Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

If you’re just joining us on BBC Verify Live he’s a recap of what we’ve been covering today.

We started the day in Niger, using new satellite imagery to reveal the aftermath of an attack by Islamist militants on the main airport in the country’s capital, Niamey. Here’s a quick backgrounder on what’s happening in the country.

At lunchtime we turned to the English Channel where we’ve been tracking eight tankers sanctioned for transporting illegal Russian oil. We asked the UK’s Department for Transport to comment on what we found - you can read its response here.

And have you seen viral claims about US immigration enforcement agencies being given access to footage from Ring doorbells? Here’s the truth behind the rumours.

That’s all from BBC Verify Live today. Our team will be working across the weekend and the live page will be back on Monday.

Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify journalist

New activity is also taking place at the Isfahan nuclear complex in Iran, satellite images reviewed by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) show.

Images captured since late December show work has been carried out on the roof of a building that was among those hit by Israeli strikes during last summer’s 12-day war.

ISIS said there are indications the building had been used in the manufacture of centrifuges - machines that enrich uranium.

“The roof construction could mean that assets survived that Iran wanted to recover without overhead observation, or it could mean that Iran considers the structure worth retaining,” it said.

Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify journalist

Satellite images reveal earthworks and repairs have been taking place at a major Iranian nuclear site in recent days, according to analysis by US think tank the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

Isfahan was one of the three nuclear facilities attacked by the US last summer and this new activity comes at a time of increasing threats towards Iran from the Trump administration.

Satellite pictures show two tunnel entrances have been newly covered with earth in the last week. Here’s one of them.

According to ISIS this work indicates “preparation for additional military strikes as was previously seen before American strikes were carried out during the 12-day war”.

A third entrance appears to be open as of 29 January, satellite images analysed by ISIS show, and vehicles can be seen nearby. “It raises the question whether Iran is moving recovered assets from other sites into the tunnel,” ISIS said.

Kumar Malhotra, Barbara Metzler and Tom Shiel
BBC Verify

Recent satellite images show progress has been made on the construction of a new bridge linking Russia and North Korea.

Work on the link across the Tumen river, which marks the border between the two countries, began last year and has been seen as a sign of the growing ties between the two countries.

North Korea has provided Russia with troops for the war in Ukraine while Moscow has given technical assistance on surveillance satellites, drones and anti-air missiles.

Images from Planet Labs show that at the end of April 2025 work on the bridge crossing had not yet begun.

By September, satellite images show work is under way with the bridge structure extending from both banks of the river and a gap in the middle.

The latest imagery, taken 10 days ago, shows this gap has narrowed considerably.

Russian media say the bridge is expected to be completed by the end of this year but the progress seen so far on satellite imagery suggests it could be sooner than that.

Kevin Nguyen
BBC Verify senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Rumours have swirled online that the Amazon-owned digital doorbell company Ring is providing US immigration enforcement direct access to video captured by its devices.

The claim, which is unfounded and something Ring has denied,has led to calls on social media for Ring device owners to destroy or disable their devices.

Ring announced last October that it was partnering with surveillance company Flock so device owners could voluntarily share footage with local law enforcement agencies if they request it for an investigation. The program isn’t live yet and Ring has not said when it will begin.

Outside of a legal directive, like a subpoena or court order, both companies told me it doesn't allow federal agencies, including US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), direct access to user data and that platforms’ usage is limited to local law enforcement.

“Ring has no partnership with ICE, does not give ICE videos, feeds, or back-end access, and does not share video with them,” a Ring spokesperson said.

Flock said much the same. However, it drew criticism after news website 404 Media reported last year local enforcement had been conducting license plate lookups on ICE’s behalf, external.

“How and whether [local police and federal agencies] work together is not up to Flock,” a spokesperson said.

They added it updated its policies late last year requiring police to identify the federal agency making requests.

Matt Murphy
BBC Verify senior journalist

Image source, Reuters

We reported this morning that eight oil tankers that have been sanctioned by the UK for transporting Russian oil are sailing through the English Channel today.

BBC Verify approached the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) government for comment and was told "the UK is committed to disrupting and deterring shadow fleet vessels and their harmful maritime activity".

The DfT spokesperson added that more than 600 suspected shadow fleet vessels have been "challenged" for proof of insurance since 2024.

While the UK has assisted US and French operations to seize tankers - including one last week in the Mediterranean - it has yet to intervene directly.

The Labour chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, Dame Emily Thornberry, said last week the government must properly “implement” sanctions against the shadow fleet if it is to adequately support Ukraine.

Paul Brown
BBC Verify senior journalist

We've been checking footage posted online showing the aftermath of reported Russian drone strikes on various areas of Ukraine - despite US President Donald Trump saying on Thursday he’d had assurances from Vladimir Putin that Moscow would not "fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week".

This morning Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv until Sunday.

Ukraine's Emergency Services has released footage of a large fire at a warehouse in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, which it said was caused by a missile. We've geolocated the video to a facility near the industrial district to the south of the city.

Three people were killed in strikes on the city of Vilniansk in the Zapoirizhzhia region, according to a senior official. One clip from the city shows a building has been completely destroyed and others badly damaged.

We've also seen damage to an apartment block in Zaporizhzhia city reportedly as result of a nearby drone impact.

Elsewhere in the region, seven private homes were reportedly damaged.

Local authorities in Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions have also reported overnight strikes.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

We’ve just been taking a look at the latest satellite imagery after a massive landslide in the Sicilian town of Niscemi, which the Italian government says has forced more than 1,500 residents to evacuate their homes.

A 2.5-mile (4km) section of cliff to the south of the town began collapsing after Storm Harry brought heavy rainfall to the Italian island this week.

Satellite imagery shows a vast strip of exposed light-colored soil where the cliff has progressively collapsed over recent days. Several houses have been destroyed and many more have been badly damaged.

Experts and officials have warned that the area remains highly unstable and further cliff collapses could occur at any moment.

Peter Mwai and Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify

Image source, YouTube

We’ve been reporting today that Niger’s military leader has claimed Islamist militants, backed by the presidents of France, Benin and Ivory Coast, were behind yesterday’s attack on the international airport outside the capital, Niamey.

"We remind the sponsors of these mercenaries, notably Emmanuel Macron, Patrice Talon and Alassane Ouattara: We've heard them bark quite enough; now they should get ready to listen to us,” Gen Abdourahamane Tiani said on state radio, without providing any evidence.

Since seizing power in a 2023 coup, Niger's military junta has cut ties with France, the former colonial power, and has turned to the Russian paramilitary group Africa Corps to help combat Islamist fighters who have been fighting in the region for more than a decade.

Niger is in an ongoing dispute with France over tonnes of unprocessed Uranium extracted from mines formerly operated by the French company Orano. The stockpile is believed to be stored at the international airport waiting to be exported to Russia. The Africa Corps has a camp within the complex.

Tiani yesterday thanked Russia for its help in foiling the airport attack but did not give details of what its assistance was.

Tom Edgington and Ben Chu
BBC Verify

US President Donald Trump has said it’s "very dangerous" for the UK to do business with China as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visits the country.

We don’t know exactly what Trump means by this but he has already threatened Canada with tariffs following its recent electric vehicle import agreement with China.

When it comes to trade, the US is currently a much bigger UK trading partner than China.

In the year to June 2025, the UK’s total imports and exports from the US were £330bn. That’s more than triple the trade with China (£103bn) over the same period.

China is the second largest economy in the world after the US and Starmer has said the agreements secured on his visit would make it easier for British businesses to grow their footprints in China.

As well as the UK and Canada, other countries are also looking to improve relations with China: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to visit China next month, external and French President Emmanuel Macron made his fourth state visit , externallast month.

Trump is due to visit China in April.

Matt Murphy
BBC Verify senior journalist

At least eight tankers sanctioned for transporting illegal Russian oil exports are currently moving through the English Channel, despite the UK government saying disrupting the so-called “shadow fleet” is a priority.

Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has used hundreds of ageing tankers with obscured ownership - known as the shadow fleet - to evade sanctions on oil exports.

The UK government has pledged to take new "assertive actions" against shadow fleet vessels and the BBC understands officials have received legal advice that the tankers can be boarded and seized.

But that authority has yet to be used and on Friday morning ship-tracking site MarineTraffic showed eight tankers sanctioned by the UK are currently moving through the Channel. A further four tankers appear to be heading towards the passage from the North Sea.

Some of the tankers - such as Kusto, a 21-year-old crude oil carrier currently sailing south of the Isle of Wight - have made repeated voyages through the Channel over the past year.

The Kusto is listed on the tracking site MarineTraffic as having picked up its cargo at the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga 10 days ago.

Last week BBC Verify revealed that dozens of other shadow fleet vessels have passed through the Channel since the beginning of the year.

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.

Daniel Wainwright
BBC Verify senior data journalist

For much of the past 19 months, it has been clear that Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes in England by the next election would be difficult to meet.

However, new figures shared with BBC Verify point to a potential sharp rise in demand. Data from Planning Portal, the website used to submit planning applications, shows applications for more than 335,000 homes outside London in 2025 - up 60% in a year. Applications in London fell by almost a third last year, returning near to 2023 levels.

This is an early stage in a process that can take years and many applications will be withdrawn, amended or rejected.

BBC Verify also tracks how many new homes are built using energy performance certificates (EPCs), which are required for all new properties and broadly follow the official figures - although they can be issued before a home is complete and occupied.

The latest data shows 202,803 new EPCs in 2025, down from 208,072 in 2024 – well short of the 300,000 a year needed.

But registrations in the second half of 2025 were slightly higher than a year earlier.

Ministers say it will take time to ramp up house-building as many homes completed since the election were started under Conservative planning policies.

See the figures for your local area in our housing tracker.

Peter Mwai
BBC Verify senior journalist, reporting from Nairobi

We are continuing to piece together what happened during an attack on the main airport in Niger’s capital Niamey early on Thursday.

We have obtained satellite imagery captured by Vantor hours after yesterday’s attack. Comparing them with images taken on Monday, damage to the roofs of some of the buildings at the military base next to the airport is clearly visible.

There is also evidence of fire damage to the vegetation near the airport’s main runway.

According to Vantor’s there was “no significant damage or activity was seen at the main passenger terminal or the commercial side of the airport”.

The vegetation damage that has shown up on the satellite imagery is also consistent with heat signatures captured by Nasa’s satellite-based fire-sensing platform FIRMS on Thursday.

It isn’t yet clear who was behind the attack but items recovered afterwards and displayed by Niger’s army indicates it was carried out by Islamist militants.

Niger’s military leader Gen Abdourahamane Tiani has accused Ivory Coast, France and Benin of backing those responsible without providing evidence.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

Good morning and welcome to the live page where we bring you our work throughout the day fact-checking claims, verifying video, unpacking data and debunking disinformation.

Following yesterday’s attack at the airport in Niger’s capital Niamey, we’ve received satellite imagery showing damage to a military base that’s part of the complex. However, analysis of the imagery suggests the civilian side of the airport was not affected. We’ll bring you those images shortly.

We’re also looking at what satellite imagery shows construction and earthworks at one of the Iran’s main nuclear sites following last year’s bombing attack by the US. According to analysis by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security, activity at the Isfahan nuclear complex has “notably increased” in recent days.

Despite US President Donald Trump saying that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has agreed not to strike Ukraine’s cities for a week, attacks were reported overnight. We’re looking at video said to show the aftermath of a number of strikes last night.

We’ll bring you more on those stories shortly - and we’re also looking at some potential fact-checks from this morning’s broadcast interviews.