Pistachios are more than just a delicious and convenient snack—they are packed with essential nutrients that contribute to overall health and well-being. Incorporating pistachios into a balanced diet can provide numerous benefits, including better heart health, improved weight management, enhanced eye protection, and stabilized blood sugar levels.

A standard serving of pistachios, which is approximately one ounce (28 grams), contains 165 calories, 6 grams of protein, 13 grams of total fat (with only 2 grams of it being saturated fat), 8 grams of carbohydrates, and 3 grams of dietary fiber. Additionally, pistachios are an excellent source of important minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and folate, while also being free of cholesterol and extremely low in sodium.

One of the most notable health advantages of pistachios is their role in supporting healthy blood pressure levels. These nuts are naturally rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium—minerals that help regulate vascular function and promote better circulation. Studies suggest that individuals who consume pistachios regularly may experience a reduction in systolic blood pressure, contributing to overall cardiovascular health.

Beyond heart health, pistachios are also beneficial for eye protection, thanks to their high content of lutein and zeaxanthin. These carotenoids, which are naturally found in the retina, play a crucial role in shielding the eyes from harmful light exposure. By regularly consuming pistachios, individuals may lower their risk of developing age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, two common vision-related conditions that occur as people age.

Contrary to the misconception that nuts contribute to weight gain due to their fat content, pistachios can actually be an excellent aid in weight management. Their high protein and fiber content promotes satiety, helping individuals feel full for longer periods and reducing the likelihood of overeating. Additionally, research indicates that people who include pistachios in their diet tend to make healthier food choices overall, consuming fewer processed sugars while increasing their fiber intake—both of which contribute to maintaining a healthy weight.

For individuals concerned about blood sugar levels, pistachios can be an ideal snack choice. Their balanced composition of protein, fiber, and healthy fats helps stabilize blood glucose levels, preventing sudden spikes or crashes. This makes pistachios particularly beneficial for individuals with diabetes or those at risk of developing the condition.

Another emerging benefit of pistachios is their ability to promote gut health. These nuts support the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, which play a key role in digestion and overall health. Research suggests that pistachios help increase the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that supports colon health and reduces inflammation in the digestive system. While more studies are needed to fully understand this connection, the current findings suggest that pistachios contribute to a balanced gut microbiome.

Additionally, pistachios may help reduce the risk of cancer due to their high levels of antioxidants, including gamma-tocopherols, polyphenols, and phytochemicals. Antioxidants are crucial in preventing cellular damage caused by oxidative stress, which is a known factor in the development of chronic diseases, including cancer. By consuming antioxidant-rich foods like pistachios, individuals may be able to lower their risk of developing certain types of cancer over time.

To fully enjoy the health benefits of pistachios, experts recommend consuming them in moderation. Ideally, one should eat around one ounce (28 grams) of unsalted, in-shell pistachios per day, as this allows for better portion control and ensures the maximum intake of their nutrients without excess sodium or added flavors.

While fruits are not typically associated with high protein content, some varieties offer a surprising amount of this essential nutrient. Guava, avocado, jackfruit, kiwi, and blackberries stand out as excellent choices for those looking to boost their protein intake through fruit.

Guava leads the list with 4.2 grams of protein per cup (165 grams). Beyond its protein content, guava is packed with vitamin C and fiber, which contribute to heart health, improved digestion, weight management, and a stronger immune system.

Avocado, known primarily for its healthy fats, also ranks high in protein, offering 3 to 4.6 grams per cup, depending on its preparation. This nutrient-dense fruit is rich in fiber and potassium, supporting digestion, detoxification, mood regulation, and bone health.

Jackfruit, often used as a meat substitute in vegan dishes, provides 2.8 grams of protein per cup. In addition to its protein content, it contains fiber and vital vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese. Jackfruit is beneficial for blood sugar management, immune health, skin care, and heart health.

Kiwi offers 2 grams of protein per cup and is loaded with vitamins C, E, and K, as well as folate, copper, potassium, and magnesium. These nutrients help maintain heart and digestive health while strengthening the immune system.

Blackberries also provide 2 grams of protein per cup and are rich in vitamins C and K, manganese, and fiber. Their health benefits include improved brain function, cancer prevention, and heart disease protection, making them a great addition to a balanced diet.

Donald Trump has transformed the Oval Office into a dazzling showcase, fulfilling his promise of a "Golden Age" with a decor reflecting his signature flair. Gilded trophies, gold-plated Trump-branded coasters, and an abundance of presidential portraits now dominate the space, making it feel as much like a high-end TV set as the heart of American power.

The makeover is a stark contrast to his first term, with Trump now treating the Oval Office as part studio, part luxury real estate project. This week, he added a copy of the Declaration of Independence, a symbolic nod to America's break from the British monarchy 250 years ago. According to Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, the spectacle is the point. "Trump is very good at playing the role of Donald Trump," he said.

Trump’s choice of decor carries a clear political message. The Oval Office serves as a powerful backdrop for his frequent press conferences and meetings with world leaders—most notably his tense encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among the many portraits now hanging is that of 19th-century president James Polk, who oversaw America's largest territorial expansion. The selection is no coincidence, given Trump’s recent remarks about annexing Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, and taking control of Gaza.

Each president personalizes the Oval Office, but Trump’s redesign is a deliberate departure from his predecessor, Joe Biden. While Biden opted for a relatively modest setup with five portraits, Trump has filled nearly every available space, including a prominent placement for Ronald Reagan. Biden had a historic Swedish ivy plant linked to John F. Kennedy; Trump replaced it with seven ornate gilded vessels. He also reinstated a bust of Winston Churchill, which he had displayed during his first term.

Trump's branding is unmistakable throughout the space. A large map renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America" remains on display, and reports suggest he plans to pave over the Rose Garden to make it resemble the patio of Mar-a-Lago. Perhaps the most unconventional addition, however, is the gold-framed mugshot of Trump himself, taken in Georgia in 2023 after he was booked for allegedly attempting to interfere in the 2020 election.

True to his style, Trump has turned the Oval Office into a statement—not just of power, but of the spectacle that defines his political persona.

A 19-year-old British man who shot and killed his mother and two younger siblings, with aspirations of carrying out a high-profile school shooting, has been sentenced to a minimum of 49 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

At Luton Crown Court on Wednesday, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb stated that she had considered a full life sentence for Nicholas Prosper but opted against it due to his age—he was 18 at the time of the murders—and his guilty plea.

Last month, Prosper admitted to murdering his mother, Juliana Falcon, 48, his 13-year-old sister, Giselle Prosper, and his 16-year-old brother, Kyle Prosper, at their shared apartment in Luton, Bedfordshire, on September 13. He had also stabbed his brother more than 100 times.

The judge told Prosper that his ultimate goal was "notoriety," as he wanted to be known posthumously as "the world's most famous school shooter of the 21st century." She noted that his case displayed recurring themes seen in school shootings worldwide, including a sexual interest in children, an online-induced detachment from reality, a lack of empathy, and the deliberate selection of a "uniform" for the attack.

The court heard that Prosper, who had struggled to stay in education or maintain a job, had been planning the attack on his family and his former elementary school for Friday the 13th, believing the infamous date would add to his notoriety.

He had forged a gun license, allowing him to purchase a shotgun and 100 cartridges from a legitimate firearms dealer the day before the murders. His initial plan was to kill his family while they slept, but his mother woke up and, realizing something was "terribly wrong," fought back.

After shooting his mother, Prosper placed a copy of the novel How to Kill Your Family on her legs. He then shot his sister as she hid under a table and proceeded to stab and shoot his brother.

"The lives of your own mother and younger brother and sister were to be collateral damage on the way to fulfilling your ambition," the judge said.

Prosper appeared "cheerful" when police arrested him in a nearby street, with blood on his hands, clothes, and glasses, according to the prosecution.

Detective Superintendent Rob Hall of Bedfordshire Police read a statement on behalf of Prosper's father, Raymond Prosper, who said the deaths of his ex-partner and children were a devastating loss. He also credited the police's quick response for preventing further tragedy.

"Their deaths and the fast response of Bedfordshire Police stopped any other family in the community going through the pain we have suffered," he said.

A Southwest Airlines flight at Orlando International Airport aborted takeoff on Thursday after mistakenly beginning its departure on a taxiway instead of the designated runway. This incident is the latest in a series of aviation safety concerns in the U.S.

At around 9:30 a.m. ET, an air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for Southwest Flight 3278 after noticing the aircraft had started its takeoff roll on a taxiway running parallel to the runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Taxiways are used for aircraft movement between terminals and runways, not for takeoff.

Southwest Airlines reported that the Boeing 737-800 stopped safely, returned to the gate, and that no injuries occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FAA have both launched investigations into the incident. Southwest also stated it is working with the FAA to understand what led to the error and has since rebooked passengers on another flight.

This event follows a December FAA safety review of Southwest Airlines, prompted by previous incidents, including a flight in July that flew at dangerously low altitude over Tampa Bay and another in April that came within 400 feet (122 meters) of the ocean near Hawaii.

On Wednesday, the FAA announced plans to install enhanced safety technology at 74 U.S. airports by 2026 to help detect runway incursions. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also revealed upcoming plans to modernize the country’s air traffic control system, replacing outdated technology.

Concerns over U.S. aviation safety have grown following the January 29 fatal collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Reagan Washington National Airport, which resulted in 67 deaths.

The FAA has been conducting an audit of runway incursion risks at the 45 busiest U.S. airports since October. Over the past two years, a series of near-miss incidents has highlighted ongoing issues, particularly the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations. A shortage of controllers has caused delays and forced many to work mandatory overtime and six-day weeks to cover shifts, exacerbating safety concerns.

A panel of experts convened by Japan’s Cabinet Office has issued new guidelines for over 44 million residents in the region surrounding Mount Fuji, emphasizing the need for preparedness in case of a major volcanic eruption.

The panel advised municipalities and households to maintain emergency supplies, such as food and water, as part of their disaster readiness plans. Mount Fuji, standing at 3,776 meters, last erupted in 1707, but experts warn that a future eruption could have catastrophic consequences.

In the worst-case scenario, an eruption could blanket Tokyo, located about 100 kilometers northeast of the volcano, with up to 30 centimeters (nearly 12 inches) of ash. The report warned that such an accumulation could lead to the collapse of wooden houses, especially if combined with rain, and urged residents in affected areas to evacuate if necessary.

Even in less severe ashfall scenarios, large structures such as school gymnasiums—often used as evacuation centers—could suffer significant damage. The panel recommended that residents remain inside the affected area whenever possible and only evacuate in cases where their homes face severe structural damage.

Ashfall could also disrupt the delivery of essential supplies, making stockpiling crucial. The report noted that power outages, communication breakdowns, and deteriorating water quality are likely, particularly if rain mixes with volcanic ash. Transportation would also be severely affected, as roads covered in ash could become impassable for vehicles.

While the report outlined potential risks and preparedness measures, the experts clarified that it did not predict the timing or scale of Mount Fuji’s next eruption.

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), has filed a lawsuit against the Indian government, accusing it of misusing legal provisions to impose unlawful censorship. The case highlights ongoing tensions between tech giants and India's strict content regulations as Musk’s other ventures, Starlink and Tesla, prepare to enter the Indian market.

India, the world’s largest democracy, is consistently among the top five countries requesting content removals from social media platforms. X argues that the Indian government has been exploiting legal loopholes to silence dissent without proper safeguards. "According to X, this provision... is being misused to create an unlawful parallel mechanism for blocking information," reported Indian legal website Bar and Bench.

The case will be heard in Karnataka’s High Court on March 27 after an initial hearing failed to reach a resolution. This isn’t the first time X has clashed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.

In 2023, an Indian court fined X $61,000 after rejecting its challenge against government orders to remove tweets critical of Modi. In 2024, X reaffirmed that its appeal against government-ordered bans on specific accounts and posts is still pending. "Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency," X said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes at a critical time for Musk, as Tesla and Starlink prepare to expand into the Indian market. With India being the world’s fifth-largest economy, Musk is eyeing a massive business opportunity, but regulatory tensions over free speech could complicate those plans.

Critics argue that India's opaque censorship policies enable political control over online discourse, while the government insists these measures are necessary for national security and public order.

As the Karnataka High Court prepares to hear X’s case, the outcome could set a major precedent for online freedom in India—and influence the future relationship between Big Tech and Modi’s administration.

Legal immigrants and green card holders in the U.S. can face deportation, particularly under the Trump administration's strict immigration policies, if they have a criminal record or are considered a threat to foreign policy.

The U.S. government is seeking to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student arrested earlier this month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after participating in pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil, 30, a legal U.S. resident without a criminal record, was detained overnight in New Jersey before being transferred to an immigration facility in Jena, Louisiana.

Initially, ICE planned to revoke Khalil's student visa based on instructions from the U.S. State Department but discovered he was also a lawful permanent resident. Consequently, ICE pursued revoking his green card instead, and he currently awaits a deportation hearing in Louisiana, according to the AP.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Khalil's detention was related to President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses. Khalil's arrest has drawn criticism, with opponents arguing he is unfairly targeted, raising questions about protections for international students and green card holders.

Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, an immigration law professor at Cornell Law School, told AP that lawful permanent residents generally have robust protections and "should be the most protected short of a U.S. citizen." However, Kelley-Widmer emphasized that protection is not absolute; green card holders can be deported for crimes, failure to update addresses with immigration authorities, or fraudulent marriages.

In Khalil's case, the U.S. government claims authority to revoke his residency, obtained through marriage to a U.S. citizen. His deportation is pursued under Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allowing removal if the Secretary of State determines a non-citizen's presence or activities could have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the U.S., as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

While officials have not explicitly detailed how Khalil threatens U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials support deportation, accusing him of creating a hostile environment for Jewish students at Columbia University. Combatting antisemitism has been a prominent foreign policy objective for Trump's administration.

Brazilians deported from the U.S. at Eduardo Gomes International Airport in Manaus, Amazona, on Jan. 25, 2025. Photo by AFP

Khalil is not alone in facing deportation due to stricter immigration enforcement. Recently, multiple green card and visa holders have faced detention at U.S. entry points and prolonged stays in ICE facilities.

Rasha Alawieh, 34, a kidney transplant specialist at Brown University's medical school, was detained last week at Boston Logan International Airport after returning from Lebanon.

Her H-1B work visa issued by the U.S. consulate in Lebanon was revoked, and she was deported.

The Department of Homeland Security claimed on X on March 17 that Alawieh had "traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah," the leader of Hezbollah. Alawieh maintained that she only joined crowds outside the stadium where the funeral occurred and did not attend the ceremony inside, AFP reported, citing an unnamed family member.

In another incident, Fabian Schmidt, a 34-year-old German electrical engineer and green card holder residing in New Hampshire, was detained on March 7 at Boston Logan Airport upon returning from Europe. His mother alleged that CBP officers "violently interrogated" Schmidt and pressured him into signing away his green card, according to Boston public radio WGBH. Schmidt was transferred to an ICE detention center in Rhode Island.

Immigration officials cited Schmidt's prior marijuana possession charge from 2015 in California, before the state legalized recreational cannabis, as justification for deportation. Schmidt, who moved from Germany to the U.S. in 2008 and received his green card in 2009, missed a related court hearing in California because the summons was sent to his former address after he moved to New Hampshire in 2022. Schmidt believed the charge had been dismissed following cannabis decriminalization.

His family emphasized that Schmidt had turned his life around, building a stable engineering career and raising an 8-year-old daughter with his American partner, both U.S. citizens, according to WGBH. However, CBP officials argued that his prior drug-related offense warranted deportation.

Hilton Beckham, Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs at CBP, refuted Schmidt's family’s allegations, telling Newsweek: "These claims [regarding Schmidt] are blatantly false with respect to CBP. When an individual is found with drug-related charges and tries to reenter the country, officers will take proper action."

Strict immigration enforcement under Trump has intensified scrutiny of green card and visa holders, sparking concerns about due process. Legal experts warn that expansive interpretations of immigration laws could result in deportations for minor infractions or subjective policy reasons.

Civil rights organizations and immigration attorneys continue to challenge the administration's actions, arguing many legal immigrants face unfair targeting.

Kripa Upadhyay, a Seattle-based immigration attorney, cautioned earlier this week in the Times of India that foreign nationals, especially those renewing H-1B or F-1 visas, should "really need to think twice" about international travel.

Ashwin Sharma, a Florida immigration lawyer, described incidents reported to the newspaper, where elderly Indian green card holders were allegedly pressured by CBP agents into signing Form I-407, voluntarily relinquishing their residency. Sharma noted some CBP officers intimidate travelers with threats of detention or deportation, despite only an immigration judge legally having authority to revoke a green card.

Immigration attorneys also report increased extensive questioning and detention for green card holders, advising them to pursue U.S. citizenship promptly. Those awaiting citizenship approval are advised against international travel until obtaining their American passports.

Lucas Sielaff, 25, from eastern Germany, shared his trouble after taking a short trip out of the U.S.

Sielaff told Der Spiegel magazine earlier this month, as reported by DW, that was detained for two weeks and deported back to Germany after visiting his American fiancée in Nevada. The couple had briefly traveled to Mexico to obtain veterinary care for her dog.

Upon returning, Sielaff faced intense interrogation. He believed the border officer assumed he was illegally residing in the U.S. and attempting to circumvent the 90-day visitation limit by briefly exiting the country.
VietBF@ Sưu tập

Mai Trieu Nguyen, a prominent figure in Vietnam’s technology sector, has passed away following severe injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Melbourne, Australia on March 5 (local time).


CEO Mai Trieu Nguyen. Photo: Facebook character

Nguyen was a well-known entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the Vietnamese mobile phone market.

He founded the once-popular Mai Nguyen Mobile retail chain in Ho Chi Minh City.

In recent years, following the COVID-19 pandemic, Nguyen shifted his focus to vlogging, producing travel videos featuring his journeys around the world on high-displacement motorcycles.

His final social media post, shared on the morning of March 5, featured scenes of Melbourne’s Docklands and a casual ride to test a new motorcycle.

He wrote cheerfully: “Morning everyone!” and teased his next adventure video, unaware it would be his last.

Nguyen, born in 1976, was involved in a motorcycle accident on the West Gate Freeway in Melbourne on March 5.

The incident left two motorcyclists badly injured, especially Nguyen, and caused significant traffic disruptions throughout Melbourne.

His passing has sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes from Vietnam’s tech and biking communities, who remember him not only as a successful businessman but also as a passionate explorer.

The passing of Mr. Mai Trieu Nguyen is a great loss for the technology-loving community and large-displacement motorbikes, who are passionate about traveling in Vietnam.

VietBF@ Sưu tập

Finland has once again topped the rankings as the world's happiest country for the eighth year in a row. The nation's consistent lead is driven by high life satisfaction, low corruption, universal healthcare and a strong culture of social support.

The Nordic nation is not alone at the top. Its neighbors Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Norway have also regularly featured near the summit of global happiness rankings.

According to Ilana Ron-Levey, managing director of Gallup, the shared traits among these nations include economic stability, strong political institutions and comprehensive welfare systems, CNBC reports.

However, Ron-Levey identifies Finland as uniquely intriguing, emphasizing factors such as widespread trust in society, optimism about the future and exceptional social support networks as key contributors to the nation's happiness. The 2025 World Happiness Report compiles rankings based on citizens' self-evaluations of life satisfaction from 2022 to 2024, alongside their responses to Gallup’s Cantril ladder question, which asks respondents to rate their life quality on a scale of zero to ten.

The report also considers other critical measures such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, individual freedoms, generosity and perceptions of corruption.


People walk past a street musician in the center of Helsinki, Finland, March 15, 2025. Photo by AP

Finland scores particularly high in healthcare, where the government ensures universal access to quality medical services at minimal or no cost. This accessible healthcare system notably includes extensive mental health support, reflecting Finland's commitment to reducing mental health stigma and fostering well-being.

Finnish residents benefit significantly from healthy lifestyles encouraged by a pristine natural environment and supportive welfare policies, including generous parental leave and effective work-life balance initiatives. High trust in government institutions further enhances a sense of security and community among citizens.

Cultural openness in expressing emotions also sets Finland apart.

Mari Larivaara from MIELI Mental Health Finland highlights that Finns are comfortable sharing life's challenges openly, an approach research consistently links to improved mental health and stronger social bonds, the Huffington Post reported.

Finnish culture prioritizes leisure, relaxation and meaningful activities, offering universal access to natural resources like forests, lakes and coastlines, where people can freely engage in outdoor recreation like hiking, swimming and camping.

The country also actively promotes self-development through widespread availability of low-cost educational and hobby-related activities, helping to foster personal growth and community connections.

According to Juho Saari from Tampere University, Finnish happiness is less about intense moments of joy and more about consistent, overall satisfaction with life. Professor Mirka Hintsanen from the University of Oulu notes that while personal attitudes matter, external circumstances, social environments and societal policies significantly shape individual happiness levels.
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Hong Kong man jailed after drunk driving crash kills lover in Hoi An


Chong Fu Kit at the Quang Nam People's Court, March 20, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh

A 32-year-old Hong Kong man has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for driving a motorbike under the influence of alcohol, resulting in the death of his partner during the couple's trip to the popular tourist city of Hoi An.

The Quang Nam People People's Court on Thursday sentenced Chong Fu Kit for violating traffic regulations leading to a fatal accident.

According to court documents, Chong arrived in Quang Nam with three friends for a vacation on May 7 last year, renting a motorbike from local resident Nguyen Dong Quan, 52, despite not having a valid driving license.

On May 8, Chong consumed alcohol at lunchtime before riding to Hoi An with his lover, Crus Wing Sze, 28, as a passenger. Neither Chong nor Crus wore helmets at the time of the incident.

While traveling through Cam An Ward, Chong crashed into a median strip, causing Crus to suffer fatal injuries. She died instantly at the scene, while Chong sustained injuries and was later found to have a blood alcohol content of 220 mg/dl.

Hoi An, located in Vietnam's central Quang Nam Province, attracts millions of tourists annually, known for its well-preserved ancient town, UNESCO world heritage sites, and vibrant cultural atmosphere. The city hosted approximately 4.4 million visitors in 2024 alone, with weekend visitor numbers often approaching 10,000.
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Attachment 2503575


Several legal experts said the Constitution doesn’t require that pardons be signed directly by the president; the use of a mechanical device for signatures is not prohibited.

Memos by the Office of the Solicitor General in 1929 and the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2005 also say a president’s hand signature is not required.

There is no constitutional mechanism for overturning pardons, and an 1869 judicial ruling found that once delivered, a pardon is final.


President Donald Trump claimed some of former President Joe Biden’s pardons are invalid because Biden used an autopen.

"The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen," Trump wrote March 17 on Truth Social. He referred to Biden’s pardons of congressional members who served on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.

It’s uncertain to us whether Biden used an "autopen" — a mechanical device that uses a robotic arm with a pen attached — to sign the pardons. Yet, Trump also claimed that Biden "did not sign" the pardons and "did not know anything about them!"

Trump’s post followed his statements days earlier criticizing Biden’s use of the autopen.

"Everything was signed by autopen — almost everything," Trump said March 13. "Nobody has ever heard of such a thing."

Biden is not the first U.S. president to use an autopen. Presidents Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson used autopens or mechanized signing devices.

We found universal agreement among legal scholars that the Constitution doesn’t require a pardon’s direct human signing, and subsequent judicial decisions and legal memoranda support an autopen’s use for similar purposes. Legal scholars also agreed that there is no constitutional mechanism to overturn pardons once granted.

A White House press office spokesperson referred PolitiFact to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s March 17 comments, that were in response to a reporter asking whether White House attorneys had told Trump he has the legal authority to reverse Biden’s pardons because of the autopen.

Leavitt did not directly answer that question but said, "The president was raising the point that, did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?"

When we asked the White House whether Trump ever used an autopen, a spokesperson pointed to Trump’s comments to reporters the previous night on Air Force One. "I never use it. I mean, we may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter, because it's nice. … But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful."

Constitution does not address pardon document methodology

The pardon portion of the Constitution’s Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 says the president has the power to grant pardons, but makes no mention of "sign" or "signature." More than a half-dozen constitutional law experts told PolitiFact they see no restriction in the Constitution on the use of an autopen.

"The president possesses the power to pardon, but there is no specification (unlike for signing of bills) that this pardon be in writing," said Bernadette Meyler, a Stanford University scholar of British and American constitutional law. "Hence it is not clear that a signature would even be required, as the decision to pardon could be oral rather than written."

By comparison, Article I, Section 7 says that bills that pass the House and Senate shall be "presented to the President of the United States; If he approves he shall sign it."

Frank O. Bowman III, a University of Missouri law professor, pointed to images of pardons from Abraham Lincoln's presidency, which sometimes do not match each other, nor Lincoln’s documented signature elsewhere.

That’s because "in the 1800s, the secretary of state, or one of his functionaries, often prepared and signed pardon warrants in the name of the president," Bowman said.

Attachment 2503576

Signatures on pardons issued by President Abraham Lincoln that were recorded by his secretary of state or a designee, not Lincoln himself. (National Archives)

Attachment 2503577

A verified Abraham Lincoln signature. (Library of Congress)

In 2005, during George W. Bush’s presidency, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel wrote a memo to the president’s counsel about the legality of using an autopen to sign bills. The department concluded:

"The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law. Rather, the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen."

The Justice Department memo also said there are practical reasons for a president to use an autopen, such as when he is away from Washington, D.C., or wants a law to take effect immediately, for example to avert a government shutdown.

"The DOJ opinion does give Biden cover here," Michigan State University law professor Brian Kalt said.

A 1929 Office of the Solicitor General memo, within the Justice Department, said a pardoned man should be given a "token" to show he was pardoned, however, "that need not have the president’s autograph. If it shall bear the facsimile signature and be certified by an official having charge of the records as having been issued by the President, or by his direction, that shall be sufficient."

More recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said in a 2024 ruling that "nothing in the Constitution restricts the President’s exercise of the clemency power to commutations that have been rendered through a documented writing."

Trump can’t reverse Biden’s pardons

Legal experts agreed that nothing in the Constitution or the law permits pardons to be reversed.

"Pardons are final and irrevocable," Kalt said.

In an 1869 ruling, a federal court wrote: "The law undoubtedly is, that when a pardon is complete, there is no power to revoke it, any more than there is power to revoke any other completed act."

Making the argument that pardons can be reversed is a risk for Trump himself.

"Even under Trump’s conception of unlimited presidential power, a future president could undo anything he did — and I assume he would not be happy with that," said Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor.

Trump issued pardons for Jan. 6, 2021, defendants.

"Presidents historically have not personally signed grants of pardons for every individual they granted clemency to," notably when granted in large batches such as mass amnesties following wars, said Dan Kobil, a Capital Law School professor.

Claims started with Heritage Foundation entity

Trump’s autopen claims followed posts earlier in March by the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.

"WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY," the Oversight Project wrote March 6 on X.

The Oversight Project wrote that it gathered documents with Biden's presidential signature and found "all used the same autopen signature" except for his announcement that he was dropping out of the 2024 race.

The Oversight Project posted about autopens about a dozen times in a week, dubbing it the "autopen scandal." One post displayed signatures for multiple pardons Biden issued Jan. 19, his final full day in office. That was the day he pardoned lawmakers who served on the congressional committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.

The National Archives told the fact-checking website Snopes that official documents published in the Federal Register use a copy of the president's signature provided by the White House.

"At the beginning of each administration, the White House sends a sample of the President's signature to the Office of the Federal Register, which uses it to create the graphic image for all Presidential Documents published in the Federal Register," the National Archives wrote to Snopes. (PolitiFact contacted the National Archives and did not immediately hear back.)

Trump said Biden’s pardons of lawmakers on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack "are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT," because "they were done by Autopen."

It’s unclear whether Biden signed the pardons with an autopen. But even if he did, a half dozen legal experts said the Constitution doesn’t require that pardons be signed by hand by the president.

Memos by the Office of the Solicitor General in 1929 and the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2005 both say a president’s hand signature is not needed, and presidents, including Lincoln, routinely had subordinates sign pardons on their behalf.

There is no constitutional mechanism for overturning pardons, and an 1869 judicial ruling found that once delivered, a pardon is final. There is no legal precedent saying pardons are void if they are signed by a machine instead of the president.

The burden of proof is on the speaker, and Trump provided no evidence of a legal path to declaring Biden’s pardons void.

Based on current legal precedent, we rate the statement False.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** The US president and his followers are entering new and dangerous territory..



Donald Trump is the MAGA movement’s greatest asset and its greatest liability.

The US president is a political genius. But he is also, in the memorable phrase, attributed to Rex Tillerson, his first secretary of state, “a fucking moron” when it comes to understanding policy.

That tension between Trump the genius and Trump the moron is dangerous for the “Make America Great Again” movement that he created and leads.

As a political actor, there is no denying that Trump has an intuitive genius that has enabled him to completely reshape American politics. Winning a second term in office by a decisive margin has given him absolute authority within his party. For now, Trump can do what he wants. The problem is that what he wants is likely to be very damaging to America.

The most obvious example of the self-destructive nature of Trump’s policies is his obsession with tariffs. The US president cannot or will not understand that tariffs are paid by importers and that much of the cost will be passed on to consumers. He also regards unpredictability as a virtue. So tariffs are imposed, lifted and then reimposed, seemingly on a whim. The result is that businesses cannot plan ahead and that consumers and investors are panicking.

In Trump’s first term, when his political authority was weaker and his advisers more conventional, the president’s aides were able to deflect some of his worst ideas. Officials sometimes ignored or reinterpreted his instructions, or even removed papers from his desk, in an effort to contain his instincts.

But in term two, the president has surrounded himself with sycophants who want to “let Trump be Trump”. Howard Lutnick, his commerce secretary, assures us that Trump is “the most important, the smartest, the most capable leader in the world”. So the president can press ahead with policies that are likely to damage the majority of Americans in direct and tangible ways.

Trump has done many outrageous things in the past, such as attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. But few of his previous actions affected the daily lives of ordinary Americans. Causing a recession, higher inflation or a stock market crash would be different. Some 60 per cent of Americans own shares, often in their retirement funds. Many will be dismayed by the recent slump in share prices. Consumer confidence is also falling, as inflation expectations rise.

The economy was rated the most important issue by voters in the last election. But Trump’s ratings for handling the economy have already turned negative. There may be more pain to come as cuts in the federal workforce ripple out beyond Washington. Possible cuts in social security or government-funded health benefits would also hit millions.

Picking fights with America’s neighbors and allies might seem to fall into the category of issues that the average voter can shrug off. But threatening to annex Canada (another moronic idea) has started a needless trade war with a peaceable neighbor. If the Canadians retaliate by forcing up the price of exports of oil or electricity to the US, ordinary Americans will suffer. Tariffs on Mexico could also raise supermarket prices. Some 50 per cent of America’s imported fruit comes from Mexico. The profits of the big three US car companies could be wiped out by a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico.

The economic effects of Trump’s policies are likely to determine the future of his presidency. But Trump is also putting Americans at risk in other ways. Sacking FBI agents and intelligence officers — and appointing conspiracy theorists as director of national intelligence and head of the FBI — is a recipe for an eventual high-profile disaster. Putting another conspiracy theorist, Robert F Kennedy Jr, in charge of the health department creates another set of obvious dangers.

Watching Trump unleash his inner moron on the American government reminds me of a prediction I heard from a prominent US businessman in January. “If Trump does half the things he’s promising to do, this whole thing will blow up. And it will discredit Maga for a generation.”

The obvious mechanism for a blow-up would be a huge defeat for the Republicans at the next elections. But the midterms are almost two years away. Trump and his minions can do a lot of damage to America’s institutions, including the electoral system, in that time. If the administration begins to obviously flounder, Trump is likely to respond with a hunt for scapegoats and increased authoritarianism.

But the experience in other damaged democracies is that even a partly rigged system can work well enough to inflict electoral defeats on far-right populists. Jair Bolsonaro lost the Brazilian presidential election in 2022 (and has been charged with attempting a coup afterwards). Poland’s Law and Justice party lost power in elections in 2023. Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who has been prime minister since 2010 and is much admired by the Maga movement, is trailing in the polls ahead of elections expected next year — as the Hungarian economy struggles. There were anti-Orbán demonstrations in Budapest at the weekend.

Rightwing populists can often win the culture wars. But mishandling the economy is much harder to explain away. If Maga makes Americans poorer, Trump and his movement are likely to pay the price.

Watch as the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission—NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—begin the final preparations for their return to Earth, currently targeted for Tuesday, March 18.

After entering their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, the spacecraft's hatch will be closed on the Crew-9 explorers. After hatch closure, Crew-9 is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. EST (0505 UTC) on Tuesday, March 18.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Hatch Close



LIVE! NASA SpaceX Crew 9 Undocking

From his wildly popular podcast to the No. 2 post at the F.B.I., Dan Bongino joins Kash Patel, President Trump’s former election surrogate, to lead the agency at a turning point.



In the closing minutes of his podcast, the right-wing provocateur Dan Bongino made a promise. Joining the F.B.I. as its deputy director, he acknowledged, would require a stark change in approach after years of making his name as a pugilistic pundit.

“I have to stay out of the political space because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the rules,” he said during his last episode on Friday. He added, “I’m not going there to be some partisan.”

His arrival on Monday as the F.B.I.’s second in command will test that promise, cementing a major shift at the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, where he will join its director, Kash Patel, in overseeing a bureau of about 38,000 people. It puts two staunch Trump loyalists in charge of an agency long known for its tradition of independence. Collectively, they have the least leadership experience of any pair overseeing the F.B.I. since its founding more than a century ago.

Already, Mr. Patel has raised eyebrows. He has reversed course on a pledge to install a veteran agent as his No. 2 and works out with a personal trainer inside the F.B.I. He has swiftly moved to restructure the bureau, pushing to decentralize the command structure and reassign many at its headquarters. He quickly established a ballooning presence for his F.B.I. director account on social media, shooting down a wobbly theory in the right-wing media, which prompted a slew of stories and some astonishment.

In selecting Mr. Bongino, whose experience in law enforcement dates from years ago when he served as a police officer and Secret Service agent, Mr. Patel is breaking from tradition and relying on someone who has little familiarity with the bureau’s inner workings. Indeed, the past five deputy directors had spent an average of more than 20 years in the bureau. Mr. Bongino, by contrast, has never been an F.B.I. agent.

Best known as a high-octane conservative commentator, Mr. Bongino began his podcast in 2015, catapulting him to right-wing stardom during the 2020 election. Like Mr. Patel and Mr. Trump, Mr. Bongino is from Queens, N.Y.

Mr. Bongino greeting President Trump during an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Miami. Mr. Patel has said he would like to partner with the U.F.C.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Mr. Bongino frequently shared his disdain for the F.B.I. on his podcast and radio show while praising Mr. Trump. In an emotional farewell episode, he recounted how President Trump reached out after Mr. Bongino had a cancerous tumor removed in 2020, shortly before the election. “President Trump called in the hospital; he was the president; Covid was going on,” he said, adding that the president asked whether Mr. Bongino needed anything. He responded, “I need you to save the country.”

Mr. Bongino will replace Robert C. Kissane, who had more than two decades of experience as an agent and had been serving as acting deputy director. Mr. Kissane is expected to return to New York.

Hours after Mr. Patel was sworn in last month, he signaled his intent to sharply restructure the bureau, ordering the relocation of 1,500 agents and personnel in the Washington region to field offices around the country. Internal documents show that he told several hundred agents on temporary duty to return to their home offices by the end of June, a potentially significant shift in ascending the ranks of the agency. Those temporary assignments to headquarters are critical to getting promoted, providing agents with deep insights into the bureau’s abilities and reach.

But Mr. Patel will be hard-pressed to attain his larger goal because of steep relocation costs.

Last week, Mr. Patel also altered the hierarchy of the F.B.I., which could, in effect, insulate top agents in the field from Mr. Bongino because they will no longer answer to the deputy director. Some former agents saw that as a positive development.

Mr. Patel has taken agency headquarters by storm, demanding that 1,500 agents and personnel be moved to various field offices around the country.Credit...Dou g Mills/The New York Times

A series of ousters that was already underway before Mr. Patel took office has left a leadership vacuum atop the agency.

James Dennehy, the widely popular and veteran agent in charge of the New York field office, was among about a dozen senior executives who have been pushed out. Some were agents with decades of experience who would have offered critical institutional expertise to Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino. Now Mr. Patel intends to replace some of them with another cadre of senior executives

On the same day that Mr. Dennehy was forced out, Mr. Patel circulated a video to his staff saying he had their backs.

James Dennehy, center, the widely popular and veteran agent in charge of the New York field office, was among about a dozen senior executives who have been pushed out of the bureau.Credit...Cait lin Ochs for The New York Times

Mr. Patel also removed the people who knew how to run the seventh floor, where the director and the deputy sit. His new executive secretary previously ran a concierge business. Mr. Wray’s executive secretary had worked for years at the F.B.I. and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Mr. Patel’s unconventional approach has left former agents and analysts to wonder if he is up to the job. In a videoconference with senior agents, he said that he would like the F.B.I. to partner with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the popular mixed martial arts company, and that he was not big on meetings or wearing suits.

He has liberally used social media to promote the F.B.I. in what he has cast as an effort at transparency and highlighted the bureau’s role in immigration arrests. Former and current agents have joked privately that since Mr. Patel took over on Feb. 21., the agency has stopped being corrupt.

His handling of the job has also prompted former and current agents to question if Mr. Patel is in fact in charge or if the bureau is simply on autopilot. His predecessor, Christopher A. Wray, often asked, “Are you a plow horse or a show horse?”

On March 7, Mr. Patel attended the graduation of a new F.B.I. agent class in Quantico, Va., and dressed in camouflage to observe the bureau’s elite tactical team. He then flew to a U.F.C. fight in Las Vegas, where Mr. Patel has said he plans to divide his time. (The plan stands at odds with the administration’s policy of requiring all federal employees to be in the office five days a week.)

In a picture of the Las Vegas fight posted on social media, Mr. Patel is spotted ringside, next to Dana White, the U.F.C. president, and a manager, Ali Abdelaziz. Mr. Abdelaziz, a former informant for the New York Police Department and F.B.I., eventually fell under suspicion for lying. After traveling to Egypt in 2008, he failed a polygraph and the F.B.I. in New York severed its ties with him, according to Police Department documents. Mr. Abdelaziz proudly proclaims his relationship with Mr. Patel on social media, sharing Mr. Patel’s messages and posting a picture of himself at Mr. Patel’s confirmation hearing.
Image
Ali Abdelaziz standing in a U.F.C. ring.
Ali Abdelaziz, a former New York Police Department and F.B.I. informant who eventually fell under suspicion for lying, has proudly proclaimed his relationship with Mr. Patel on social media.Credit...Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Mr. Patel has also drawn some praise elsewhere. In a moving speech at the State Department on March 6, he pledged to do everything in his power to free American hostages abroad. “This is a top priority,” he said.

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He has also defended the F.B.I., a remarkable shift from his years taking shots at the agency.

Last week, Mr. Patel praised the bureau’s arrest of a Customs and Border Protection official in Detroit, describing it as part of the “F.B.I.’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people.”

But F.B.I. agents had been investigating the case well before Mr. Patel became director. Indeed, the criminal complaint shows that agents learned in April 2024 about a potential scheme to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In years past, Mr. Patel has repeatedly denounced the F.B.I.’s scrutiny of Mr. Trump.

Yet as director, he set the record straight about one F.B.I. operation that involved the use of a female undercover agent who a whistle-blower said had targeted Mr. Trump. The right-wing news media seized on the detail, casting it as a so-called honey pot operation.

Mr. Patel quickly rebutted the claim on social media: “A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure- she was NOT a honeypot.”

One right-wing news outlet called Mr. Patel’s pushback “rare and extraordinary.”

VietBF@ Sưu tập

President Trump and most members of his administration steered clear of the annual Gridiron Club dinner on Saturday, where politicians and the press usually toast and lightly roast one another.


President Trump attended the Gridiron Club dinner in 2018 during his first term but skipped it on Saturday.Credit...Ti erney L. Cross for The New York Times

The president wanted nothing to do with it.

It was Saturday night in Washington, and many of the town’s top reporters, editors and television anchors were gathered in the subbasement of a Hyatt hotel. They were there for the annual white-tie dinner thrown by the Gridiron Club, an association of journalists that was formed in 1885. Ordinarily, presidents go with high-ranking members of their administration. It’s a chance for politicians and the press to toast and lightly roast one another (“singe, not burn” is the club’s motto). It is a clubby and cozy affair. This year it seemed curdled.

“I invited the president, the vice president, the national security adviser and the interior secretary,” said Judy Woodruff of PBS News, who is the club’s president. “All declined.”


VietBF@ Sưu tập

The use of the autopen, a device that reproduces signatures and is ubiquitous in government and business, is ordinarily uncontroversial. There is no power to undo a pardon in the Constitution or case law.


In the final hours of President Biden’s time in office, he granted a wave of pre-emptive pardons.Credit...Pet e Marovich for The New York Times

President Trump wrote on social media on Sunday night that he no longer considered valid the pardons his predecessor granted to members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol, and a range of other people whom Mr. Trump sees as his political enemies, because they were signed using an autopen device.

There is no power in the Constitution or case law to undo a pardon, and there is no exception to pardons signed by autopen. But Mr. Trump’s assertion, which embraced a baseless right-wing conspiracy theory about former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., was a new escalation of his antidemocratic rhetoric. Implicit in his post was Mr. Trump’s belief that the nation’s laws should be whatever he decrees them to be. And it was a jolting reminder that his appetite for revenge has not been sated.

“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on social media on Sunday night. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”

The use of autopen is an ordinarily uncontroversial aspect of governance; it was first used to sign a bill into law at the direction of a president in 2011, when former President Barack Obama was traveling in Europe and wanted to sign a piece of legislation that Congress passed extending the Patriot Act another four years.

After Mr. Trump posted about the autopen and the pardons Sunday night, a reporter in the traveling press pool on Air Force One asked him to elaborate, and he seemed to briefly back away from the extraordinary idea he had just posted.

Would other things Mr. Biden signed as president using an autopen also be considered null and void, he was asked.

“It’s not my decision,” Mr. Trump said. “That would be up to a court. But I would say that they’re null and void, because I’m sure that Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place.”

In the final hours of Mr. Biden’s presidency, he granted a wave of pre-emptive pardons to relatives; all members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, including Liz Cheney, a former congresswoman and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney; and some of Mr. Trump’s most high-profile foes, including Gen. Mark A. Milley and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.

Rampant online discussion and theorizing about the Biden administration’s use of autopen, fueled by right-wing pundits, chiefly put forward conspiracy theories that aides to Mr. Biden were abusing it to do all sorts of things under the nose of an out-of-it chief executive. The pinned post on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social profile is a meme depicting a framed picture of an autopen hanging on a wall in the place where a portrait of the 46th president ought to be. (Elon Musk reposted the meme to his 219 million followers, adding a bull’s-eye emoji and a crying laughing emoji).


VietBF@ Sưu tập

A Peruvian fisherman who spent 95 days lost in the Pacific Ocean, eating roaches, birds and sea turtles to survive, is returning home to his family.

Maximo Napa had set off for a fishing trip from Marcona, a town on the southern Peruvian coast, on Dec. 7. He packed food for a two-week trip but 10 days in, stormy weather threw his boat off course and he ended up adrift in the Pacific Ocean.


This handout picture released on March 15, 2025, by the Peruvian Navy shows Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa, 61, receiving medical attention upon his arrival in Paita, Piura department, Peru. Photo by AFP

His family launched a search but Peru's maritime patrols were unable to locate him until Wednesday, when an Ecuadorian fishing patrol discovered him some 680 miles (1,094 km) off the country's coast, heavily dehydrated and in critical condition.

"I did not want to die," Napa told Reuters after reuniting with his brother, in Paita, near the border with Ecuador. "I ate roaches, birds, the last thing I ate was turtles."

He said he stayed strong thinking about his family, including his two-month-old granddaughter, even as he survived on rainwater he collected on the boat and ran out of food, ultimately spending the last 15 days without eating.

"I thought about my mother every day," he said. "I'm thankful to God for giving me a second chance."

His mother, Elena Castro, told local media that while her relatives had stayed optimistic she had began to lose hope.

"I told the Lord, whether he's alive or dead, just bring him back to me, even if it's just to see him," she told TV Peru. "But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he'll come back, he'll come back."

Napa was scheduled for more medical checks in Paita before heading south to Lima.
VietBF@ Sưu tập

Four Vietnamese siblings allegedly orchestrated a $3.8 billion gambling ring, allowing players to place bets using USDT, ETH, and Naga tokens while earning commissions for recruiting new participants.


Huynh Long Nhu is arrested for organizing gambling. Photo by Tuong Van

Ho Chi Minh City police are expanding their investigation into the ring led by Huynh Long Nhu, 32, alongside his brothers Huynh Long Tu and Huynh Long Bach, and their sister Huynh Thi Ha Tay, upon request by the prosecutors.

The police have recommended that prosecutors charge Nhu, Tu, and Tay, along with nine other defendants, with organizing gambling and gambling, while Bach and 20 others should face charges of organizing gambling. An additional 10 members are set to be prosecuted for gambling.

An Indian national, Bhatia Mohit, 32, believed to be the mastermind behind the operation, remains at large along with several other suspects.

Police described the case as "exceptionally large-scale", with the gambling network running from early 2020 until its dismantling at the end of 2021. Investigators discovered that over 25,000 accounts were registered across websites operated by Nhu and Bach, facilitating bets totaling $3.8 billion.

The siblings hired skilled IT experts, including foreign nationals, to develop and maintain the gambling platforms Swiftonline.live and Nagaclubs.com, which were linked to the international betting site Evolution.com. They also rented online card game portals based overseas to support their operations.

Nhu oversaw Swiftonline.live, while Bach controlled Nagaclubs.com, which alone had over 5,000 registered accounts.

Multi-level investment scheme

The group lured players by promoting the operation as a financial investment in digital currency using a multi-level marketing model, promising daily profits of 1% to 1.5%.

Players were encouraged to register for "insured" betting, which guaranteed a refund if they lost. Participants could also earn commissions by recruiting new players into the scheme.

To take part, users had to create an account on Swiftonline.live, buy USDT using Vietnamese currency through exchanges like Remitano or Binance, or purchase from other players. The cryptocurrency was then transferred to the Swiftonline.live e-wallet, where it could be used for gambling.

A minimum deposit of 20 USDT ($20) was required to start betting. Winnings could be withdrawn only when an account held at least 20 USDT. Players could transfer funds back to virtual wallets on Remitano, Binance, or sell them to other players for cash conversion.

Similarly, gamblers using Nagaclubs.com deposited ETH or USDT, which was automatically converted into Naga tokens for use on the platform.

Nagaclubs.com also adopted a multi-level commission structure, ranking participants from VIP 1 to VIP 10, based on the number of recruited players and the amount gambled. The system automatically distributed commissions in digital currency into users' gaming accounts.

The investigation revealed that the gambling ring generated significant profits. Nhu and his accomplices amassed approximately $2.2 million from the site they oversaw, while Bach's group earned over $2.5 million.

The illicit proceeds were used to purchase real estate, cars, and land, with a portion transferred overseas, raising concerns over money laundering.

Authorities are now pursuing further legal action against those involved while continuing efforts to track down other fugitives.
VietBF@ Sưu tập

U.S. President Donald Trump's fixation on annexing Canada is raising eyebrows and sparking fierce backlash both north of the border and internationally.

Political analysts struggle to interpret Trump's repeated claims that Canada should become the 51st state of the U.S.—whether it's a negotiation ploy, an economic strategy, or just another example of his expansionist ambitions.

"I think it's one of those things where Trump thinks it would be nice to pull it off, but he understands that it is less than a remote possibility," said Todd Belt, a political science professor at George Washington University. "His rhetoric is mostly to take a tough and unpredictable bargaining stance."

On Tuesday, the 78-year-old Republican took to Truth Social once again, insisting that the U.S.-Canada border is an 'artificial line' and that annexation would bring Canadians lower taxes, no tariffs, and increased security.

Canadian Outrage and Rising Anti-U.S. Sentiment
Trump’s annexation rhetoric has fueled anti-American sentiment in Canada, with citizens voicing their outrage.

"What he wants to see is a total collapse of the Canadian economy," said outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who left office shortly after Trump announced 25% tariffs on all Canadian products—a move he later partially walked back.

A Leger Institute poll from this month shows only 33% of Canadians hold a positive opinion of the U.S., compared to 52% in June 2024. Meanwhile, 77% of respondents said they view the European Union favorably.

Trump’s remarks have even led to the U.S. national anthem being booed at Canadian sports events.

In a defiant speech, Trudeau vowed that Canada would never be annexed.

"That is never going to happen," he said. "We will never be the 51st state."

Trump's Territorial Ambitions
Trump's obsession with borders and land acquisitions is not new.

Shortly after his inauguration, he ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America. He has also publicly threatened to claim Greenland and suggested taking back the Panama Canal.

"A lot of this territorial aggrandizement (Greenland, Panama, Canada) came after the election, and I think someone put it in his head that great presidents acquire territory as a legacy," Belt explained.

Trade War and Water Disputes
Trump's recent comments also cast doubt on a 1908 treaty that established the U.S.-Canada border. Reports suggest he is particularly interested in Canadian water resources, including agreements regulating the Great Lakes and the Columbia River.

A trade war between the U.S. and Canada, whose economies are deeply intertwined, could have devastating consequences for Canadians.

"But no matter how much we scream or yell or express our anger, it doesn't change the reality," said economist Ian Lee of Carleton University. "We are the mouse, and they are the five-ton elephant. We must develop a compromise and deal with the demands of the United States."

However, Canada's Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney refuses to back down.

"Let the Americans make no mistake: in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win," he declared on Sunday.

In response to Trump's tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, Ottawa has announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, calling Trump's measures "unjustified and unreasonable."