Need a freelance editor? I'm lucky enough to be busy with reporting work but I'd love to take on more editing if any games/tech outlets need it. I've spent about half of my career as an editor, including at BBC News, on everything from breaking news to long-read investigations DM/sphorti@gmail.com

Russian naval vessels look like they've returned Tartous Port in Syria for the first time since they evacuated the facility in 2024 after the fall of the Assad regime. The SANA broadcaster shared footage of what looks like the Stoikiy docked in the military section of the port on Wednesday night.

Multiple weapons experts have disputed a US claim that Iran may have been responsible for a deadly strike on the town of Lamerd on the first day of the war. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Experts dispute US account of deadly Lamerd sports hall strike in Iran

Six weapons experts have contested the US claim that video evidence suggests an Iranian missile could have hit the hall.

bbc.co.uk

Along with colleagues at BBC Munro, we spent the last few days looking at how the US used heavy air strike to pave the way for their forces to enter Venezuelan last week. Using satellite images, verified videos and eyewitness accounts, here’s our report. www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

'The explosions keep going' - how air strikes paved the way for US Maduro raid - BBC News

Footage shows how Trump’s troops used devastating strikes to infiltrate Venezuela

bbc.co.uk

Demonstrations are continuing across Iran in the biggest challenge to the country’s clerical establishment in more than three years. Here’s BBC Verify’s report on the protests and the increasing violence being used by security forces. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Iran anti-government protests spread to majority of provinces, videos show - BBC News

Videos show that unrest has spread to more than 50 towns and cities, including pro-government heartlands.

bbc.co.uk

The new US national security plan has a striking Europe stance: - Welcomes growth of far-right "patriotic" parties -Questions if countries can remain reliable allies citing "migration policies" - Echoes Russia by pledging to end the "perception" of Nato as a "perpetually expanding alliance"

Interesting read on how US sanctions targeting the ICC judge who authorised an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu have completely upended every aspect of his life. www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...

Nicolas Guillou, French ICC judge sanctioned by the US: 'You are effectively blacklisted by much of the world's banking system'

Six judges and three prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have been sanctioned by the Trump administration. In an interview with Le Monde, Guillou discusses the impact of these measures on ...

lemonde.fr

Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.

New from BBC Verify: 'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre Our team verified dozens of videos, analysed satellite imagery and tracked RSF fighters across social media to piece together how the mass killings unfolded www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre in el-fasher

BBC Verify tracks how the RSF killed unarmed people in a massacre that humanitarian officials believe left 2,000 dead.

bbc.co.uk

A BBC Verify investigation revealed fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) executed unarmed people after capturing the Sudanese city of el-Fasher. One fighter, who goes by the name Abu Lulu, features in several clips carrying out brutal killings. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sudan war: New videos show executions after RSF militia takes key city

RSF troops executed a number of unarmed people after seizing el-Fasher, videos reviewed by BBC Verify show.

bbc.co.uk

We spent the past few months looking at Russian paramilitaries in Africa. In Mali’s capital Bamako a key base has expanded significantly since August 2023. Base 101 was home to thousands of troops from the Wagner Group. It now houses its replacement, the Africa Corps. www.bbc.com/news/live/cg...

For Palestinians, a line on a map can be the difference between life and death. BBC Verify found Israel is controlling more of Gaza than agreed in the ceasefire deal. Israel said anyone who crossed its "yellow line" would be “met with fire”. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Israel maintaining control deeper inside Gaza than expected, new boundary markers suggest

Israel has placed boundary markers up to 520m deeper inside Gaza than expected under the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

bbc.co.uk

New images reviewed by BBC Verify show that intensive bombardments and controlled explosions have levelled several neighbourhoods in Gaza City over the past four weeks. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Israel destroys dozens of buildings in Gaza City as new offensive intensifies

The images come as the Israeli military says it has established control over 40% of Gaza City.

bbc.co.uk

NEW: Israel struck Nasser Hospital at least 4 times in its attack which killed journalists, BBC Verify found. We found Israel hit two staircases in the first wave. Minutes later it struck one of the staircases twice more. @benedictgarman.com @sebkilli.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Israel struck Gaza's Nasser Hospital four times, analysis finds

New footage has revealed that two more strikes were carried out on hospital by Israel than initially reported.

bbc.co.uk

Despite Donald Trump's calls for a ceasefire, Russia has fired double the number of drones and missiles at Ukraine since he took office. July was a record month for Russian aerial attacks. Story with @matt-murphy96.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Despite Trump’s peace calls, Russian attacks on Ukraine double since inauguration

Missile and drone attacks on Ukraine are now higher than at any other point of the war, Ukrainian data suggests.

bbc.co.uk

Russia has more than doubled the number of drones and missiles fired towards Ukraine since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, a BBC Verify analysis has found, despite his calls for a ceasefire. New story with @nedd.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Despite Trump’s peace calls, Russian attacks on Ukraine double since inauguration

Missile and drone attacks on Ukraine are now higher than at any other point of the war, Ukrainian data suggests.

bbc.co.uk

Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza since it withdrew from a ceasefire with Hamas in March, with entire towns and suburbs levelled in the past few weeks. Reporting from @benedictgarman.com and @matt-murphy96.bsky.social for BBC Verify: www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Israel levelling thousands of Gaza civilian buildings in controlled demolitions - BBC News

Investigation by BBC Verify using satellite images and verified footage to show the extent of destruction in Gaza, where the Israeli military have carried out demolitions to raze entire towns and subu...

bbc.co.uk

I'm reporting a story for an independent outlet about the rivalry between FIFA and Pro Evo Soccer in 2000s/10s - do you know devs who worked on those series or who would have an insight about football/soccer games in that period? Please send them my way, DM or sphorti@gmail.com. Shares appreciated!

BBC Verify has analysed dozens of fakes - a lot of them AI generated - related to the Iran-Israel conflict in the last week. We’ve found that the top three fakes have amassed over 100m views across multiple platforms. @shayan86.bsky.social @matt-murphy96.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...

Israel-Iran conflict unleashes wave of AI disinformation

Fake AI videos relating to the conflict have gained over 100 million views online, BBC Verify finds.

bbc.com

We've taken a look at the Iranian uranium enrichment site which could find itself attacked if the US joins the Israeli campaign against Iran. www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Visual guide to Fordo: Iran’s secretive nuclear site that only a US bomb could hit - BBC News

Hidden away in a mountainside south of Tehran is an enrichment plant that is vital to Iran’s nuclear ambitions - and Israel’s attempts to dismantle them.

bbc.co.uk

The Israeli military has admitted that it conducted a previously unacknowledged strike on Gaza, which reportedly killed at least 1 Palestinian and injured 30 others. It was only when approached by BBC Verify that the IDF admitted it had carried out an artillery strike. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Israeli army admits to Gaza strike after BBC Verify investigation

At least one Palestinian was killed and 30 others injured in the Israeli strike on tents in Khan Younis on Sunday, medics say.

bbc.co.uk

Israel is preparing a series of sites in Gaza that could be used as distribution centres for humanitarian aid in a controversial new plan, satellite images show. Aid groups criticised the plan, accusing Israel of using food and fuel as "part of a military strategy". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Construction sites appear in Gaza ahead of Israeli-US aid plan rejected by UN, images show

Satellite images show building at sites in south Gaza after US says controversial Israeli aid plan to proceed.

bbc.co.uk

This week I had so many readers get in touch about an apparently fake online astroturf campaign in *support* of festivals taking over London parks. So I dug into it. www.londoncentric.media/p/five-gays-...

"Five gays with a laptop" vs Mark Rylance: The Battle For Brockwell Park

Plus: An interpreter shortage halts Westfield chair-chucking trial and the Standard continues to lose money.

londoncentric.media

"As models get better at “essentially lying” to pass safety tests, he argues, their true capabilities will be obscured." www.economist.com/science-and-...

AI models can learn to conceal information from their users

This makes it harder to ensure that they remain transparent

economist.com

Russian authorities are systematically seizing thousands of homes from Ukrainian residents of Mariupol. BBC Verify has analysed dozens of official documents published since July 2024 that show at least 5,700 homes have been identified for seizure. www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Russia seizing thousands of homes in occupied Mariupol - BBC News

To save their homes, Ukrainians face a dangerous return through Russia, and pressure to take a Russian passport.

bbc.co.uk

Our investigation has found that Russian authorities are systematically seizing thousands of homes from Ukrainian residents who fled Mariupol, as the city marks three years of occupation.

Israeli troops fired more than 100 times during an attack which killed 15 emergency workers in Gaza, according to forensic audio analysis of footage commissioned by BBC Verify. Some gunfire was as close as 12 metres away. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Gaza medics killing: Israeli army fired as close as 12m, audio suggests

The analysis shows Israeli troops fired 100 shots during the attack which killed 15 people.

bbc.co.uk

the baller league may be bleak football content slop. but it is, at least, addressing a question proper football has been swerving for decades: what happens when a sport prices out its next generation of fans? www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Welcome to the Baller League, the future of football – whether you like it or not | Jonathan Liew

The series at the Copper Box Arena is one of a series of seven-a-side ventures challenging the traditional model of the game

theguardian.com

This is one of the most insane stories I’ve ever reader. Wilder still - it’s confirmed by the White House

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

theatlantic.com