Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 22 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
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Samoa's prime minister apologised on Monday after a video emerged of him saying "Heil Hitler" and making a Nazi gesture at a family gathering.
asserted
him → log → gathering
Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt, who leads the South Pacific island nation of about 220,000 people, was filmed making the gesture at a family reunion in 2007, when he was the deputy speaker of parliament.
asserted
he → lead → parliament
The seven-second clip shows Mr Schmidt raising his right arm and a group of people surrounding him making the same gesture.
asserted
group → show → gesture
He can be heard shouting “Hip hip!”, eliciting “Hooray!” in response, before encouraging and leading the 13 people visible in the clip in saying, “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!”, according to the Samoa Observer.
uncertain
He → hear → Observer
In his statement, published on the government's Facebook page, he did not dispute the footage.
asserted
he → publish → footage
“I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them," he said.
asserted
he → recognise → them
The video showed a private family gathering and was "not intended for the public", he said, adding that he "Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism".
asserted
he → show → extremism
The video was published by the Samoa Observer, the country's largest newspaper, on Sunday.
asserted
video → publish → Sunday
Radio New Zealand said its reporter in Samoa had independently verified the clip.
asserted
reporter → say → clip
The newspaper said it was not known what happened immediately before or after the moment shown, and Mr Schmidt's statement did not explain it.
asserted
statement → say → it
A member of the Schmidt family told the newspaper he was master of ceremonies at the reunion.
asserted
he → tell → reunion
"That any responsible politician should say 'Heil Hitler' and give a Nazi salute in the 21st century is shocking and disturbing," Richard Evans, a historian of Nazi Germany, said in an email to the paper.
asserted
Evans → say → paper
The video appeared days after the government reaffirmed its position to bar the newspaper from attending Mr Schmidt's news conferences and other official events.
asserted
government → appear → conferences
The ban was originally imposed in November, when Mr Schmidt accused the newspaper of misleading coverage.
asserted
Schmidt → impose → coverage
On Friday, Mr Schmidt confirmed that an aide had deleted photos of him from an Observer reporter's camera, taken in front of government buildings during an official event.
asserted
aide → confirm → event
He defended the move, saying the paper was flouting the ban.
asserted
paper → defend → ban
The Observer has denounced the ban as "authoritarian", and the Journalists Association of Samoa has said it is "deeply disturbed" by the photo deletion.
asserted
it → denounce → deletion
Mr Schmidt has voiced strong support for Israel, as have several fellow leaders of Pacific island nations.
asserted
leaders → voice → nations
He wore a Jewish prayer shawl at his swearing-in last September and the ceremony also included the blowing of shofar, a Jewish ritual ram's horn.
asserted
ceremony → wear → shofar
"Samoa will not withdraw from supporting Israel as the country of God's people," he told reporters afterwards, local media reported.
asserted
media → withdraw → reporters
The island nation is home to a tiny Jewish population, although there are no official estimates and no formal Jewish community.
asserted
nation → be → population
Three Pacific islands, not including Samoa, have followed the US in opening embassies in Jerusalem since September 2023.
asserted
islands → include → September
The Aporia
