This week in fake news
Lost ship from 1925 didn’t reappear
A steamer ship that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle more than 90 years ago remains missing despite claims that the Cuban authorities intercepted the ship.
The S.S. Cotopaxi has not been seen since Nov. 29, 1925, when it left Charleston, South Carolina, bound for Havana with a crew of more than 30 and a load of coal. The steamer is said to have run into a violent tropical storm.
The Associated Press wrote two days later that the ship reported water in its hold and said it was listing badly. It later sent out distress signals and was not heard from again.
Numerous versions of the story have been posted over the years. The most recent on the website Online Newsfeed is identical to a story that ran on The Readers File! in 2017.
In 2017 when the sighting was reported, Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Woodall, a spokesman for Miami’s U.S. Coast Guard office, told the AP his agency had received no reports of the S.S. Cotopaxi being recovered.
The United States Coast Guard in Miami said Thursday the statement from 2017 still stands.
A May 2015 story first appeared in World News Daily Report, which admits to publishing hoaxes.
Muslim federal judge not fired
A story circulating on social media falsely claims President Donald Trump has removed a Muslim federal judge for trying to implement Sharia law in the United States.
The identically worded stories from the floxyupdates and us-leader sites say Trump used an executive order to fire Justice Hansam al Alallawalahi-Smith of the 22nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Dearborn, Michigan.
There is no federal judge by that name, there is no such court and presidents cannot remove judges from office with executive orders.
The Constitution requires impeachment to remove a federal judge from the bench.
Sharia is Islamic law, as derived from the Qur’an and the traditions of Islam. The story alleged Smith made a ruling that would let a man abuse his wife if she talked to another man and would permit a husband to beat his wife if “she were to act on her impulses.”
It’s similar to stories previously shared online about the nonexistent judge. The latest sites to run such a story couldn’t be reached for comment, as they published no contact information and registered their pages through third-party services.