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Correction of the day: the New York Times’s Aleppo fail

After Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee, didn’t know what ‘Aleppo’ was in an interview, hacks at the New York Times thought the gaffe would provide great material for a story. Alas, said hacks failed to do their research before writing it.

In correcting Johnson, the article claimed that the Syrian city is the de facto capital of the Islamic State. However, this is actually Raqqa — cue a correction stating that Aleppo was the Syrian capital but not the capital of Islamic State. Alas, this too proved problematic as the Syrian capital is Damascus — not Aleppo:

Correctionoftheday2

While Mr S understands that hacks at the paper may be keen to diss rival candidates to Hillary Clinton, Steerpike suggest they reacquaint themselves with the old adage ‘people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’.

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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