Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

We’ll be closing up our live page soon so here’s a summary of what we have been looking into today.

Violence erupted yesterday in Rio de Janeiro after Brazilian police launched a raid against the notorious Comando Vermelho drug gang, leaving more than 130 people dead.

The team has verified graphic videos showing dozens of bodies laid out in a street of the city - and we’ve brought you expert analysis on how the cartels are using drones to attack police and competing gangs.

As Hurricane Melissa heads towards Cuba, we’ve authenticated images of its path of devastation across Jamaica and we’ve debunked an online conspiracy theory that the storm was “engineered” to make way for so-called “smart cities”.

Plus, videos analysed by BBC Verify show fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan have executed unarmed people after capturing the city of el-Fasher. Click here to read our full story.

See you tomorrow for more from BBC Verify Live.

Shayan Sardarizadeh
BBC Verify senior journalist

A viral video has baselessly claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky purchased a huge ranch in the US state of Wyoming, making him one of the biggest private landowners in America.

The video - which racked up nearly two million views on X this week before being deleted - falsely claims that a Cyprus-based company, which was previously linked to Zelensky in the Pandora Papers, external, bought Pathfinder Ranches on 24 October.

It also shares similarities with the work of a major Russia-based influence operation previously investigated by BBC Verify that uses fake websites and videos to spread false stories about Ukraine and its political leaders.

Estate agent Swan Land, which is in charge of selling the 900,000-acre piece of land, has confirmed to BBC Verify that the claims in the video are false and that it is currently being sold to a “family-owned” US cattle ranching company.

The video features a fake web page made to appear like the real Swan Land website, which claims the ranch has been sold to a company based in Cyprus.

BBC Verify checked the fake website from the video’s registration information, which confirmed that it was created on 21 October. Swan Land’s official website was created in 2013 and makes no mention of selling the property to a company in Cyprus.

Emma Pengelly and Sherie Ryder
BBC Verify

We’ve verified several videos posted today showing dozens of bodies laid in a row being shrouded in blankets on a street in Rio de Janeiro. It follows a deadly police operation countering drug trafficking in Brazil’s capital.

The videos were filmed in a market area of Rio de Janeiro, in its northern Penha district, which is one of the areas where violence occurred.

Authorities in Rio have recently raised the death toll from the the anti-gang raid, which targeted the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) criminal group yesterday, to at least 132 - more than double their initial tally.

The region’s governor Claudio Castro said the 64 she reported killed yesterday were only those bodies identified at a public morgue.

Reports indicate people in Penha who searched for lost relatives collected many of the dozens of bodies found in a nearby woodland area.

It was possible to confirmed the location by matching landmarks in the video to a road junction and a supermarket visible in satellite images and old street-level photos.

News agency photos from the scene which showed bodies covered in the same blankets also helped corroborate that the social media videos were new.

Tamara Kovacevic
BBC Verify senior journalist

Defending Labour’s record in government, Keir Starmer said in Prime Minister’s Questions earlier: "Because of our budget, waiting lists have come down.”

Starmer was talking about NHS in England, as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland manage their own health systems.

Although it is not clear what the connection might be between the last budget and the NHS waiting lists he was referring to, it is true that the number of waits for non-emergency treatment in England is down since the last budget in October 2024.

According to NHS England latest figures,, external in August 2025, there were 7.41 million waits while in October 2024 the figure was 7.54 million.

However, this figure has risen for the past three months in a row, from 7.36 million in May to 7.41 million in August 2025.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

Brazilian officials say the Comando Vermelho gang used drones to attack police during an eruption of violence in Rio de Janeiro that left 64 people dead.

“Drones dropping bombs is now a trend used by heavily armed criminal groups,” says Dr Carlos Solar from the Royal United Services Institute.

The cartels are buying civilian drones from the open market and then adapting them to fight against competing gangs and law enforcement, he says.

“They are forcing the state police and armies to integrate counter-drone attack strategies” at a time when the Brazilian government is tightened austerity measures, Solar says.

“This reflects a broader militarisation of criminal organisations,” says Dr Irene Mia from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The cartels are exploiting emerging technologies “to present themselves as alternative centres of power and to intimidate both state authorities and the communities under their control.”

Other Brazilian criminal groups have demonstrated a similar resourcefulness in building weapons from unconventional supply chains, says Mia.

“There are documented instances of semi-automatic weapons being assembled domestically using Airsoft components, frequently procured from China, a technique that reduces traceability and cost,” she explains. “It is unfortunate to say that these drones are likely to become the norm,” adds Solar.

Marco Silva
BBC Verify senior journalist

Baseless claims that Hurricane Melissa was “engineered” as part of supposed “land clearing operations” have been spreading online.

In posts seen hundreds of thousands of times, some users wrongly suggested this storm was somehow triggered to “erase” parts of Jamaica, making way for so-called “smart cities” - cities that run more efficiently and sustainably due to their extensive use of digital technologies.

But scientists say it is “impossible” for humans to create or control hurricanes, and that the causes of a storm as dangerous as Hurricane Melissa are complex.

“To form, hurricanes need a few essential ingredients including a large-scale circulating airmass and a vast energy supply from warm, tropical ocean waters to fuel the storm,” says Dr Michael Byrne, a researcher in climate science at the University of St Andrews.

“Neither of these essential ingredients can be controlled by humans to engineer a hurricane," he tells me.

While there are plans to turn New Kingston, a part of the Jamaican capital, into the country’s first smart city, there’s no suggestion these would involve major land clearance.

In recent years, smart cities have often been the subject of conspiracy theories, with some suggesting that they are part of efforts to impose authoritarian rule through technology.

Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify journalist

We’ve been tracking fake images circulating online as Hurricane Melissa sweeps across the Caribbean.

In one image posted yesterday claiming to show devastation in Jamaica debris can be seen flying, items like ladders are strewn across flooded streets, palm trees are buckling in strong wind and building roofs have been torn off.

The post has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on different social media platforms. One viral Facebook post comes from an account that identifies itself as sharing “AI visuals”.

The post also says it allegedly is of a destroyed hospital in Black River, but the layout of the buildings and surrounding landscape does not match the city’s hospital.

We also ran the image through Google’s deepfake detection tool and it found Google AI generation digital watermarks in nearly every part of the image.

There are also other elements of the image which indicate it isn’t real - like repeated patterns in the damaged palm tree leaves and possible inconsistencies in the buildings.

During major weather events we almost always find fake images and video surfacing online, so at times like these it’s important to check reputable sources for information before sharing.

For more on Hurricane Melissa, the main BBC News live page is here.

Emma Pengelly and Richard Irvine-Brown
BBC Verify journalists

As we wait for daytime images showing the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, we’ve verified footage of intense wind and rain sweeping across Jamaica yesterday.

The island’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has already warned of "devastating impacts". In one video, the force of the severe gusts bend palm trees and large waves crash into a small beach.

We’ve geolocated the footage to a hotel near Lucea in north-west Jamaica. We’ve also confirmed a second clip as being filmed from a fire station in Black River. In the footage, powerful winds tear through the coastal city, debris is strewn across the road and corrugated iron roofs are being torn from buildings.

A key part in our verification process is checking these videos are not from previous storms.

We took multiple screenshots from each video and put these into search engines to check the internet for older copies. The results showed they were newly posted online.

Image source, X

Kayleen Devlin
BBC Verify senior journalist

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

We’re looking into the violence that erupted yesterday in Rio de Janeiro, in which at least 64 people have been reportedly killed following a massive police anti-gang raid targeting the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) group - one of Brazil's biggest crime and drug gangs.

Violent scenes are reported to have broken out in the north of the city - and the region’s governor has said four of the dead are police officers. In one video posted by the Rio government, there’s a video of a drone which they claimed was used by criminals to attack police officers, external in the Penha area of the city.

A reverse image search of the clip shows it was only posted online yesterday, but there are not enough details in the video that would allow us to identify its precise location.

Comando Vermelho is one of Brazil’s oldest criminal groups. They moved into the cocaine trade in the 1980s and while they originated in Rio, they have since grown into a major transnational drug trafficking organisation.

Earlier this year, I spoke to an indigenous leader from Peru who told me that the group were known to operate in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon as well.

Just last week, a report was released by Amazon Underworld claiming that the group had successfully entered areas of coca production on multiple parts of the Peruvian Amazon, as well as also operating in large swathes of the Brazilian Amazon too.

Adam Durbin
BBC Verify Live editor

Good morning from BBC Verify Live.

We’re looking into videos showing smoke plumes over Rio de Janeiro, after at least 64 people were killed in clashes between Brazilian police and a notorious drug gang yesterday according to the region’s governor. More than 2,500 officers were involved in a massive police operation against the Red Command, who officials say responded with gunfire and drone-dropped munitions. We’ll be bringing you a profile of the major crime group shortly - and we’re speaking to experts about the drone claims.

Our team are also continuing to verify social media footage showing the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa damage in Jamaica, after the storm ravaged the island. The Caribbean island’s prime minister has declared a “disaster area” and warned of “devastating impacts”, footage of which is continuing to emerge on social media. The hurricane has now moved onto Cuba and will head north-east towards the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Plus, our fact-checkers are examining the UK government ministers claims this morning about deportations and migrant removals - and later tuning in to Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.