Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

We’re closing BBC Verify Live’s coverage for the day soon, so here’s a quick summary of what we’ve reported.

The team has expanded on our coverage of Iran, verifying videos of a protest to mark 40 days since a deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrators began and a clip of an Iranian warship spotted in the Gulf.

We’ve also continued to analyse recent US military movements, including:

• Tracking two key US military surveillance jets landing in the UK
• Using satellite images to track a US warship which appears to be leaving the Caribbean
• Experts told BBC Verify that the US is preparing for “direct action” in Iran

In the UK, our fact checkers have looked into the ongoing political row over the government’s U-turn on postponing some local council elections, as well as a claim that unemployment has risen for 15 months in a row.

Yi Ma
BBC Verify researcher

Image source, TikTok

ALT: Screengrab from a video showing thick smoke rising above a vehicle after struck by a drone and sparks visible around the blast site.

We have verified footage showing drone strikes on stationary vehicles in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.

Kramatorsk is one of the largest Ukrainian-controlled urban centres in the Donetsk region, most of which is currently being occupied by the Russian military.

One of the verified videos, filmed from a high-rise building overlooking a car park in a residential area, shows a drone slowly approaching a parked car. Moments later, a loud explosion sends thick smoke rising above the vehicle.

It is unclear whether there were casualties resulting from the strike.

However, Ukraine’s emergency services has reported three people killed and one injured following a similar drone attack on a civilian vehicle this morning in the nearby town of Mykolaivka.

The drones - usually small quadcopters - are often called FPV (First Person View) drones because they are flown by an operator using a headset linked to an onboard camera. They’ve been widely used for combat by both Ukraine and Russia throughout the war.

The Russian armed forces have used FPV drones to target civilians in the southern city of Kherson for more than a year.

Richard Irvine-Brown
BBC Verify journalist

The current US military build-up in the Middle East “appears to be preparing for direct action” against wide-ranging targets in Iran, analysts from defence intelligence firm Janes have told BBC Verify.

We have been tracking the recent arrival of US aircraft and naval vessels, as reports indicate strikes on Iran are being considered by Washington.

So far today we have reported:

• The USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier may be on its way to the Mediterranean Sea
• Two US Awacs command and control aircraft, which provide battlefield management, have landed in the UK

Deepankar Patil and S Kannan, from the military intelligence team at Janes, told BBC Verify such preparations indicate the US is preparing for sustained operations as can be seen from the “constant flights of tanker and transport aircraft into the region”.

Such operations also require “the presence of several assets capable of strikes” also being put in place, like the presence of US fighter jets in Jordan and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier being deployed near the Gulf.

We first saw the USS Abraham Lincoln in satellite imagery off the coast of Oman at the weekend.

But Patil and Kannan said the vessel has likely been there for weeks, given they have observed regular reconnaissance sorties by Iranian drones over the nearby Strait of Hormuz.

Anthony Reuben
BBC Verify senior journalist

The Conservative Party’s shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately has claimed in a post on social media that UK “unemployment is up for the 15th month in a row”.

Unemployment is certainly higher than it was when Labour came to office in both key measures: the overall number of people out of work and the proportion of people out of work.

But there have been months in that period when there were small falls in unemployment.

For example, the figures released by the Office for National Statistics for October to December 2024 suggested there were 1,552,000 unemployed people over 16, which was 8,000 fewer than the previous month’s figure.

Also in October to December 2024, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.4%. While we usually only look at one decimal place, if you go to the second decimal place, the rate was down rather than up.

But all of these figures are based on a survey, which means some of the rises and falls are so small that they fall within the margin of error.

For example, the rate of unemployment for October to December was given as 5.2%, but the sampling variability was 0.3 percentage points. What that means is that the actual rate could have been anywhere between 4.9% and 5.5%.

We have asked Whately what measure she was referring to but have not yet heard back.

Peter Mwai and Kumar Malhotra
BBC Verify senior journalists

Image source, Facebook

We’ve been checking reports of drone strikes in Sudan’s central Kordofan region, which is currently at the heart of a bitter power struggle in the ongoing civil war between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Graphic video shared on social media shows the aftermath of a strike in the town of al-Sunut in West Kordofan province. The attack on Monday is reported to have killed more than 20 people.

In one video, we see at least five bodies covered with sheets amidst the rubble from the collapsed brick walls of a building. Three of the bodies, said to be a mother and her children, are covered by a single sheet.

In the clip, the man recording says the victims had taken refuge in al-Sunut after fleeing fighting elsewhere. He claims they were hit by the SAF, but we cannot confirm who carried out the strike from the video.

A water tower, a structure with a large pitched-roof and a light-coloured building in the background of the clip enabled us to work out where it was filmed by matching these features to Google Earth imagery.

RSF attacks further east in Sudan’s Sennar and Blue Nile states have also been reported, so we are monitoring social media for video or images related to these incidents.

Barbara Metzler and Alex Murray
BBC Verify

BBC Verify continues to monitor the movements of US military assets around the globe following speculation that Washington may launch attacks against Iran.

Yesterday we identified the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in satellite imagery off the coast of Oman. Now we are working to track another carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, which has been reportedly ordered to sail from the Caribbean to the Gulf as part of a broader military build-up in the region.

On 13 February, we identified a vessel approximately 340km (210 miles) off the island of Guadeloupe heading east. The vessel appears consistent with an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, a common accompanying ship for US aircraft carriers such as USS Gerald R Ford.

While this sighting does not confirm the Ford’s location it is the closest indicator so far of its possible movements.

Alex Murray
BBC Verify journalist

Image source, X/@AVG_Kory

As we continue to monitor the buildup of US military forces which could be used to carry out strikes on Iran, two key airborne warning and command aircraft used for battlefield management have arrived in the UK.

The E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (Awacs)aircraft landed this morning at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and were photographed by an aviation enthusiast.

The pictures allowed us to visually match the E-3s’ serial numbers with flight tracking data, which indicates the two aircraft took off from Anchorage, Alaska.

The next movement of these key assets will be keenly watched, given many analysts regarded their arrival as being one of the final “puzzle pieces” needed for any US attack on Iran.

Steffan Watkins, a researcher who tracks ships and aircraft using open source information, previously told BBC Verify: “If things play out the same way as Midnight Hammer [the codename for US attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025] it will show the strike is imminent”.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

At BBC Verify we analyse countless AI-generated videos.

As various models have become readily available to people around the world, we've tracked all kinds of ways that creators try to mislead audiences into believing that their fake videos are real.

Here's a quick guide on how to spot disguised AI watermarks.

Produced by Aisha Sembhi. Graphics by Sally Nicholls.

Gerry Georgieva
BBC Verify researcher

Image source, PA Media

Commenting on Labour’s U-turn over postponing some local elections in England, the leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey, external said his party “fought tooth and nail to stop this stitch-up and the government has been forced into a humiliating U-turn".

Follow legal advice, yesterday the government withdrew its decision to delay 30 local elections in May. It had previously argued some councils were worried about the cost of running elections for authorities which are due to be abolished in an upcoming major reorganisation of local government.

While it’s true that Davey’s party at a national level had called for the elections to go ahead, one Lib Dem-led council - Cheltenham Borough Council - had requested their postponement.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, external also commented on the government U-turn in a social media post, saying the Tories opposed “these unnecessary cancellations at every opportunity”.

But Badenoch also admitted there were “a couple of exceptions who now look really silly” - likely referencing the five Conservative and Conservative-led councils which had requested a postponement - East Sussex, Harlow, Norfolk, Suffolk and West Sussex.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad and Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Persian and BBC Verify

We’ve verified a video posted online two days ago of an Iranian warship on the move near Iran’s Kish Island in the Gulf.

The vessel appears to be one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy’s Shahid Soleimani-class ships.

These missile-armed catamarans were first delivered to the IRGC navy in 2022. They are thought to carry medium-range surface-to-air missiles, according to the US Naval Institute.

Iranian news reports say military exercises have been under way in the Gulf since Monday and state media has broadcast footage which featured the same class of warship.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered one of the world’s most important shipping routes. Around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through it.

We’ve been reporting on how we verified video uploaded last night showing people on the street in Abdanan, western Iran, shouting anti-government slogans while cars pass blaring their horns.

You can watch the footage here:

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

We’re keen to hear what you think the BBC Verify team should be looking into.

We're interested in investigating claims you may've seen online in your social feeds. We're also keen to know if you've think an image may have been made using artificial intelligence to spread disinformation.

You can also get in touch with BBC Verify if you've got a question about how we verify video posted online or work with satellite imagery.

You can send your suggestions to the team here.

Shayan Sardarizadeh and Farzad Seifikaran
BBC Verify and BBC Persian

Image source, X

We’ve verified two videos of a protest in a town in western Iran which first emerged last night.

Reports indicate events have been planned to commemorate 40 days since the Iranian government began a deadly crackdown on protests which swept the country earlier this year. Activists have said at least 6,000 people were killed.

The clips from Abdanan, in Ilam province near the border with Iraq, show about 100 protesters stood at a major roundabout, raising their fists and chanting “death to Khamenei” - Iran’s supreme leader. Cars are at a near standstill, with horns blaring.

We verified the location as being to the junction of East Valli Asr and Shahid Motahari streets by matching features in the videos like shopfronts to publicly available images.

The protest is likely to have been recorded last night, as one video is watermarked by yesterday’s date in the Solar Hijri calendar used in Iran. Reverse-searching screenshots from the videos indicate they have not been shared publicly online before last night and the dry conditions also match local weather reports.

BBC Verify has extensively analysed footage from the wave of anti-government demonstrations, which managed to emerge despite an internet blackout and lasted more than two weeks. This includes videos showing bodies piled up in a hospital and snipers stationed on buildings.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

We start this morning having verified two videos that appeared online last night appearing to show a small protest in the western Iranian town of Abdanan.

Text on the video says it was filmed yesterday and our checks suggest the footage is new. It comes as many Iranians end 40 days of mourning for those killed in the government’s violent crackdown on protests around the country, where activists say more than 6,000 people were killed.

Elsewhere in Iran, our team has verified footage showing one of the Iranian navy’s most advanced warships sailing off Kish Island in the Gulf. We’ll bring you more of what the video shows and what we know about the vessel shortly.

We’ve seen footage said to be from the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine which claims to show Russian drones being flown into cars and exploding.We’re verifying the video and will have more from experts soon.

And BBC Verify’s fact-checkers are looking into claims made this morning about the UK government’s U-turn over cancelling some of May’s local elections in England.

More on all those to come throughout the day.