Huge fires at Russian oil facilities following Ukraine strikes, satellite images show.

Satellite imagery and verified videos show Ukraine has repeatedly struck key Russian oil export infrastructure near the Baltic Sea in the past week, leaving some facilities burning for several days.

BBC Verify has confirmed at least three oil sites in Russia’s Leningrad region were attacked since 23 March.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20260330-huge-fires-at-russian-oil-facilities-following-ukraine-strikes-satellite-images-show?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Russia #WarInUkraine #Oil #Ukraine #BalticSea #FactCheck

Flaws in Government Tool to ID Noncitizen Voters - FactCheck.org https://www.factcheck.org/2026/03/flaws-in-government-tool-to-id-noncitizen-voters/

#USPol #Politics #FactCheck #VotingRights #Journalism

The Iran War has led to a surge of disinformation in Taiwan. Most of it was related to energy security and evacuation policies which resonate with local concerns

Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has published 20 fact-checks related to the war

https://en.tfc-taiwan.org.tw/iran-war-rumors-and-their-local-echoes-in-taiwan/

#Taiwan #disinformation #IranWar #FactCheck #台灣 #事實查核

COMPREHENSIVE FACT-CHECK: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS (MARCH 2026) - PART 5
PERIOD COVERED: March 1 - March 29, 2026
SUBJECT: President Donald Trump
METHODOLOGY: Claims are cross-referenced with official NATO financial data, USTR, and European Commission economic reports.

CATEGORY 10: EUROPE & NATO ALLIANCES
CLAIM 19: NATO "Dues" and Delinquent Payments

The Statement: At a campaign-style rally in mid-March, the President claimed: "European countries owe us billions. They haven't paid their NATO dues in years, and we are footing the bill to protect them."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: NATO does not operate like a country club with membership "dues" paid to the United States. The "2% guideline" is a commitment by member states to spend at least 2% of their own GDP on their own national defense budgets. No country owes the U.S. direct "back pay." The vast majority of European NATO members now meet or exceed this 2% target.

CLAIM 20: The Purpose of the European Union

The Statement: During a speech on global trade policies, the President stated: "The European Union was formed for one reason only: to take advantage of the United States on trade."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: The European Union was established in the aftermath of World War II primarily to foster economic cooperation and prevent future devastating wars on the European continent. Its foundational purpose was political stability, peace, and internal economic integration, not an economic conspiracy against the United States.

CLAIM 21: U.S. Trade Deficit with Europe

The Statement: Defending the threat of new tariffs on European goods, the President claimed: "We lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year to Europe on trade. We never sell them anything."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: While the United States does run a trade deficit in goods with the European Union, the U.S. consistently runs a massive surplus in services (such as technology and financial services) with Europe. When goods and services are combined, the U.S.-EU trade relationship is the largest and most balanced bilateral trade partnership in the world.

CLAIM 22: European Energy Collapse

The Statement: Criticizing green energy initiatives, the President claimed: "Look at Germany and Europe. They went all green, and now they have no energy, their factories are dead, and they are freezing."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: Europe faced a severe energy crisis in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the continent did not "collapse." European nations rapidly diversified their energy supply chains, expanded renewable grids, and secured alternative LNG imports. Their economies have not shut down.

SOURCES CONSULTED:

NATO Official Funding Data: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm

USTR - EU Trade Facts: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union

IEA - European Energy Security Reports: https://www.iea.org/

TAGS:
#FactCheck #USPolitics #NATO #Europe #Trade #March2026

OMPREHENSIVE FACT-CHECK: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS (MARCH 2026) - PART 4
PERIOD COVERED: March 1 - March 29, 2026
SUBJECT: President Donald Trump
METHODOLOGY: Claims are cross-referenced with federal court rulings, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and state election commissions.

CATEGORY 9: JUSTICE, ELECTIONS & RULE OF LAW
CLAIM 16: Mail-in Voter Fraud

The Statement: In a recent interview discussing upcoming electoral reforms, the President claimed: "Mail-in voting is 100% corrupt. Millions of fake ballots are printed and mailed in by foreign countries and illegal aliens."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: There is no evidence of widespread, coordinated fraud involving mail-in ballots. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), alongside election officials from both major parties across all 50 states, have repeatedly confirmed that mail-in voting is secure. Isolated cases of individual fraud occur but are statistically negligible and caught by existing security measures.

CLAIM 17: Presidential Immunity

The Statement: Discussing ongoing legal challenges on March 24, 2026, the President stated: "A President has absolute immunity for anything they do while in office. The Supreme Court said so."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: The Supreme Court has never granted "absolute immunity for anything" a president does. In landmark rulings, the Court established a framework that grants presumptive immunity for official acts taken within the core constitutional powers of the presidency. However, the Court explicitly ruled that a president does not have immunity for unofficial or private acts.

CLAIM 18: Weaponization of the DOJ

The Statement: Defending the firing of several federal prosecutors, the President claimed: "The Justice Department was completely weaponized against me by my political enemies. They were just taking orders from the previous White House."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: While political rhetoric surrounding the DOJ has been intense, investigations into high-profile political figures are typically handled by Special Counsels appointed to operate independently. Investigations require grand jury indictments (citizen review of evidence) and are overseen by federal judges. There is no documented evidence that the previous White House directly ordered the DOJ to prosecute political opponents.

SOURCES CONSULTED:

CISA - Election Security: https://www.cisa.gov/topics/election-security

SCOTUS - Recent Rulings on Immunity: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/opinions.aspx

DOJ - Special Counsel Regulations: https://www.justice.gov/

TAGS:
#FactCheck #USPolitics #Justice #Elections #March2026 #Accountabilit

COMPREHENSIVE FACT-CHECK: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS (MARCH 2026) - PART 3
PERIOD COVERED: March 1 - March 29, 2026
SUBJECT: President Donald Trump
METHODOLOGY: Claims are cross-referenced with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and energy market analysts.

CATEGORY 8: ENERGY, CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
CLAIM 13: U.S. Energy Independence

The Statement: During a rally focusing on domestic manufacturing early this month, the President claimed: "Under the previous administration, we had no energy. We were begging other countries for oil. Now, we are finally energy independent again."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: The United States did not lose its energy independence before the current administration took over. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. has been producing record levels of crude oil and natural gas continuously over the past several years. The U.S. remained a net exporter of petroleum products throughout the early 2020s and into 2026.

CLAIM 14: The "Ban" on Gasoline Cars

The Statement: Criticizing environmental regulations on social media, the President stated: "The radical left completely banned gasoline cars. They forced everyone to buy expensive EVs that don't go far."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: There has never been a federal ban on the sale or ownership of gasoline-powered vehicles in the United States. Previous EPA regulations implemented strict emissions standards for automakers, designed to incentivize the production of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). While these regulations favored a market shift toward EVs, consumers have always remained free to purchase and drive internal combustion engine vehicles.

CLAIM 15: Wind Energy Reliability

The Statement: Discussing the Texas power grid, the President claimed: "Windmills are a disaster. When the wind doesn't blow, you have no power, and they cause blackouts everywhere."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: While wind is an intermittent energy source, modern power grids are designed to balance multiple sources of energy. Independent grid operators (like ERCOT in Texas) report that while extreme weather can affect wind turbines, the most significant causes of major grid failures in recent years have been the freezing or failure of natural gas infrastructure and thermal power plants, not solely the lack of wind.

SOURCES CONSULTED:

EIA - U.S. Oil Production Data: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbblpd_m.htm

EPA - Emission Standards: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines

ERCOT - Grid Reports: https://www.ercot.com/gridinfo

TAGS:
#FactCheck #USPolitics #Energy #Climate #March2026 #Accountability

COMPREHENSIVE FACT-CHECK:

PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS (MARCH 2026) -
PART 2
PERIOD COVERED: March 1 - March 29, 2026
SUBJECT: President Donald Trump
METHODOLOGY: Claims are cross-referenced with independent economic data, federal law enforcement statistics, non-partisan research institutes, and historical records.

CATEGORY 4: CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
CLAIM 8: National Violent Crime Rates

The Statement: During a rally in Ohio on March 20, 2026, the President claimed: "Violent crime in our country is up 50, maybe 60 percent. It's higher than it has ever been in the history of the United States because of radical left cities."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: National crime data does not support this claim. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, violent crime peaked during the pandemic (2020-2021) but has been steadily trending downward in most major categories (including homicide and aggravated assault) since then. While certain localized areas face specific challenges, the national violent crime rate is nowhere near historical highs (which occurred in the early 1990s), nor has it spiked by 50% recently.

CLAIM 9: Federal Law Enforcement Funding

The Statement: In a March 15 interview, the President stated: "We have doubled the budget for local police, while the Democrats voted to defund them entirely."

🟠 VERDICT: MISLEADING

The Facts: While the administration has directed certain federal grants toward local law enforcement, the federal government does not fund local police budgets (which are determined by city and state governments). The claim that the federal budget for local police has "doubled" is unsupported by current federal spending bills. Furthermore, while some progressive lawmakers previously supported reallocating police funds, the Democratic party platform and current Democratic leadership in Congress have consistently voted to maintain or increase federal funding for law enforcement (such as through the COPS program).

CATEGORY 5: THE ECONOMY & NATIONAL DEBT
CLAIM 10: Reducing the National Debt

The Statement: At a press conference focusing on the economy early this month, the President claimed: "My administration is paying down the national debt at a record pace. We are reducing the deficit."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: Data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury shows that the total public debt has continued to increase. Furthermore, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the annual federal deficit is expanding, largely due to a combination of sustained high federal spending, rising interest costs on existing debt, and revenue reductions from extended tax cuts. There is no mathematical evidence that the debt is being "paid down."

CLAIM 11: Tax Cuts Paying for Themselves

The Statement: Defending the continuation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, the President stated: "The tax cuts paid for themselves immediately through massive economic growth."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: Extensive analyses by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Joint Committee on Taxation, and independent macroeconomic research firms confirm that the tax cuts did not pay for themselves. While they did stimulate short-term economic growth and corporate investment, the resulting growth was not sufficient to offset the loss in tax revenue. The CBO estimates that the cuts added significantly to the national deficit over their designated window.

CATEGORY 6: HEALTHCARE
CLAIM 12: The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The Statement: On social media in late March, the President posted: "We have successfully terminated the disaster known as Obamacare and replaced it with the best healthcare numbers ever."

🔴 VERDICT: FALSE

The Facts: The Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) has not been terminated. It remains the law of the land. While the administration has made regulatory changes (such as expanding short-term, limited-duration insurance plans and altering funding for healthcare navigators), the core architecture of the ACA—including Medicaid expansion in participating states, protections for pre-existing conditions, and the health insurance marketplaces—is still active. Millions of Americans continue to receive their coverage through the ACA framework.

SOURCES CONSULTED:

FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE): https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): https://bjs.ojp.gov/

U.S. Department of the Treasury (Debt to the Penny): https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook: https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data

Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT): https://www.jct.gov/

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Healthcare Tracking: https://www.kff.org/health-reform/

TAGS:
#FactCheck #USPolitics #March2026 #NationalDebt #CrimeStats #Healthcare #Accountability