2 days ago
BBC Verify Live: Huge blast in Ukraine and unpacking Trump's mega-bill
Update:
Date: 10:04 BST
Title: Fact-checking claims about Trump's 'big beautiful bill'
Content: Jake HortonBBC Verify journalist
US President Donald Trump's flagship 'big beautiful bill' is edging closer to becoming law, but tense negotiations are set to continue in Congress later.
The bill has faced strong opposition from Democrats as well as from some in Trump's Republican Party over how much it will cost and the cuts it will make to health and welfare benefits.
I'm currently working for BBC Verify in Washington and have been looking at claims made about the bill's impact on three key areas - the US national finances, medical cover, and taxes.
On the first, the White House says the bill 'reduces deficits by over $2tn (£1.5tn)' - but several senior Democrats have insisted it would add trillions.
The deficit is the difference between what the US government spends and the money it collects in taxes and other revenue.
We've looked at various independent studies and interviewed six tax experts who all agree the 'big beautiful bill' will increase the deficit.
I've written up our full fact-check which will be available on the BBC News website later.
Update:
Date: 09:47 BST
Title: Video shows large blast at Russian munitions depot in Ukraine
Content: Sebastian Vandermeersch and Fridon KiriaBBC Verify and BBC Monitoring
We've verified footage showing a large explosion near the town of Khartsyzsk, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Due to the size and intensity of the blast the location is likely to be a Russian ammunition depot. We have not yet had confirmation of what caused the explosion.
We geolocated the video by identifying a distinctive school building in the foreground and matching it to satellite imagery of the area. Reverse image searches of screen grabs from the footage indicate it had not appeared online before yesterday.
If this is confirmed as a Ukrainian strike, it would be the latest in a series targeting Russian ammunition storage sites – part of a broader strategy to disrupt supply lines and weaken Moscow's military capabilities.
Update:
Date: 09:32 BST
Title: What we're working on today
Content: Rob CorpBBC Verify Live editor
Good morning from BBC Verify.
We're here throughout the day with updates on the stories we're verifying, the facts being checked and any disinformation that is being debunked.
I've just come from the morning editors' meeting and here's how things are looking today:
And we'll to continue to monitor social media and messaging apps for news coming out of Gaza.
