Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

Today’s BBC Verify Live page will be closing soon so here’s a quick recap of our coverage for today. We started the day in the US with these three posts:

• Debunking a false claim that an image of a dancer at a Trump party was taken two years ago when it actually was from this Halloween
• Fact-checking three claims from the president’s 60 Minutes US TV interview
• Video analysis showing the tactics US Immigration and Customs Enforcement use to carry out deportations

Next we moved on to the UK. After a knife attack on a train in Cambridgeshire injured 10 people, we’ve been looking into the data to see whether knife crime in the UK is rising or falling. We also went behind the scenes at BBC Verify to get more on how we gathered eyewitness accounts of the attack.

This afternoon we’ve shared how satellite imagery shows an oil spill after an apparent Ukrainian attack on a Russian port, updated what we know about the hostages being returned to Israel by Hamas and verified footage of a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that has killed at least 20 people in Afghanistan.

That’s all from BBC Verify Live for today but our team here in London and in Washington DC will be working through the evening gathering and verifying material on the top stories.

Sherie Ryder
BBC Verify journalist

Image source, X

We’ve been looking at images and footage showing the aftermath of an earthquake which hit northern Afghanistan overnight.

At least 20 people are so far reported to have died after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. It’s thought the death toll is likely to increase.

In one clip posted on X we can see debris scattered on the ground and as the person filming pans upwards parts of the Blue Mosque are visible.

Image source, X

The mosque itself, one of Afghanistan’s most important religious sites, appears to have remained largely intact. However, in a separate image we’ve verified of the mosque following the quake, one of its towers can be seen to have suffered extensive damage.

We were able to match these with photos available from Getty Images, social media and travel websites.

After confirming the location, we carried out reverse image searches to make sure the footage was current and had not been posted before today.

Emma Pengelly, Jamie Ryan and Alex Murray
BBC Verify

Image source, Reuters/Hostages and Missing Families Forum

Last night Hamas returned three more bodies of dead hostages to Israel via the Red Cross, all of whom were Israeli soldiers.

This morning Israel named them as Col Asaf Hamami, 40, Capt Omer Neutra, 21, and Staff Sgt Oz Daniel, 19.

According to Israeli officials, they were killed and their bodies abducted in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Since then we’ve been keeping track of the status of all 255 hostages taken to Gaza, which includes the bodies of four men taken before 2023.

As of today, eight deceased hostages remain inside the territory. All 20 living hostages and a further 20 bodies being held in Gaza when the ceasefire began on 10 October have since been released.

The body of one still there, Hadar Goldin, has been held by Hamas since he was killed in combat in 2014. His twin brother told the Times of Israel last week, external his family remain “hopeful” his remains will be returned.

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.

Becky Dale
BBC Verify senior data journalist

We reported today that seven water companies in England have been ordered to tackle potentially harmful levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals, in the sources of drinking water supplied to six million people. But how do companies go about detecting them?

Water companies in England are required to test for PFAS regularly in the drinking water sources they monitor.

These chemical compounds are difficult to break down, meaning they persist in the environment, and a small number have been linked to harmful health impacts.

Since 2021, more than 1.7 million tests for dozens of these types of chemicals have been conducted, and each year the number of tests has increased.

When test results show levels of chemicals nearing or breaching the threshold guidance set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, companies are put under a strict programme to reduce them, external.

More than 9,000 test results have been above the recommended limits between 2022 and 2024.

Industry body Water UK said it was confident drinking water was safe but has called for a ban on the chemicals to prevent their accumulation.

Kumar Malhotra, Emma Pengelly, Richard Irvine-Brown and Barbara Metzler
BBC Verify

We’ve been looking at video posted online over the weekend showing an apparent Ukrainian attack on the port at Tuapse in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region. The video, filmed at night, shows what looks like air defence munitions being fired into the sky and then a very bright flash.

We’ve confirmed it was filmed inside Tuapse by looking at buildings in the foreground and checking these match with imagery on Google and Yandex maps.

We looked at Nasa’s satellite-based platform Firms - which detects heat sources on Earth’s surface - that showed there were three distinct heat signatures in the port area in the past 24 hours.

A satellite image from 2 November also revealed what appears to be an oil spill extending an estimated 3.6km (2.2 miles) from one of the port’s terminals into the Black Sea.

A statement by the regional authorities confirmed the attack and said the terminal buildings and two foreign vessels in the port had sustained damage, external but that there were no casualties.

Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil refineries in recent months sparking fuel shortages in some areas.

Lucy Gilder
BBC Verify journalist

Image source, Reuters

President Donald Trump’s interview on US political programme 60 Minutes aired on CBS last night - covering subjects including the cost of living, immigration and the government shutdown.

Here are three claims I fact-checked from that interview:

On immigration, Trump said “for five months in a row [there have been] zero people coming into our country through our southern border”

It’s not true that there have been zero people crossing the US southern border - there are still several thousand migrants apprehended each month - but numbers have fallen dramatically compared with the period under former President Biden. It’s possible that Trump was referring to the five consecutive months that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have not released any migrants from its custod, externaly.

Speaking about grocery prices, Trump said “right now they're going down - other than beef, which we're working on”

Figures published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, external show that average grocery prices in the US rose by 0.3% overall between August and September - with beef and veal up 1.2%. Dairy products were the only major food group whose average prices declined month-on-month. Compared with a year ago grocery prices are up 2.7% on average.

He said that before the federal takeover of the US capital, Washington DC “was almost like a crime capital of the world“

While studies suggest the capital’s crime rate is higher than average compared with other major US cities, violent crime in 2024 fell to its lowest level in 30 years according to the most recent full-year police data. Violent crime in Washington has continued to decline so far this year - even before the federal takeover. I couldn’t find any research to back up his claim that it has one of the worst crime rates in the world. You can read more about Trump's claims on crime in DC here.

Alex Emery
Senior journalist, BBC Verify eyewitness team

Eyewitness accounts, footage and images form an integral part of our news reporting when stories break anywhere in the world - whether that’s Saturday’s train attack in the UK or the impact of Hurricane Melissa on Jamaica.

In breaking news situations where we don’t have our reporters on the scene yet, we often rely on your input to drive our coverage.

As part of our coverage of Saturday night’s attack, we spoke to Zeb Golubows who was on the train. He told us he was two carriages away from the attack and saw people running into his carriage shouting "he's got a knife".

It’s to get first-hand accounts like this that we ask for you to contact the BBC through Your Voice, Your BBC News.

Your first-hand experiences also help make our coverage of topics such as health or education relevant and relatable.

So do continue getting in touch to let us know what you see, hear, think. Your input is a vital part of BBC News' output.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

Earlier we reported on false claims on social media that a viral image of a dancer at a Halloween party held at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort is old and from an event held elsewhere.

We have confirmed the picture of a woman in a 1920s-style flapper dress posing inside a rotating cocktail glass was taken at the Great Gatsby-themed event, as well as verified another video of a different dancer inside the same glass that evening.

We can match key building and landscaping features to those visible in satellite imagery of Mar-A-Lago, including a paving stone path and palm trees in both the video and picture.

At the start of the video, the curved shape of the resort building is also clearly visible. As the person filming pans around, we can spot other key features at the resort like a swimming pool and a yellow and white awning.

Reverse image searches also indicate these images have not appeared on the internet before this weekend.

Jake Horton
BBC Verify journalist

BBC Verify has been tracking the immigration raids taking place across the US under President Donald Trump, part of his plan to launch "the largest deportation programme" in the country’s history.

The tactics being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have led to protests.

We’ve gathered more than 70 videos across several cities since June to piece together how the crackdown has unfolded so far.

Our analysis found three tactics being widely used - agents concealing their identities, people being arrested at previously protected places and the use of tear gas on civilians.

Watch our full investigation by clicking play below:

Lucy Gilder
BBC Verify journalist

Earlier this morning Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp was on the BBC’s Today programme speaking about Saturday’s knife attack on a train bound for London.

He said: "There is a very worrying trend of knife crime across the United Kingdom - last year approximately 250 people [were] killed using a knife, about 50,000 knife offences were recorded as well.”

There is no single knife crime statistics publication in the UK but as far as England and Wales goes, police recorded 51,527 offences across both nations in the year to June 2025, according to the latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics, external (ONS).

However, these figures show knife crime is falling, by 5% compared with the same period last year and 7% compared with five years ago. Homicides involving a knife also fell by nearly a fifth in the latest year to 196 offences, compared with 239 the year before.

Knife crime in Northern Ireland also fell in 2024-25, during which time police recorded three homicides involving a knife, external

In Scotland there were 11,249 “handling offensive weapons” offences recorded by police in 2024-25, external, a category which also includes weapons such as firearms and corrosive substances.

These offences increased 4% compared with the year before. In the same period there were 26 homicides, external involving a knife.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

Pictures from a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida circulated widely on social media, but so did a false claim that an image of a dancer at the event was taken two years ago.

This picture of a woman in a 1920s-style flapper dress posing inside a rotating cocktail glass gathered more than 18 million views on X. Many social media users responded by wrongly claiming the photo was from 2023.

The Halloween bash on 31 October was attended by the US president and several top administration officials, receiving extensive media coverage. We’ve managed to identify where in Mar-a-Lago this image was taken and verified a different video of a dancer in the same glass at the party.

The source of the false claims is an unpublished Community Note, a tool which allows people to attach context notes to other user’s posts, which was intended only to be visible to a small number of X users known as Community Note contributors.

These contributors are asked by X to rate suggested Community Notes before they are shown more widely.

A screenshot of the suggested note claiming that this image was taken at a 2023 Met Gala after-party was used as evidence by those spreading the false claim, despite the note explicitly stating that it needed more ratings and was not being shown on X.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

Good morning from the BBC’s specialists in verification, fact-checking, data analysis and disinformation debunking.

Today we’re looking into the following stories:

• We’ve been investigating false claims about an image shared online from US President Donald Trump’s Halloween party
• Following reports that a Russian oil terminal on the Black Sea was attacked during the early hours of Sunday we’re checking satellite imagery to see whether there’s any obvious damage
• We’ve been examining the data on knife crime in the UK following Saturday’s attack on a high-speed train - there’s full live coverage of this story here

Also to come - we’re looking for verifiable material from Afghanistan where a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the north of the country in the early hours of this morning.

You can get in touch with BBC Verify by following this link.