MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Twitter user sent a hoax message on Monday that quoted Russia's ambassador to Damascus as saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have been killed, forcing Russian officials to quickly deny the report.
A user on the social networking site apparently pretending to be Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev quoted the envoy, Sergei Kirpichenko, as saying Assad "has been killed or injured."
The ministry and the embassy denied the veracity of the report and a message later appeared on the same Twitter account saying "this account is a hoax." It did not say what the aim of the hoax was although it had briefly affected oil markets.
Russia is a strong ally of Assad and has repeatedly prevented tougher sanctions being imposed on Syria by the United Nations since the start of an uprising against the president 17 months ago.
Asked about the report that Assad may be dead, Artyom Savelyev, the Russian embassy's press attache in Damascus, said by telephone: "Our ambassador said nothing of the sort."
An Interior Ministry spokesman said Kolokoltsev had no Twitter account.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Writing by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
CBC - The Fifth Estate - The Unofficial Story - Pt 1-5
JOIN The Discussion at: www.cbc.ca On September 11, 2001 the world watched in shock and disbelief as planes flew in to New Yorks World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, and Americans realized they were under attack. But by whom? What really happened? In The Unofficial Story, the fifth estates Bob McKeown introduces us to people who believe the real force behind the attacks was not Osama Bin Laden, but the US government itself. Emerging from the dust and debris that day was a movement, known these days as 9/11 Truth or truthers people who believe that 9/11 was part of a vast conspiracy and cover-up by a criminal faction within the US government. As the fifth estate reports, public opinion polls now show that the majority of Americans believe the Bush Administration had advance knowledge of those attacks and somehow allowed them to happen and that one-third of Canadians share the same belief. In The Unofficial Story, Bob McKeown explores why these questions and theories are growing in popularity. Youll meet some of the leading proponents of truther theories: Richard Gage, an American architect, explains how the WTC twin towers and the lesser known Tower #7 could only have crumbled as they did due to explosive charges placed inside the buildings. Others, including Canadian professor Kee Dewdney, insist that the story of the brave fight by the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 must have been a hoax. But, youll also hear from others who dispel truther theories ...Video Rating: 4 / 5
Two of the people linked to an expansive hoax involving Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o attended the same Antelope Valley high school, according to the Southern California woman whose photos were used in the ruse. Diane O'Meara, who now works in marketing at STN Media Group in Torrance, spoke to NBC's "Today" about the incident in a segment that aired Tuesday. In the segment, she said she met the supposed hoaxer, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, in high school but added that the two were not friends. Paraclete High football coach Norm Dahlia confirmed to The Times that Tuiasosopo played quarterback for the Lancaster school in 2007. A Deadspin.com report published last week first revealed the hoax but did not name O'Meara. The report claims that Tuiasosopo used photos of a girl he met at Paraclete High School in Lancaster as part of a Twitter account for a "Lennay Kekua," a fake woman whom he connected with Te'o. "My name is not Lennay Kek...
After Iran announced last week that it had launched a monkey into space, web sleuths compared before and after photos of the furry astronaut and cried hoax. They claimed the monkey that made public appearances after the space flight in a bespoke suit looked nothing like the animal that had been shot into space, which seemed to have lighter fur and a mole above its eye. Did a monkey die in flight, asked the conspiracy theorists? Or did no primate ever leave the ground? Now the Iranian space agency has stepped forward to clear up any confusion. According to space official Mohammad Ebrahimi, it's true that the pictures don't match, and that they show two different monkeys. But Ebrahimi said that's not because of a hoax – it's because the pre-flight photo of a light-furred monkey was actually an archival photo and not a picture of the actual animal, Pishgam, who rode the rocket. According to the Iranians, Pishgam took a 20-minute flight and returned to earth s...
COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. - College Place Police are investigating an apparent bomb threat hoax at Walmart over the weekend. Saturday night, police say the College Place Walmart called 911, reporting a bomb threat the store received, set to go off at 6:19 on Sunday morning. Officers and the College Place Fire Department arrived on scene and evacuated the store just before 1 AM that night. Officers and firefighters stayed there overnight blocking the doors, and didn't allow customers or employees back in until 7 AM. Police say 6:19 came and went, but nothing exploded, no one got hurt, and they couldn't find any sort of explosive device, leading officers to believe the incident was an apparent hoax. Police say they don't know who made the threat, and while they're looking into leads, they don't have any potential suspects yet. Walmart returned to business as usual after 7 am on Sunday. Read More @ Source Sonic CD 510 (Earlies...
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