “weird, high and even sick” after drinking the beer. FDA spokesman Peter Cassell says the story isn’t true. He said there is no one at the FDA with the name of the person the information is attributed to, and the primary federal regulatory authority for alcohol is not the FDA but the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which is part of the Treasury Department.
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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.
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Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck
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