Investigating WHO warehouse attacks in Gaza and Ukraine protest misinformation
Date: 10:53 BST
Title: Ukraine protests spark misinformation online
Content: Olga RobinsonBBC Verify assistant editor
False online claims have been going viral after Ukraine saw its biggest wartime protests last night.
Among those promoting misleading claims was US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's long opposed sending aid to Ukraine.
In a post that has now been viewed over 1m views on X, she claimed it was President Volodymyr Zelensky's refusal to 'to make a peace deal and end the war' that sparked the protests.
In fact, the protests have nothing to do with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. People in several major cities took to the streets last night to protest against a new law curtailing the powers of anti-corruption bodies.
The legislation, which has drawn international criticism, grants the prosecutor general control of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo).
Critics say it weakens the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies. The Ukrainian government has cited Russian influence for curtailing Nabu's powers.
Update:
Date: 10:28 BST
Title: Wednesday's BBC Verify Live
Content: Tom EdgingtonBBC Verify live editor
Good morning and welcome to today's BBC
Verify Live page. It's shaping up to be a busy day.
As new footage and eye witness accounts of
the Israeli attacks on World Health Organization aid facilities emerge from
Deir al-Balah in Gaza, our verification experts are continuing to piece
together what happened.
Illegal working in the UK is under scrutiny
as the government says it plans to share the locations of hotels housing
migrants with food delivery firms. We're examining how many raids into illegal
working are currently carried out
We're also monitoring false claims that have been going viral after Ukraine saw its biggest wartime protests last night -
including one being promoted by a US congresswoman
Remember, if there's anything you want BBC
Verify to look into you can get in touch using this
form.
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The Sun
7 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘Letting my boyfriend choke me during sex left me bruised & terrified' – rise of deadly kink GLORIFIED to TikTok teens
FEELING her boyfriend's hands wind around her neck as he bore down on top of her in bed, nurse Paige Jones felt a rush of adrenaline. But that feeling quickly turned to panic when his grip became so tight she felt herself struggling for breath and starting to lose consciousness. 8 8 "I was turning blue," she told The Sun. "It terrified both of us, and we stopped immediately. "Thankfully I wasn't seriously hurt, though I had a lingering cough and a bruise I had to cover with make-up." The couple's horrifying experience is far from an isolated incident, with social media sites like TikTok awash with disturbing videos and hashtags glorifying the deadly trend of choking during sex, a Sun investigation can reveal. One blonde influencer with millions of followers recently uploaded a video with the chilling caption: "How I think I look getting choked vs what I actually look like." The accompanying footage, showing a man's hand tightly gripping her throat, has racked up nearly half a million likes and thousands of comments. Such is the concern that sex education in schools in England will now include warnings to teenagers about the dangerous act's potentially fatal consequences. Experts are warning that children as young as 13 are being exposed to graphic content online that glorifies rough sex, including breath play - a dangerous act that can cause serious harm or even death. As well as being potentially fatal, strangling is linked to strokes, memory problems, seizures, incontinence, difficulty swallowing, depression, anxiety and even miscarriage. In extreme cases women have died at the hands of men who strangled them during intercourse. They include tragic Georgia Brooke, 26, from Ossett, West Yorkshire, who was fatally choked by Luke Cannon, 31, while they couple were having sex in 2022. Devastated Cannon took his own life the following day. Mum's chilling final moments before she was strangled to death by killer lover who claimed it was 'sex game gone wrong' 8 8 Paige, 31, admits she used to enjoy 'rough sex' with her partner and encouraged him to choke her. "I love passionate sex - the kind that's intense, steamy and full of energy," she said. 'For me, that used to include hair pulling, spanking, and choking." Recalling the day her boyfriend took it too far, Paige says: 'His hands were around my neck and I started to lose consciousness. 'My partner felt incredibly guilty and promised he'd never do it again - it really shook us. 'Since then we've stuck to safer options, and we're both more aware of the risks involved." 'Wall of awfulness' 8 8 Fiona Mackenzie, founder of pressure group We Can't Consent to This, is among those calling for a crackdown on vile online content. She tells The Sun: 'TikTok has video after video of - usually young - women either simulating strangulation or saying, 'Strangulation is great.' "It's just this wall of awfulness. 'Young women have told us that this was the key way that [strangling in sex] has been normalised for them - through TikTok and other lighter platforms that welcome children.' Our probe found 28,000 videos on TikTok with strangulation content. One sick clip shows a man in a mask simulating strangling someone, with the vile caption: "Choking the life out of my victim." Another shows a man grabbing a woman by the throat, captioned: "I knew I was the problem when I love when he choked me [sic]." In a third, a young woman smiles to herself beneath the text: "Me remembering the last time I was choked!" Fiona adds: 'The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous. The idea that [as a child] you'd be exposed to these gorgeous young girls who are not much older than you, who are showing you how to get choked by your boyfriend, is monstrous Fiona Mackenzie 'We also found that if you type in choking or you see choking content, [TikTok] will then suggest search terms to you like breath play, asphyxiation and plastic bagging. 'These platforms are supposed to be moderated but they're just slow and often don't do it. 'Meanwhile parents just assume that it's fine for their teens to browse on TikTok, and that the algorithm will only show them stuff that they actually want to see.' Children will be taught that strangulation is a criminal offence under new sex education guidance published in England. Pupils will learn that applying pressure to someone's neck or covering their mouth and nose is illegal, even without visible injury. Alarming surge The updated sex education guidance - its first major overhaul since 2020 - urges secondary schools to address the alarming surge in the influence of the so-called 'manosphere' and incel culture, along with new forms of harm linked to pornography. Toxic influencer Andrew Tate has also been blamed for the alarming rise in young men chocking partners during sex, after posts promoting the idea of male dominance and sexual control online. Strangling is now thought to be the second most common cause of stroke in women under 40. A 2022 survey by the Institute for Addressing Strangulation found over a third of 16 to 34-year-olds had experienced choking - compared with 16 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds and three per cent of those 55 and above. 'Our research suggests it is now much worse,' Fiona says. 'There is this complete normalisation through social media and through porn that getting strangled is something that you should expect to be done to you." Fiona formed WCCTT in 2018 in response to alarming cases where women had been killed during allegedly consensual sexual activity, with perpetrators let off or handed light sentences by using the so-called 'rough-sex defence'. 8 8 In August last year, Alcwyn Thomas, 44, tried to claim his partner's death was the result of "sex gone bad" when she had asked to be choked. Victoria Thomas, 45, was found dead in a spare bedroom at their home in Cardiff in the early hours, after the couple had been on a night out. Thomas had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine when he strangled her. He admitted manslaughter but denied murder. He was jailed for life in April after being found guilty of brutally "murdering" her. Dubbed the '50 Shades' rough sex defence, it was effectively scrapped with the Domestic Abuse Act of 2021, which clarified that a person cannot consent to being harmed for the purpose of sexual gratification. It also made non-fatal strangulation a specific criminal offence. Although it now carries a five-year prison sentence, in the year up to 2023, around 700 offenders were sentenced for non-fatal strangulation. 'Now if you go to court, if you go to the police, you're likely to get a better outcome than you did before,' Fiona says. 'But what we didn't manage to do was reduce how prevalent the strangulation of women is. 'It's everywhere. It's completely normalised. And women are humiliated for being vanilla or sex-negative if they stand up against it.' 'He seemed to enjoy my panic' By Sun Sexpert Georgie Culley I'LL never forget the moment I felt his hands snake around my neck. I was in my 20s, dating a handsome guy who seemed like the perfect catch - until his eyes glazed over during sex and he suddenly turned into a monster. At first I was shocked as his strong hands wrapped around my throat. We'd both had a few drinks and it took me a few seconds to realise what was happening. As I struggled to release his grip, he just tightened it. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't speak. But he seemed to enjoy my panic. I nearly blacked out. Afterwards, it hurt to talk. My neck was covered in red finger marks, which later turned into bruises. I had a sore throat for days. But worse than the physical pain was the emotional trauma. I felt violated and confused. How could someone I trusted - someone who was supposed to protect me - do that? Sure, we'd had rough sex before. But there's a huge difference between consensual kink and being choked to the point of unconsciousness. This wasn't exciting or playful - it was terrifying. It could have killed me. That's why I welcome the government's decision to teach kids that strangulation is a criminal offence in the new education curriculum. After my own terrifying experience, I feel passionately about educating youngsters after the dangers of asphyxiation. When I started investigating the rise of choking content on TikTok, it brought all those painful memories flooding back. It's extremely depressing that so many young people are being exposed to videos that glamorise this behaviour - without understanding how dangerous it really is. Scrolling through video after video of young women boasting about being strangled is truly horrifying. Explore your fantasies by all means - I'm The Sun's Sexpert, I believe in a varied and vibrant sex life - but there must be a line. Consent, communication and safety must always come first. Because what's fashionable online isn't always harmless - and sometimes it can be fatal. 'Shame' Orla Davidson, 26, was left with bruises around her neck after her partner strangled her during a sexual encounter earlier this year. The restaurant supervisor told us: 'We had a few drinks, went back to his and started having sex - then he began choking me. I did not give consent. 'His hand was pushing on the front of my neck with a lot of pressure, I remember thinking 'this is hard' - and then I don't remember a certain portion after that.' Two days later, bruises emerged around her neck that grew darker, which Orla hid with high-necked jumpers. 'There was a lot of shock and not knowing how to react to it, and feeling a weird kind of shame,' she recalled. 'I knew I should confront [the man] but didn't know how to have that conversation.' Orla confided in a friend who was 'shocked' by the bruising. 'She said, 'he f***ing strangled you.' I'd known it was bad but her reaction confirmed it. I'm definitely worried women are being subjected to similar things.' She is also concerned about the accessibility of normalisation of choking and violent content on social media and dating apps. Orla added: 'There's a lot of videos on TikTok, especially men telling the camera, 'I'm gonna choke you' as though speaking to a woman. 'I've had to block many men on dating apps who say things like, 'I'm gonna hurt you'. "Some people use the guise of being open-minded or being into BDSM when they're actually into hurting women. 'There's nothing wrong with women wanting casual sex, that's not the issue. It's the fact you can go on a date and end up dead.' 'Embarrassment' Another victim, Steph - not her real name - told The Sun she blacked out and had a seizure while a male friend choked her during sex - then convinced her not to seek medical treatment. Now 21, she says: 'Choking was something I'd experienced guys liking and doing since my first relationship when I was 14, which in itself is concerning. 'But this time was different. I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. "I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. "He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened.' I remember him choking me on and off and my vision going as I blacked out. I tried to tap him to make him stop, but the next thing I knew I was thrashing about having a seizure and my leg hit a glass and broke it. He didn't stop or let go immediately. I dread to think what could have happened Steph Afterwards, she wanted to go to hospital but the man talked her out of it, fearing it would get him 'in trouble'. 'It was terrifying, I wanted to get checked out but I also didn't want to be seen as that girl who ruins someone else's fun or as a prude," she recalls. "My initial reaction was embarrassment, or feeling like I did something wrong. You're not confident in what's normal or not in sex, especially when you're younger.' Steph fears the accessibility of extreme porn to youngsters is normalising violent sex. She is also concerned about toxic influencers like Andrew Tate - who is facing rape and strangling allegations. A TikTok Spokesperson said: "We do not allow fetish or kink behaviour on our platform, we have removed content which breaches our rules and proactively remove 97 per cent of this type of content before it is reported to us.'
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Dave Brailsford future in doubt as doping questions overshadow Ineos Grenadiers' Tour
For Ineos Grenadiers the 2025 Tour de France was supposed to be about renewal. Welcoming a familiar face back into the fold in Sir Dave Brailsford following his well-publicised football sojourn. Saying farewell to one of the most popular riders in the team's history in Geraint Thomas. Developing the next generation: GC hopeful Carlos Rodríguez, Thymen Arensman, the young Briton Sam Watson. After years of drift, the image that Ineos wanted to present to the world on the eve of the race was one of a team who were getting to grips with the future. Brailsford was seemingly a big part of that. 'It's obvious we want to win the Tour [again],' said chief executive John Allert of Ineos's stated ambition. 'But there's no point just saying you want to win the Tour: you've got to do something about it. That's why it's great to welcome Dave back into the fold. Dave loves a performance challenge and this is the biggest one there is.' Allert added that Brailsford was 'like a kid in a sweet shop, talking about climbs and getting back to the mountains. That's the battlefield that he knows and loves'. Unfortunately for Brailsford, and the team, the battlefield they ended up on was a very different one, albeit one equally familiar to them. The case of David Rozman, Ineos Grenadiers' head carer, who was forced to leave the Tour after the International Testing Agency (ITA) launched an investigation into alleged messages he exchanged in 2012 with subsequently convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt, completely engulfed the British squad. Ineos initially declined to speak to journalists after Paul Kimmage of the Sunday Independent named Rozman as the longstanding Ineos member of staff referred to in a doping documentary by German broadcaster ARD pre-Tour. Then they claimed the allegations had not 'been presented to the team by an appropriate authority'. In the end they were forced to admit that Rozman had been informally contacted by the ITA back in April and that they had commissioned a 'thorough review by an external law firm'. Given the potential for the whole thing to blow up in their faces – ARD first approached Ineos at the Giro d'Italia back in May so they knew this was coming – it is incredible that Brailsford chose this Tour to come back. In fact, it is tempting to wonder whether it would have blown up the way it has if he had not. Was it his presence back at the race that acted like a magnet? Either way, it completely overshadowed Thomas's 14th and final Tour, not to mention the two stage wins by Arensman, who was forced to field questions in his winner's press conferences about something which occurred when he was a child. 'Do you think it's fair that you're celebrating the biggest result of your career and the journalists are having to ask you what's going on?' the 25-year-old was asked after the victory at Luchon-Superbagnères on stage 14. 'Yeah, I don't know, weird that they don't really answer you,' he replied, not unreasonably. Where do Ineos go from here? Can Brailsford survive? Can the team survive? If Rozman has been found to have done anything wrong – and the allegation is that he sent Dr Schmidt messages in 2012, the year Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour – it could prove terminal. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos co-owner who bought the team in 2019, famously said when he took over: 'The day any of that enters our world [doping] then we would leave cycling.' Even if nothing is proven, it looks horrific, another in a long line of controversies that includes the employment of medical consultant Geert Leinders, who worked with Team Sky in 2012 and who was subsequently banned for life for multiple doping violations from 1996-2009 at a previous team, Wiggins' use of TUEs (therapeutic use exemptions) ahead of the three biggest races of his life, exposed by Russian hackers Fancy Bears, and which an MPs inquiry found to be 'unethical', Chris Froome's AAF (adverse analytical finding) for salbutamol in 2018 which he subsequently overturned, the infamous jiffy bag that was flown out to the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011, and the arrival of a box of testosterone to British Cycling's headquarters that same year which resulted in a four-year ban for Dr Richard Freeman. Team Sky and later Ineos have consistently denied any wrongdoing, but patience is wearing thin. Brailsford, who in the old days preached transparency and openness, telling journalists that the door was always open, has long since given up speaking. 'I won't be commenting,' he told media when journalists first started gathering outside the bus to ask about Rozman. 'F-----g hell guys, come on,' he added. Now he cannot answer because there is an official investigation ongoing. Even if he survives, one wonders whether this will affect Brailsford's appetite to return to cycling in a leadership role after his time out in football. He is still director of sport for Ineos, with a broad overview of the company's sporting portfolio. Will he go back to flitting between them? Ineos's appetite to continue in professional cycling is also unclear. Ratcliffe admitted to the Telegraph during last autumn's America's Cup that the team was 'under consideration', adding their results were 'not good'. Ineos won just 14 races in 2024, the lowest total in the team's history, and were winless at the Tour. Allert then said in January that Ineos 'don't want to spend more money' and were actively looking for a second title sponsor. TotalEnergies were announced as a jersey sponsor prior to this Tour, but it is unclear how much more patience Ratcliffe has. A spokesperson for Ineos did not return a request for comment. On the performance side, the team still feels a long way from being Tour-competitive, which is Ratcliffe's stated aim. While Ineos have lots of talented riders, how many of them would you build a team around? Rodríguez finished fifth in 2023, seventh in 2024 and was 10th overall this year before fracturing his pelvis in a heavy crash on stage 17. Arensman, 25, had a breakthrough Tour, and has twice finished sixth in the Giro and once in the Vuelta a España. But he was not targeting the general classification this year, and is not at the same level as a Tadej Pogacar or a Jonas Vingegaard. Who is? Remco Evenepoel is possibly the closest but it looks as if the Belgian is going to Bora-Hansgrohe. There are reasons to be more positive. Thomas is said to have been offered a management role, which could be interesting. The Welshman has always seemed immune to the troubles swirling around him, a friendly, likeable presence on the team. It also appears Ineos may be starting up an under-23 team under the guidance of performance director Scott Drawer and Simon Watts, the performance pathway manager. This could yield results down the line. But again, how much patience does Ratcliffe have? In the meantime, the team will batten down the hatches while they wait for the ITA to rule on Rozman. There is a lot riding on it. The Slovenian also worked with Team GB at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He was personal soigneur to Froome for years. The four-time Tour champion must be wanting Rozman to explain himself. Brailsford, too. 'We have welcomed him back into the team with open arms,' Allert said of Brailsford's return less than a month ago. 'He's a not-so-secret weapon for us to use, and we plan on using him to the fullest extent we can. It's great to have him back.' A team statement read: 'David Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications. David immediately notified the team of his meeting with the ITA and his recollection of the contents of the meeting. Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm. 'The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team. The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA.'
The Sun
37 minutes ago
- The Sun
Nato jets scrambled after Putin launches massive overnight drone and missile attack on Ukraine
NATO member Poland has scrambled fighter jets after Russia's latest blitz on Ukraine. The jets took to the skies as Vladimir Putin sent the latest wave of kamikaze drones and rockets at Kyiv. 1 Five people, including a two-year-old girl, were injured in the strikes with shrapnel wounds after one bomb hit an apartment building. The Polish Ministry of Defence said the jets took off as a precautionary measure during the strikes. They said: "Polish and allied aircraft on standby were scrambled and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems were placed on the highest level of combat readiness." More to follow... For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
