Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

This live page will be closing shortly, but you’ll continue to see coverage from BBC Verify teams in London and Washington DC through this evening. Scroll back now on this page to read about what we’ve been working on today.

We’ve used satellite imagery to examine new patterns of displacement in Gaza and verified footage showing the destruction of more high-rise buildings by the Israeli military.

The first migrant deportation flights under the UK's new “one in, one out” deal with France are expected to begin this week, so we’ve dug into the statistics to track how many people have crossed the Channel since the deal was signed and monitor how many asylum seekers the UK has returned in the last year.

Plus, the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok falsely claimed on X that a video of Saturday’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest posted by London’s Metropolitan Police was old footage from five years ago.

BBC Verify Live will be back with more tomorrow.

Christine Jeavans
BBC Verify senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, the government announced that 14 NHS trusts will have their maternity services investigated as part of a rapid review of maternity care in England.

They have been chosen based on a range of factors, the government says, external, including perinatal death rates, annual patient surveys and to reflect a mix of geographies and populations.

Three trusts – Shrewsbury and Telford, East Kent Hospitals and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay – have been chosen as they have had previous investigations.

The remaining 11 are:

• Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals
• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals
• Bradford Teaching Hospitals
• Gloucestershire Hospitals
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals
• Oxford University Hospital
• Queen Elizabeth, Kings Lynn
• Sandwell and West Birmingham
• Yeovil District Hospital / Somerset
• University Hospitals of Leicester
• University Hospitals Sussex

Detailed data on stillbirths and deaths of babies up to 28 days after birth, together known as the perinatal period, is gathered in the annual MBRRACE-UK figures, external.

Hospital trusts are grouped by type, for example those with a specialist intensive care unit for newborns, and then compared to the average within that type and “stabilised” to give a more representative figure.

Looking at the latest data and the list of 14 trusts, four had perinatal death rates more than 5% above the average for their type.

They are Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, Barking, Havering and Redbridge and University Hospitals of Leicester.

But the government says there is a mixture of reasons for choosing the 14 trusts, including variation in case mix, geographic coverage, patients from diverse backgrounds and family feedback.

The chair of the review, Baroness Amos, says she aims to produce interim findings by Christmas, with a full report in the spring.

Benedict Garman and Sherie Ryder
BBC Verify

We’ve been verifying footage from this morning of a strike carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on a high-rise building in Gaza.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on tower blocks in recent days as the Israeli military intensify their bid to occupy Gaza City.

The latest video shows the moment an Israeli airstrike targets a building known as al-Ghafri Tower.

It shows two projectiles striking the base of the tower in quick succession before the building collapses into rising plumes of smoke.

The IDF published an evacuation notice, external for the area around the building just over an hour before it was destroyed.

In a post on social media, external after the strike, the Israeli military said the building was “used by the terrorist organization Hamas”, but did not provide any evidence to support the claim.

Tamara Kovacevic
BBC Verify senior journalist

At a press conference today announcing the defection of Conservative MP Danny Kruger to Reform UK, party leader Nigel Farage said: "The sheer number of 30-somethings that are now leaving this country because they want to get on, they want to build a business, they want to make money, and they are fleeing, is just one little illustration on how much trouble we are in."

There are no publicly available figures on the number of people in their thirties leaving the UK, and we contacted Reform’s press office to ask about their sources.

The Office for National Statistics publishes figures on the total number of British citizens emigrating from the UK for 12 months or more, without breaking them down by age.

According to the latest provisional data, external, an estimated 77,000 British nationals left the UK in 2024.

This is the lowest number of British citizens leaving the country since 2021 and significantly lower than between 2012 and 2019 when between 147,000 and 157,000 were leaving annually.

Lucy Gilder
BBC Verify journalist

We’re continuing to look into asylum statistics today as the UK government prepares for the first migrant deportation flights under the “one in, one out” deal with France.

In addition to this new returns scheme, some asylum seekers are also being returned directly to their home country or to a third country.

The latest data shows that there were 10,652 returns of people who have claimed asylum in the 12 months to June 2025. , external

These figures, which include both enforced and voluntary returns, are up by nearly a third compared to the same period last year and are broadly the same as 2010 levels.

The top nationalities returned in the year ending June were Albanians (3,369), Brazilians (1,543) and Indians (911).

Sebastian Vandermeersch and Benedict Garman
BBC Verify

We have been examining satellite evidence that reveals new patterns of displacement in Gaza.

The latest images show large numbers of tents have disappeared from Gaza City since 9 September, as shown below. This comes after repeated Israeli evacuation orders and intense bombardment of the city as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue their offensive.

Comparing satellite images from 5 and 12 September of central Gaza reveals large numbers of new tents have been erected in areas within the IDF designated “humanitarian zone”, showing an influx of displaced people into the area.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

The artificial intelligence chatbot Grok falsely claimed on X that a video of Saturday’s “Unite the Kingdom” protest posted by London’s Metropolitan Police was old footage from five years ago.

We’ve tracked how this claim was amplified across the social media platform.

On Saturday afternoon, the Met posted a video on X featuring CCTV and aerial footage, external which shows skirmishes between protesters and police.

When X users asked Grok if the video was accurate, the chatbot falsely claimed the footage was actually taken during a 2020 protest against Covid lockdowns.

Grok even asserted that signs with the text "NO NEW NORMAL" were visible in the video and that the footage was recorded over Trafalgar Square.

Image source, Metropolitan Police

In reality, no such signs are visible, a satellite image comparison shows that the video was taken over Whitehall not Trafalgar Square, and reverse images searches indicate that the footage had not appeared on the internet before Saturday.

Hundreds of posts on X have now made the false claim, with one post alone gathering more than two millions views.

On Sunday morning, the Met addressed the issue themselves, external, posting “It is quite obviously not Trafalgar Square as is suggested in the AI response”.

The Met’s post debunking Grok’s false claim, however, has gathered fewer than 100,000 views. Grok has since admitted its mistake.

Anthony Reuben
BBC Verify senior journalist

The first migrant deportation flights under the UK's new “one in, one out” deal with France are expected to begin this week. The scheme aims to deter asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Several dozen migrants detained in Dover last month are set to be the first returned to France, with the UK accepting an equal number of asylum seekers who have not tried to cross.

Since the deal came into force in early August, 5,590 people have been detected crossing in small boats, which is 8% higher than the same period last year.

So far this year there have been record 31,026 crossings, which is 38% higher than the same period last year.

Benedict Garman
BBC Verify senior journalist

We’re continuing to verify footage emerging from Gaza City over the weekend after the Israeli air force destroyed more tower blocks and other buildings.

Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gave four evacuation notices for prominent high-rise buildings. All four were later destroyed and we have verified the footage.

An separate evacuation notice was issued on Saturday and that building was flattened the same day.

The picture below is from a video showing the moment one of the buildings, Al-Kawthar Tower, was bombed.

Image source, X

The IDF has been targeting tall buildings across Gaza City for more than a week now, but it’s not just the multi-storeys highlighted on social media being hit.

Many of the videos we’ve verified show the destruction of other buildings, as well as vehicles.

On Friday the IDF said its airstrikes had targeted “over 500 objectives”, external in Gaza City.

It said it was destroying “towers converted into military infrastructure” as well as “reconnaissance and sniper positions, buildings containing operational tunnel openings, weapons warehouses, and other terrorist infrastructure”.

It did not provide any evidence to support these claims.

Meanwhile, thousands of displaced people are leaving Gaza and heading south, where new encampments are being set up.

We’ll bring you more on all of this throughout the day, and we’ll continue to monitor for new developments.

Tom Edgington
BBC Verify live editor

We’re mapping the destruction of buildings in Gaza City, including tower blocks, following attacks carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) over the weekend.

Our open-source journalists are also monitoring the latest IDF-issued evacuation orders and the build-up of tents to accommodate displaced Gazans. We hope to bring you the latest satellite images shortly.

In the UK, Reform leader Nigel Farage is holding a press conference later this morning, which the fact-checking team will be following.

The first deportation flights following the UK-France "one in, one out" deal reached in July are expected this week. We’re looking at how many people have been detected crossing in small boats since the agreement came into force. Our team will also be following Home Office questions later for any new claims.

Remember, you can always get in touch with BBC Verify - and suggest a story we should investigate - by following this link.