Claim check

We pick claims that are circulating, check them against sources, give a verdict and link the evidence. To send us a claim to check, email pitches@thefieldreporters.com with the word Claim in the subject.

Verdicts: Correct, Misleading (partly true or missing context) and Unverified (we cannot confirm or refute it yet). We change a verdict only when new evidence arrives, and we say so here. See how we label claims.

• MisleadingClaim: Ethiopia has expelled all Egyptian diplomats.

  Where we heard it: A claim we heard while following the Egypt-Ethiopia dispute. We have not traced a first source.

  Ethiopia expelled one Egyptian embassy staff member on 1 October and gave him 48 hours to leave. Egypt ordered one Ethiopian embassy counsellor to leave the next day. We found no report that either country has closed its embassy or expelled its whole mission.

  Checked 3 October 2026. Sources: Radio Tamazuj · Al Arabiya · The National

• CorrectClaim: Federal forces have retaken Mekelle.

  Where we heard it: Reports and posts on 3 October.

  The TPLF said late on 3 October that it had "temporarily moved out of Mekelle". Reuters, citing three sources including a humanitarian source and a resident, reported that government forces and allied militias control the city, and AP and AFP gave similar accounts. We found no official statement from the federal government. We changed this entry from Unverified after the TPLF's own statement and the three-source Reuters report. The airport fell first.

  Checked 4 October 2026, updated. Sources: Al Jazeera, 4 October 2026 · Reuters, via AOL · AP, via Washington Times

• CorrectClaim: Ethiopia and Eritrea have cut diplomatic ties.

  Where we heard it: Widely reported from 1 October.

  On 1 October Ethiopia closed its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours. Eritrea then said it was cutting all diplomatic ties.

  Checked 3 October 2026. Sources: Al Jazeera

• UnverifiedClaim: Guinea-Bissau's new constitution bars Umaro Sissoco Embaló from running for president.

  Where we heard it: Commentary after the military blocked his planned return on 1 October.

  The constitution approved in an August referendum requires presidential candidates to have lived continuously in the country for five years. Embaló has been abroad for about ten months, and Reuters-sourced coverage said the rule could bar him. We found no ruling by the military or the election authorities on how it applies to him, and no official candidate list yet exists.

  Checked 3 October 2026. Sources: Rio Times, citing Reuters · Al Jazeera, referendum

• UnverifiedClaim: DR Congo's Ebola outbreak is slowing, because reported cases are falling.

  Where we heard it: Weekly case counts released by Congo's health ministry, and commentary around them.

  Confirmed cases fell from around 850 a week in mid-July to an average of about 490 in September, and the 278 infections confirmed near the end of September were the lowest weekly count since mid-June. But Africa CDC says the fall may reflect insecurity and community refusal to cooperate, not real progress. Its epidemiologist said surveillance could not be strengthened in the Butembo, Beni and Katwa areas. Health workers in Bunia, including surveillance staff, protested over unpaid wages with signs reading "No money, no data." The disease has slowed in some areas and spread in others. The outbreak has recorded 8,300 cases and 4,018 deaths, according to the health ministry on 1 October.

  Checked 3 October 2026. Sources: CIDRAP · Associated Press, '5 questions about Congo's Ebola outbreak' · AP, via ABC News

• UnverifiedClaim: The Alamein summit created a military alliance against Ethiopia.

  Where we heard it: Pre-summit reporting, including a headline saying the four states would consolidate an alliance against Ethiopia through wider military co-operation.

  The Egyptian presidency described the summit as consultation and coordination on regional issues of mutual concern. Before the summit, sources told The National the leaders would discuss wider military co-operation and Red Sea shipping. The published declaration does not mention military co-operation and does not name Ethiopia. It does reject unilateral measures on the Nile, say the Red Sea is for the littoral states to govern, back Sudan's and Somalia's unity, and set up a follow-up mechanism. Nothing we found confirms a military alliance.

  Checked 4 October 2026. Sources: Alamein declaration, unofficial translation (Eritrea's Ministry of Information) · The National