Summary

  1. Verifying Iran protest video and assessing Trump’s Greenland claimspublished at 17:17 GMT 19 January

    Adam Durbin
    BBC Verify Live senior journalist

    BBC Verify Live has covered a variety of stories today, including several fact checks of US President Donald Trump’s recent statements and actions over Greenland. We looked at:

    The verification team has worked on several stories, including verifying footage showing widespread floods in Mozambique and debunking AI images falsely claiming to show a deadly fire in Pakistan.

    We’ve also kept up our continuing coverage of the deadly anti-government protests in Iran and verified new material that emerged recently despite a 12-day nationwide internet blackout.

    We’ll be back tomorrow with more from BBC Verify.

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  2. Nearly 100 bodies seen in a video at Tehran mortuarypublished at 17:11 GMT 19 January

    Farida Elsebai, Richard Irvine-Brown and Shayan Sardarizadeh
    BBC Arabic and BBC Verify

    More videos showing dozens of bodies in a mortuary in Iran’s capital Tehran have emerged over the weekend.

    BBC Verify has previously identified nearly 200 body bags and shrouded figures in videos taken at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre in southern Tehran, following a wave of deadly anti-government protests in Iran.

    Similar to the videos we have already verified, the latest imagery shows many bodies laid out in a large, red-roofed building at the north of the site and a white-walled, windowless room in its annex, both of which we recognised from videos shared previously.

    One video, which we have not found publicly online before Saturday, is a continuous shot lasting nearly four minutes.

    More than 90 body bags, shrouds and bodies - including some in caskets, with discoloured skin or with visible wounds - can be seen in this footage.

    At least three body bags appear to be significantly smaller than the others, indicating the person who died may be a child.

    A red-roofed building seen in satellite mapping of southern TehranImage source, Google
    Image caption,

    The distinctive red-roofed building where the bodies were laid out is visible on Google Maps’ satellite imagery

  3. What impact could Trump’s latest tariffs over Greenland have on UK firms?published at 16:51 GMT 19 January

    Ben Chu
    BBC Verify policy and analysis correspondent

    The new tariffs US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose on the UK over Greenland have created more fear and confusion among British businesses.

    Official data shows around 39,400 individual UK firms exported to the US in 2024.

    And the UK as a whole exported around £64bn worth in goods to the US in the year to June 2025 - around 17% of our total goods exports over that period.

    The largest categories of UK goods exported to the US, external were medicines and pharmaceuticals (£11bn) cars (around £10bn) and machinery (£5bn).

    These are the sectors - and those who work in them - that are in the line of fire if these threatened 10% US tariffs (rising to 25% from June) are imposed.

    What would happen to last year's US-UK trade agreement, external under those circumstances is unclear.

    Among other things that agreement meant UK car manufacturers could export 100,000 vehicles a year to the US at a preferential 10% tariff rate.

    It’s possible the deal would survive and these new tariffs would be imposed on top. If the agreement unravelled then US concessions granted to UK car, aerospace and steel exporters, external could end.

    Horizontal bar chart showing the value of UK exports to the US up to June 2025
  4. Could the US re-open abandoned Cold War bases in Greenland?published at 16:25 GMT 19 January

    Thomas Spencer
    BBC Verify researcher

    We reported earlier that President Donald Trump has insisted his country needs Greenland for its national security, but a 1951 agreement already gives the US rights to develop military bases on the island.

    The US has maintained a small yet strategic presence at Pituffik Space Base on Greenland but there are other US military sites there which were used during the Cold War.

    One of these is the former Sondrestrom Air Base which closed in 1992 and is now used as the Kangerlussuaq civilian airport.

    Its runway has ongoing stability issues due largely to thawing permafrost but an expert from intelligence analysis firm MAIAR told us large US military transport aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster could still land there.

    A satellite image taken in September 2025 showing Kangerlussuaq Airport - what was Sondrestrom Air BaseImage source, Planet Labs PBC
    Image caption,

    The former Sondrestrom US air base is now used as a civilian airport

    Meanwhile, America’s old Ikateq Air Base is a ghostly site, external that lies in ruins.

    In the late 1950s, the US also built two prototype underground complexes, Camp Century and Fistclench, but these were abandoned due to unstable ice sheets.

    In 2024, Nasa estimated that Camp Century was buried under at least 30m (100ft) of snow and ice and it has been dubbed the “city under the ice”.

    Four small radar installations, external (known as DYE-1 to 4) were all but deserted at the end of the Cold War. Only one of them appears to have a serviceable airstrip.

  5. Watch: How we verify videopublished at 15:55 GMT 19 January

    On BBC Verify Live we frequently share with you videos that have been posted online that show news breaking or give insights into what's happening in places where journalists are not able to report easily or freely.

    When we're asked to verify material being shared online we put each video through a number of checks to ensure it's genuine.

    Here, BBC Verify's RIchard Irvine-Brown goes through what we do before saying a video is verified.

    Media caption,

    BBC Verify: how do we verify a video?

  6. Videos show extensive flooding in Mozambiquepublished at 15:22 GMT 19 January

    Benedict Garman and Joshua Cheetham
    BBC Verify

    Media caption,

    Verified footage shows entire communities under water after Mozambique flooding

    We’re continuing to monitor the widespread flooding in southern Mozambique which had been triggered by intense rainfall.

    Newly verified footage, taken from a helicopter, shows buildings and roads underwater after the Limpopo river broke its banks.

    By using satellite imagery we can see the footage shows part of Chokwe district in the province of Gaza.

    Authorities in Mozambique say more than 100 people have died in the floods and thousands of buildings have been destroyed.

  7. How much could US tariffs on the UK cost?published at 14:45 GMT 19 January

    Anthony Reuben
    BBC Verify senior journalist

    Land Rover and Range Rover cars lined up outside the factory inImage source, Reuters

    President Donald Trump has threatened the UK - along with a number of other European countries - with a 10% tariff on goods it sends to the US.

    Trump has singled out these countries for “escalating tensions” over Greenland - part of the Kingdom of Denmark - which he wants to take over.

    So how much might this tariff end up costing the UK?

    The UK exported around £64bn worth in goods to the US in the year to June 2025.

    So a 10% tariff on UK exports could amount to over £6bn based on these figures.

    The US is the top destination for UK goods including cars and pharmaceutical products and accounts for about 17% of total exports in the year to June 2025.

    There were signs of exports slowing in 2025 following the first round of Trump’s tariffs. However, a trade deal negotiated by the UK and US may have mitigated some of the impact.

  8. Internet connections returning in Uganda after election blackoutpublished at 14:04 GMT 19 January

    Richard Irvine-Brown
    BBC Verify journalist

    Uganda has begun restoring internet connections following long-time leader Yoweri Museveni’s victory in last week’s presidential election.

    Internet connectivity in the country was reduced to around 20% during election day last Tuesday in a move officials said would combat misinformation and incitement to violence.

    Internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks said there was a reduction to minimal capacity on election day and restoration five days later - which also happened during the 2021 poll.

    In the image on the left, we can see how internet activity in Uganda has picked up up after the election using the map function on image-sharing app SnapChat.

    On the left we can we see hotspots for Snap activity in Uganda yesterday - compared with the right-hand panel showing nothing being uploaded in Iran

    It shows that by Sunday 18 January activity has returned to the capital Kampala and to a lesser extent the country’s other cities.

    Clicking on these would show posts from Tuesday, then nothing, a few on Saturday, and many on Sunday.

    The image on the right shows a similar SnapChat map for the Middle East on 18 January, with almost zero activity across Iran. The dark red circle to the east of Iran represents internet activity in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

    Isik Mater, research director at NetBlocks, said the Ugandan shutdown showed the government has “pre-planned the workflow in a way that others haven’t”.

    "The obvious victim is transparency around the election process," Mater added.

  9. Radar satellite images reveal extent of flooding in Mozambiquepublished at 13:26 GMT 19 January

    Barbara Metzler
    BBC Verify senior data scientist

    We have been looking at satellite images from Mozambique showing the scale of flooding after heavy rainfall hit the Gaza region in recent days.

    To analyse the impact on the region in Mozambique’s south, we used Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to map the flooding.

    SAR images pick up water very well because it has a very different radar signal compared with land. It is also a useful tool when there is heavy cloud cover, as radar can penetrate them to collect data when the weather blocks other satellite images.

    Our analysis found one area particularly badly impacted, with more than 750 square kilometres (290 square miles) of flooding, comparable to the size of New York City or around half that of London.

    The algorithm we applied to analyse the images separates flooded zones from both dry areas and places that usually hold water, like lakes or rivers.

    The dark blue areas in the map below represent where flooding was detected on 16 January:

    Satellite damage shows widespread flooding along the Limpopo river on 16 January
  10. AI-generated images claiming to show deadly Karachi mall fire circulate onlinepublished at 12:52 GMT 19 January

    Shruti Menon
    BBC Verify senior journalist

    Four different AI-generated images claiming to show the fire in Karachi

    I’ve been investigating dramatic images circulating online that claim to show a deadly fire breaking out at the Gul Plaza shopping mall in Karachi, southern Pakistan.

    The blaze, which started on Saturday night, took firefighters more than 24 hours to bring under control. At least 21 people have been killed, according to officials.

    Genuine pictures of the fire's aftermath show extensive damage to a large part of the multi-storey building.

    But some of the images circulating online do not appear to be authentic - so I checked them using multiple AI-detection tools including Google’s Synth ID. It suggested there were credible signs of synthetic generation in the images.

    These include inconsistencies in the building structure across images, repeated or blurred figures in the crowds, unrealistic flames, and smoke that does not match known footage from the scene.

  11. Passenger video shows staff urging calm after Spain train crashpublished at 12:13 GMT 19 January

    Kayleen Devlin and Benedict Garman
    BBC Verify

    A man in a high-viz vest speaks to passengers on one of the crashed trainsImage source, X
    Image caption,

    The video captures a member of staff on one of the trains telling people to stay seated

    Video filmed by a passenger inside one of the trains involved in yesterday’s crash in southern Spain shows a member of staff instructing passengers to remain inside the carriage, urging them to stay together and look out for one another.

    The footage was uploaded to social media on Sunday evening by passenger Adri Vélez, who wrote on X that people in the carriage were safe, but they were unsure about the condition of others. Vélez added that there was smoke inside the train and that passengers could be heard calling for a doctor.

    At least 39 people were killed after the Madrid-bound train de-railed and crashed into an oncoming one, although Spain’s transport minister has cautioned this number is “not yet final”. Emergency services have said 122 people were treated for injuries and 48, including five children, are still in hospital.

    In the video, the staff member tells passengers to stay seated, while those who are standing are asked to move towards the front carriages, where there are empty seats.

    “It’s safer to stay inside the train for now because we don’t know the condition of the track,” he says.

    In a later post on X, Vélez wrote: “At the time, I was recording and posting without really being aware of much. Now, having had time to reflect, I want to thank the staff at @iryo_eu, who were incredibly professional despite everything.”

  12. Can the US expand its military presence in Greenland?published at 11:43 GMT 19 January

    Lucy Gilder
    BBC Verify journalist

    A radar dome at Pituffik Space Base in GreenlandImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    The main US military facility in Greenland is the Pituffik Space Base

    President Donald Trump has repeatedly framed arguments about annexing Greenland from Denmark as being a “national security” matter for the US and Nato.

    Earlier this month, senior Trump advisor Stephen Miller told CNN that “to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend Nato and Nato interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States”.

    However, the US already plays a military role in Greenland and has maintained a presence there since World War Two.

    Currently the US operates one military base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base, whose responsibilities include missile defence and satellite communication.

    William Freer, a national security specialist at the Council on Geostrategy, told BBC Verify that the US is allowed “extensive military powers” in Greenland under several treaties and agreements with Denmark.

    One of these is the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement, external, which is still in force. It states that “without prejudice to the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark”, the US government is entitled to “fit the area for military use”, including installing facilities and stationing personnel in certain parts of Greenland.

    “During the Cold War, this treaty allowed for over 50 US military installations and almost 10,000 personnel to be positioned on the island”, says Freer.

    “Under existing agreements, the US could expand its presence once more.”

    Freer argues that a reason for the US taking over the island would be “the economic potential of Greenland’s mineral wealth”.

  13. Donald Trump repeats claim he ended eight warspublished at 11:01 GMT 19 January

    Tamara Kovacevic
    BBC Verify senior journalist

    A lectern at the Norwegian Nobel InstituteImage source, EPA
    Image caption,

    The Norwegian Nobel Institute awards the peace prize - the 2025 recipient was Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

    In a letter to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store - confirmed by the BBC’s US partner CBS News - President Trump reportedly wrote, external: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace”.

    Store has responded by saying that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent committee and not by the country of Norway.

    Trump’s questionable claim about stopping eight wars is one we have looked at in detail before.

    The White House has previously listed them as conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Israel and Iran, Pakistan and India, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.

    A number of these “wars” had lasted just days, although were the result of long-standing tensions - and in some cases – for example Egypt and Ethiopia - there was no fighting to end.

    There has also been fighting between Rwanda and the DRC, despite the two sides signing a peace agreement.

    You can read our full analysis here.

  14. Verifying newly emerged Iran protest videopublished at 10:44 GMT 19 January

    Kumar Malhotra, Shayan Sardarizadeh and Ghoncheh Habibiazad
    BBC Verify and BBC Persian

    Men on motorcycles in Isfahan, one of them with what appears to be a weaponImage source, X
    Image caption,

    A screengrab from one of the videos showing men riding motorcycles - one of whom appears to be armed - in the Iranian city of Isfahan

    We’ve been checking videos of anti-government protests in Iran which have been shared online in the last few days.

    The country is in the second week of a government-imposed internet shutdown with minimal connectivity.

    But some material is coming out, including a video from the capital Tehran, filmed at a roundabout where large numbers of protesters had gathered. In the footage, shots can be heard followed by panic and screams in the crowd.

    We matched the location to satellite imagery and checked this was not footage from previous waves of protests.

    While we can confirm the video has not be shared before this weekend, it’s not possible to be certain when it was filmed because the internet blackout has prevented Iranians from sharing videos in the immediate aftermath of an incident.

    There’s also video from the southern city of Dezful, said to be from 8 January, showing men dressed in black and security vehicles. At least twenty shots are heard, although it is not clear who is firing or what the target is.

    Another video we verified shows a group of men on motorbikes on the streets of Isfahan in central Iran, at least one of whom seems to be holding a weapon. The post said this was also from 8 January, which we have been able to confirm was the earliest date it had been shared.

    We’ve also verified several videos showing a mosque on fire in the northern city of Rasht, as well clips of two bank buildings and a courthouse which have been damaged.

  15. Monday at BBC Verifypublished at 10:14 GMT 19 January

    Rob Corp
    BBC Verify Live editor

    Good morning - we have a raft of stories being looked at today by our specialists in fact-checking, video verification and data journalism.

    Some Iranians were briefly able to access the internet late on Friday for the first time since a country-wide blackout began almost 10 days ago in response to a wave of deadly anti-government demonstrations.

    Over the weekend our team verified videos which emerged during that brief window showing clashes between protesters and security forces in different cities. We’ll bring you more on those shortly.

    BBC Verify is examining US President Donald Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on countries including the UK that oppose his plan to take control of Greenland. We’ll look at the likely impact on the UK economy of Trump’s latest move.

    Our team is also verifying videos being shared online by people involved in Sunday’s train crash in southern Spain that has killed at least 39 people.

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