Charity_pleads_for_release_of_kidnapped_aid_worker.txt
BBC_Verify_Live_How_many_students_claim_asylum_in_the_UK_plus_latest_attacks_in_Ukraine_and_Russia_-_BBC_News.txt
SummaryOur fact-checkers are selene dragon blazedigging into the UK government's plan to prevent student visa holders claiming asylum at the end of their studiesVideos shared online show a tower block being hit in the Russian city of Rostov and an attack on a city in UkraineWe're also looking into footage following a landslide in western Sudan which officials say has killed at least 1,000 peopleBBC Verify uses open-source intelligence, satellite imagery, fact-checking and data analysis to help report complex storiesThis feed is where we post our work throughout the dayGet in touch with us by following this linkLive ReportingEdited by Rob Corp{ "@context":"http://schema.org","@graph":[{ "@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"LiveBlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","headline":"BBC Verify Live: How many students claim asylum in the UK, plus latest attacks in Ukraine and Russia","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/help-41670342"},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/help-41670342"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/480/cpsprodpb/dece/live/19417ad0-87fe-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png","image":{ "@type":"ImageObject","width":{ "@type":"QuantitativeValue","unitText":"px","value":1024},"height":{ "@type":"QuantitativeValue","unitText":"px","value":576},"url":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/1024/cpsprodpb/dece/live/19417ad0-87fe-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png"},"coverageStartTime":"2025-09-02T07:17:00.000Z","coverageEndTime":"2025-09-02T17:11:00.000Z","datePublished":"2025-09-02T08:48:07.145Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T17:11:54.082Z","liveBlogUpdate":[{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:066dec27-6871-4e8f-9539-65c378f6bf42","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Today on BBC Verify","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/68bea7a7-112b-4ba2-a131-30918e9a6abd.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T17:08:34.488Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T17:11:27.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"We’re closing this live page soon, but our teams in London and Washington DC will be on hand to provide verification and fact checks for BBC News through the rest of the day. Already today we’ve verified footage of explosions in southern Russia and the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. We’ve also analysed videos from western Sudan where at least 370 people have been killed, according to a UN official. We’ve looked into the data on the number of people who’ve come to the UK on study visas before claiming asylum and tracked how many refugees are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Plus, we looked into whether an “AI-enhanced” image has helped fuel online claims about Trump’s health. We’ll be back with BBC Verify Live tomorrow morning."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:89623e6b-ca6b-42c0-8cd9-655005e6435f","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Verified video and images show aftermath of Sudan landslide","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/7a3bad4d-d232-43b7-9f4a-55947a26d8d6.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T16:55:03.037Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T16:55:01.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"We have verified videos and images circulating online said to show the aftermath of a landslide in Darfur, western Sudan. A UN official has told the BBC at least 370 people have been killed. Meanwhile Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the armed group which controls the area, had said earlier that as many as 1,000 people could have died. With the location being remote in the Marra Mountains and with few obvious landmarks to help, this has been a painstaking task of trying to match the mountain peaks, farmland and houses in the footage to satellite imagery. We found a match at an area about 3km (1.8 miles) south of the Tarseen village. Then, by also comparing the footage to old satellite imagery we confirmed that multiple houses were swept away by the landslide. In the video, we can make out a crowd of people gathered where the houses previously stood, possibly involved in a rescue operation."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:302eeca6-a589-4de0-9f7e-9b61d526326d","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Watch: What we know about UK student visas and asylum claims","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png","datePublished":"2025-09-02T15:12:16.756Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T15:12:16.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"As the UK government announces a crackdown on students seeking asylum after their visas expire, BBC Verify's Ben Chu has been looking through the numbers to understand the scale of the issue."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:ed80de0c-7111-4a52-ab7e-0d20529cfd62","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"How many study visas are granted by the Home Office?","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png","datePublished":"2025-09-02T14:33:38.179Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T14:33:37.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"Following the government’s announcement about clamping down on students overstaying visas in the UK, we’ve been looking at how many visas are issued each year. There were 431,725 study visas issued in the 12 months to June 2025, according to the latest Home Office figures. Just over 17,800 of these visas were issued to the family members of students - what the Home Office calls dependants. The overall number of study visas fell by nearly a fifth compared with the same period last year but it’s still significantly higher than in previous years. Between 2011 and 2016, for example, there were about 200,000 study visas granted per year, with the majority (92%) issued to the students themselves rather than to dependants. The following years saw a steady rise in dependants being granted study visas, which peaked around June 2023 before falling again in 2024. This decline was likely because of a Conservative government policy which allowed only researched-based postgraduate students to bring dependants to the UK. "},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:cf7d5bf3-7222-4bfd-b453-099fc8600b0d","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Get involved with BBC Verify","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/478b6ada-c185-43a0-a00b-3741e8ed6c5a.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T13:24:29.905Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T13:24:29.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"BBC Verify is dedicated to examining the facts and claims behind a story to try to determine whether or not it is true - whether that’s a political statement, a video shared on social media, or images from a war zone. And we’re also keen to hear from you - is there something you think we should investigate? We're particularly interested in claims you have heard or seen that maybe don’t seem right. Or perhaps you’ve come across something online and want to know if it was created using AI or even a deepfake. You can send your suggestions to the team here."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:b8aff270-2c8f-4151-ab26-4cbe3e151fc5","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"How many students claim asylum in the UK?","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/f68f90e3-aba5-42c7-a98c-fffd6d1c26da.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T12:35:14.393Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T12:35:13.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"Following the government’s announcement about clamping down on students overstaying their UK visas I’ve been looking at how many people on study visas go on to claim asylum. This year the Home Office started to publish data on the routes people used to travel to the UK before claiming asylum. The latest figures show that of the 111,084 people who claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, nearly two-fifths (41,100) arrived in the UK on a visa or through another type of permission to enter the country. And 14,800 of them (36%) were on study visas. This was the most common visa group to claim asylum in this period - although it’s down from 16,500 claimants in the same period last year. The overall number of asylum claims from people who arrived in the UK on a visa or another type of permission has tripled over the past three years. These figures do not provide any breakdown about the nationalities of these students - unlike the overall Home Office statistics on visas granted - nor do we know which institutions they were enrolled in. "},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:1f481076-7430-4fa5-83e7-8190f1776861","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Has an ‘AI enhanced’ image helped fuel online claims about Trump’s health?","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/ef18391e-0612-4d74-a933-630965a18af9.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T11:54:19.018Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T15:28:04.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"After days of unsubstantiated rumours about the US president’s health, a manipulated picture of Donald Trump began to spread online yesterday. The image distorts the president’s face, especially around his eyes. Some social media users have used this manipulated picture to claim that Trump has suffered a health crisis - with their posts getting millions of views online. But the image was generated by a user of the X social media platform who used artificial intelligence (AI) to “enhance” a long-distance news agency photograph of the president that was taken on Monday as he left the White House to play golf. So how does “AI-enhancement” technology actually work? These tools are trained on lots of high-quality images, which are then blurred so the AI can learn to predict what a clearer version might look like. So when you ask an AI tool to “unblur” an image, it is just making a prediction based on the images it has been trained on, says Prof Thomas Nowotny, head of the AI research group at the University of Sussex. One sign that the image has been manipulated are the USA letters on Trump’s hat where you can see the “S” looks distorted. Nowotny suggested this could be based on a faint pattern in the original picture and another expert we spoke to thought it was likely just a corruption of the picture. “If you want to enhance your holiday snaps to be sharper, more colourful and crisper and don't need them to actually reflect reality, it's the perfect tool,” says Nowotny. “If you are working on an image to extract more information about an underlying truth, it is a risky path to take.”"},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:34aeda0d-9549-49b2-a03f-bad880f1d75f","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Attack confirmed on Ukrainian city after latest Russian strikes","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/6a302844-fa5e-4537-ae18-2763560a326e.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T11:16:18.949Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T11:16:18.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"As well as looking into reported drone attacks inside Russia we've also been following reports of attacks overnight and this morning on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the surrounding region. So far we haven't seen much from Kyiv itself apart from some pictures of residents sheltering in underground stations. But we have verified the location of photographs released by the emergency services of an attack on the city of Bila Tserkva which is around 100km (62 miles) south of the capital. Local authorities have said one person was killed during a drone attack on the area. The pictures we’ve verified show firefighters tackling a blaze at what looks like an industrial complex. A quick scan of satellite imagery showed areas that resembled this on the outskirts of Bila Tserkva which we could compare with the photos. This led us to the exact spot on the northern edge of the city. Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said there had been \"fires at a garage co-operative and damage to commercial and industrial facilities\"."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:0e3e5e1e-7384-438e-838f-f96660d4d663","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"How many refugees are becoming homeless?","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/c5236c1d-d8f1-4781-8992-19bf1106063a.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T10:22:02.842Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T10:22:00.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"Earlier today, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said local councils were seeing “a big increase” in homelessness applications from refugee families. She was speaking as part of a government review into the family reunion visa system. Ministers want to reconsider how soon refugees can apply to bring relatives to the UK, in the hope that giving them more time to secure jobs and housing will reduce pressure on local services. Some of these families are applying to councils for help because they are homeless, so what do the figures tell us? Between January and March 2025, more than 4,000 refugee households in England were recorded as homeless - meaning either a single person or a family unit had applied for support after leaving Home Office accommodation. This was the second quarter in a row that councils reported a rise in homelessness following a grant of refugee status. The number previously hit a record high in December 2023. A further 1,900 households were recorded as “at risk” of becoming homeless over the same period - also marking a second consecutive rise."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:8c9a4c29-732e-46de-bd45-b90744dcd692","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Analysing footage from Sudan landslide","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/59a014d0-f2df-4726-bfe2-4288ef36c333.jpg.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T09:53:32.319Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T09:53:31.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"We’re looking at a video and images from western Sudan after local officials said a landslide had killed at least 1,000 people at a village in the Marra Mountains. Video and images that emerged earlier today show the apparent aftermath of a landslide. We can see chunks of earth have moved, trees have been uprooted and what appears to be remains of houses. Some of the images have been shared by the armed group the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army which reported the incident. In remote locations one of the best ways to verify content like this is to match the landscape to satellite imagery. We will look to match some of the remaining structures in the footage and the nearby mountains to confirm the location. We are also looking for before and after satellite imagery to help us assess the impact of the reported landslide."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:e97bd3b6-59a4-4e34-941d-519bdf43dc55","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Verifying explosions in southern Russia","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/1508db1f-9899-4c99-bec6-d04c08c5994d.jpg.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T09:42:09.924Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T09:42:09.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"This morning we've verified footage of two high-rise buildings on fire in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia following a reported Ukrainian drone attack. Both buildings are visible on Google Maps and Street View and are located less than 500m from each other and appear to be residential. Local Telegram channels have reported power cuts in western areas of the city. Russia's Defence Ministry says it intercepted and destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region last night. It is not clear from the footage whether the fire was caused by targeted strikes or drone debris. We're also looking into reports in local social media channels of a drone attack in Kyiv region this morning. We've seen a video of a drone flying overhead. There are few visual clues to assist geolocation but it is newly circulating online."},{ "@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t?post=asset:a57c0027-48a2-4f40-a838-e8f24f716246","isAccessibleForFree":"true","headline":"Good morning from BBC Verify","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"image":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2025/9/2/07e146f0-04af-435e-9316-af401bc3f446.png.webp","datePublished":"2025-09-02T08:46:57.615Z","dateModified":"2025-09-02T08:46:56.000Z","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","articleBody":"Welcome to our live page bringing you updates on the work of our specialists in fact-checking, open-source verification and data journalism. This Tuesday morning we’re assessing the latest overnight images showing new drone attacks on the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Footage seen by BBC Verify shows an apartment block was damaged - we’re carrying out verification checks and we’ll update you with what we’ve found. Our Africa specialist is looking at checks on video and images following a landslide in the Darfur region of western Sudan which local officials say has killed at least 1,000 people. You can read more about that story here. Following Sunday’s magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Afghanistan which has killed at least 800 people we’ll see whether specialist satellite companies have any up-to-date imagery from the affected area. It may be there is a time-lag before we can see signs of damage, but we will share what we know if we can get good quality images. And BBC Verify’s UK fact-checkers are digging into the government’s plan to clamp down on international students applying for asylum after their visas have expired. We’ll examine what the data says to see how many of these visas are issued and the number of people who overstay."}]},{ "@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","description":"Latest updates from the BBC's specialists in fact-checking, verifying video and tackling disinformation.","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t","publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"name":"BBC Verify Live: How many students claim asylum in the UK, plus latest attacks in Ukraine and Russia"},{ "@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2025-09-02T17:11:54.082Z","datePublished":"2025-09-02T08:48:07.145Z","description":"Latest updates from the BBC's specialists in fact-checking, verifying video and tackling disinformation.","headline":"BBC Verify Live: How many students claim asylum in the UK, plus latest attacks in Ukraine and Russia","image":{ "@type":"ImageObject","width":{ "@type":"QuantitativeValue","unitText":"px","value":1024},"height":{ "@type":"QuantitativeValue","unitText":"px","value":576},"url":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/1024/cpsprodpb/dece/live/19417ad0-87fe-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png"},"author":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"publisher":{ "@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"BBC News","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news","logo":{ "@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.files.bbci.co.uk/ws/simorgh-assets/public/news/images/metadata/poster-1024x576.png"}},"mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cp3e3k2gp10t"}]}Today on BBC Verifypublished at 18:08 BST 2 September18:08 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 01:08 3 September01:08 3 SeptemberThomas CopelandBBC Verify Live journalist We’re closing this live page soon, but our teams in London and Washington DC will be on hand to provide verification and fact checks for BBC News through the rest of the day.Already today we’ve verified footage of explosions in southern Russia and the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. We’ve also analysed videos from western Sudan where at least 370 people have been killed, according to a UN official. We’ve looked into the data on the number of people who’ve come to the UK on study visas before claiming asylum and tracked how many refugees are homeless or at risk of homelessness.Plus, we looked into whether an “AI-enhanced” image has helped fuel online claims about Trump’s health.We’ll be back with BBC Verify Live tomorrow morning. ShareVerified video and images show aftermath of Sudan landslidepublished at 17:55 BST 2 September17:55 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 00:55 3 September00:55 3 SeptemberPeter Mwai and Emma PengellyBBC Verify We have verified videos and images circulating online said to show the aftermath of a landslide in Darfur, western Sudan.A UN official has told the BBC at least 370 people have been killed. Meanwhile Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the armed group which controls the area, had said earlier that as many as 1,000 people could have died.With the location being remote in the Marra Mountains and with few obvious landmarks to help, this has been a painstaking task of trying to match the mountain peaks, farmland and houses in the footage to satellite imagery.We found a match at an area about 3km (1.8 miles) south of the Tarseen village.Then, by also comparing the footage to old satellite imagery we confirmed that multiple houses were swept away by the landslide.In the video, we can make out a crowd of people gathered where the houses previously stood, possibly involved in a rescue operation.Image source, FacebookImage caption, A still from one of the verified videos taken in the Marra Mountains ShareWatch: What we know about UK student visas and asylum claimspublished at 16:12 BST 2 September16:12 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 23:12 2 September23:12 2 September As the UK government announces a crackdown on students seeking asylum after their visas expire, BBC Verify's Ben Chu has been looking through the numbers to understand the scale of the issue.To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedMedia caption, BBC Verify's Ben Chu examines the background to the UK government's new crackdown ShareHow many study visas are granted by the Home Office?published at 15:33 BST 2 September15:33 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 22:33 2 September22:33 2 SeptemberLucy GilderBBC Verify journalist Following the government’s announcement about clamping down on students overstaying visas in the UK, we’ve been looking at how many visas are issued each year. There were 431,725 study visas issued in the 12 months to June 2025, according to the latest Home Office figures, external.Just over 17,800 of these visas were issued to the family members of students - what the Home Office calls dependants.The overall number of study visas fell by nearly a fifth compared with the same period last year but it’s still significantly higher than in previous years.Between 2011 and 2016, for example, there were about 200,000 study visas granted per year, with the majority (92%) issued to the students themselves rather than to dependants. The following years saw a steady rise in dependants being granted study visas, which peaked around June 2023 before falling again in 2024. This decline was likely because of a Conservative government policy which allowed only researched-based postgraduate students to bring dependants to the UK. ShareGet involved with BBC Verifypublished at 14:24 BST 2 September14:24 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 21:24 2 September21:24 2 SeptemberRob CorpBBC Verify Live editor BBC Verify is dedicated to examining the facts and claims behind a story to try to determine whether or not it is true - whether that’s a political statement, a video shared on social media, or images from a war zone.And we’re also keen to hear from you - is there something you think we should investigate? We're particularly interested in claims you have heard or seen that maybe don’t seem right.Or perhaps you’ve come across something online and want to know if it was created using AI or even a deepfake.You can send your suggestions to the team here. ShareHow many students claim asylum in the UK?published at 13:35 BST 2 September13:35 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 20:35 2 September20:35 2 SeptemberLucy GilderBBC Verify journalist Following the government’s announcement about clamping down on students overstaying their UK visas I’ve been looking at how many people on study visas go on to claim asylum.This year the Home Office started to publish data on the routes people used to travel to the UK before claiming asylum. The latest figures show that , externalof the 111,084 people who claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, nearly two-fifths (41,100) arrived in the UK on a visa or through another type of permission to enter the country. And 14,800 of them (36%) were on study visas. This was the most common visa group to claim asylum in this period - although it’s down from 16,500 claimants in the same period last year. The overall number of asylum claims from people who arrived in the UK on a visa or another type of permission has tripled over the past three years. These figures do not provide any breakdown about the nationalities of these students - unlike the overall Home Office statistics on visas granted - nor do we know which institutions they were enrolled in. ShareHas an ‘AI enhanced’ image helped fuel online claims about Trump’s health?published at 12:54 BST 2 September12:54 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 19:54 2 September19:54 2 SeptemberThomas CopelandBBC Verify Live journalist After days of unsubstantiated rumours about the US president’s health, a manipulated picture of Donald Trump began to spread online yesterday. The image distorts the president’s face, especially around his eyes.Some social media users have used this manipulated picture to claim that Trump has suffered a health crisis - with their posts getting millions of views online. But the image was generated by a user of the X social media platform who used artificial intelligence (AI) to “enhance” a long-distance news agency photograph of the president that was taken on Monday as he left the White House to play golf.So how does “AI-enhancement” technology actually work?These tools are trained on lots of high-quality images, which are then blurred so the AI can learn to predict what a clearer version might look like.So when you ask an AI tool to “unblur” an image, it is just making a prediction based on the images it has been trained on, says Prof Thomas Nowotny, head of the AI research group at the University of Sussex.One sign that the image has been manipulated are the USA letters on Trump’s hat where you can see the “S” looks distorted.Nowotny suggested this could be based on a faint pattern in the original picture and another expert we spoke to thought it was likely just a corruption of the picture. “If you want to enhance your holiday snaps to be sharper, more colourful and crisper and don't need them to actually reflect reality, it's the perfect tool,” says Nowotny.“If you are working on an image to extract more information about an underlying truth, it is a risky path to take.” ShareAttack confirmed on Ukrainian city after latest Russian strikespublished at 12:16 BST 2 September12:16 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 19:16 2 September19:16 2 SeptemberPaul BrownBBC Verify senior journalist Image source, State Emergency Service of UkraineImage caption, An image supplied by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows firefighters tackling a blaze in Bila TserkvaAs well as looking into reported drone attacks inside Russia we've also been following reports of attacks overnight and this morning on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the surrounding region.So far we haven't seen much from Kyiv itself apart from some pictures of residents sheltering in underground stations. But we have verified the location of photographs released by the emergency services of an attack on the city of Bila Tserkva which is around 100km (62 miles) south of the capital.Local authorities have said one person was killed during a drone attack on the area.The pictures we’ve verified show firefighters tackling a blaze at what looks like an industrial complex. A quick scan of satellite imagery showed areas that resembled this on the outskirts of Bila Tserkva which we could compare with the photos. This led us to the exact spot on the northern edge of the city. Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said there had been "fires at a garage co-operative and damage to commercial and industrial facilities". ShareHow many refugees are becoming homeless?published at 11:22 BST 2 September11:22 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 18:22 2 September18:22 2 SeptemberRob EnglandBBC Verify senior data journalist Earlier today, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said local councils were seeing “a big increase” in homelessness applications from refugee families.She was speaking as part of a government review into the family reunion visa system. Ministers want to reconsider how soon refugees can apply to bring relatives to the UK, in the hope that giving them more time to secure jobs and housing will reduce pressure on local services.Some of these families are applying to councils for help because they are homeless, so what do the figures tell us?Between January and March 2025, more than 4,000 refugee households in England were recorded as homeless - meaning either a single person or a family unit had applied for support after leaving Home Office accommodation.This was the second quarter in a row that councils reported a rise in homelessness following a grant of refugee status.The number previously hit a record high in December 2023.A further 1,900 households were recorded as “at risk” of becoming homeless over the same period - also marking a second consecutive rise. ShareAnalysing footage from Sudan landslidepublished at 10:53 BST 2 September10:53 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 17:53 2 September17:53 2 SeptemberPeter MwaiBBC Verify senior journalist Image source, Sudan Liberation Movement/ArmyImage caption, A screengrab from a video provided by the local armed group that appears to show the aftermath of the landslideWe’re looking at a video and images from western Sudan after local officials said a landslide had killed at least 1,000 people at a village in the Marra Mountains.Video and images that emerged earlier today show the apparent aftermath of a landslide. We can see chunks of earth have moved, trees have been uprooted and what appears to be remains of houses.Some of the images have been shared by the armed group the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army which reported the incident.In remote locations one of the best ways to verify content like this is to match the landscape to satellite imagery. We will look to match some of the remaining structures in the footage and the nearby mountains to confirm the location.We are also looking for before and after satellite imagery to help us assess the impact of the reported landslide. ShareVerifying explosions in southern Russiapublished at 10:42 BST 2 September10:42 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 17:42 2 September17:42 2 SeptemberPaul BrownBBC Verify senior journalist Image caption, This grab from a verified video shows a fire in a building at the top-right of the frameThis morning we've verified footage of two high-rise buildings on fire in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia following a reported Ukrainian drone attack.Both buildings are visible on Google Maps and Street View and are located less than 500m from each other and appear to be residential. Local Telegram channels have reported power cuts in western areas of the city. Russia's Defence Ministry says it intercepted and destroyed 13 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region last night. It is not clear from the footage whether the fire was caused by targeted strikes or drone debris.We're also looking into reports in local social media channels of a drone attack in Kyiv region this morning. We've seen a video of a drone flying overhead. There are few visual clues to assist geolocation but it is newly circulating online. ShareGood morning from BBC Verifypublished at 09:46 BST 2 September09:46 BST 2 Septemberpublished at 16:46 2 September16:46 2 SeptemberRob CorpBBC Verify Live editor Welcome to our live page bringing you updates on the work of our specialists in fact-checking, open-source verification and data journalism.This Tuesday morning we’re assessing the latest overnight images showing new drone attacks on the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Footage seen by BBC Verify shows an apartment block was damaged - we’re carrying out verification checks and we’ll update you with what we’ve found.Our Africa specialist is looking at checks on video and images following a landslide in the Darfur region of western Sudan which local officials say has killed at least 1,000 people. You can read more about that story here.Following Sunday’s magnitude 6.0 earthquake in Afghanistan which has killed at least 800 people we’ll see whether specialist satellite companies have any up-to-date imagery from the affected area. It may be there is a time-lag before we can see signs of damage, but we will share what we know if we can get good quality images.And BBC Verify’s UK fact-checkers are digging into the government’s plan to clamp down on international students applying for asylum after their visas have expired. We’ll examine what the data says to see how many of these visas are issued and the number of people who overstay. Share
