NEW: I've spoken to a man who is part of a clandestine network smuggling Starlink satellite technology into Iran to combat the ongoing internet blackout - one of the longest nationwide shutdowns recorded. 🗞️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

1/ I've come across a lot analyses that promote the idea that the US has “failed” to protect the Gulf as a security guarantor, but I think this misunderstands what US protection actually was in the region. Yes it has failed, but not because of raw military might. #WarOnIran

NEW: We've put into context how disinformation fueling anti-Ukrainian fears in Hungary might not be new, but the use of AI to propagate it in the run up to the election, is. What does its use tell us about Hungarian society and its fractured political system? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

AI videos fuel anti-Ukraine fears ahead of Hungary's pivotal vote

Videos have targeted Viktor Orbán's election rival, who could unseat him after 16 years in office.

bbc.co.uk

The Iran war, or the Ramadan war, as it's known there, takes on a different form on Iranian-state media outlets. We analysed their reporting of the first week of the conflict and picked out the biggest moments of disinformation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What Iranians are being told about the war

Iranian state media's coverage of the war includes inflations of enemy casualties and digital manipulation intended to glorify Iran.

bbc.co.uk

Starlink’s capabilities in Iran may have just increased after sources tell us that the satellite technology has been made free in the country. Our piece on the dangers Iranians face using it - including of being accused of espionage and imprisonment - for BBC News. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Starlink reportedly made free in Iran - but protesters are taking huge risks by using it

The satellite technology has become a vital communications lifeline after the government shut down the internet last week.

bbc.co.uk

UN spokesperson tells me that the internet blackout in Iran undermines human rights.

Some analysis on the internet shutdown in Iran from me yday as I pivot to daily news for a month. Comments from Mahsa Alimardani and Roya Piraei - both Iranian women living in London who spoke to me about the current wave of protests that has swept over the country.

If you’re looking for BBC Verify material on the suspected gunman responsible for the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington DC, here’s copy we’ve published on the BBC website from yday and today - with more to come from the team.

Our film Woman, Life, Surveillance for BBC Trending +BBC Verify won report of the year at the Asian Media Awards! We’re honoured. Getting this story over the line was gruelling and extremely dangerous for the Iranian women we spoke to. Thanks to my editor Flora Carmichael for collecting the award.

At BBC Verify we’ve looked at what Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza City could mean for Palestinians. @benedictgarman.com, Paul Brown, @anxiouspanda9.bsky.social. @jcheetham.bsky.social, @danict89.bsky.social, Kevin Nguyen, @biancabritton.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

What Israel's Gaza City takeover plan could mean for Palestinians

Israel has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, which it says is part of its strategy to end the war.

bbc.co.uk

NEW from BBC Verify: we’ve tracked down a smuggler behind a deadly migrant crossing earlier this year. cc. @shrutimenon.bsky.social , Muhammad Zubair Khan, Flora Carmichael, Dan Isaacs, @biancabritton.bsky.social, Dilay Yalçin + more. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Tracking a smuggler behind tragic Atlantic migrant voyage

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

bbc.com

NEW from BBC Verify: we’ve tracked down a smuggler behind a deadly migrant crossing earlier this year. cc. @shrutimenon.bsky.social , Muhammad Zubair Khan, Flora Carmichael, Dan Isaacs, @biancabritton.bsky.social, Dilay Yalçin + more. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Tracking a smuggler behind tragic Atlantic migrant voyage

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

bbc.com

Grim reality of people smuggling is dying at sea having spent everything on an empty promise, @rehakansara.bsky.social reports www.bbc.com/news/article...

Tracking a smuggler behind tragic Atlantic migrant voyage

BBC Verify tracks a man accused of selling places on a migrant boat which left dozens dead after getting lost at sea.

bbc.com

Our film ‘Woman Life Surveillance’, which investigates how Iran - a surveillance state - is crushing dissent, has been nominated for an Amnesty International media award. Please watch the film here: youtu.be/csE00m7qYBs

The women caught out by Iran’s online spying - BBC Trending, BBC World Service

YouTube video by BBC World Service

youtu.be

Why do we and why should we study languages?

🧵 Two nice things happened today, both in relation to my latest story. 1. It was featured in @thetimes over the weekend. Me being slow to pick up on publicity didn’t notice.

There’s an aid gap in 🇱🇧, fuelled by war, a financial crisis & what NGOs describe as a lack of funding. When Israel + Hezbollah went to war in Oct 2023, over 1m were displaced - & left without basic necessities. Hania Zaatari is trying to solve the problem using AI. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The woman using AI to bring aid to civilians in war-torn Lebanon

Meet the woman who has found an innovative way to simply accessing much-needed aid in war-torn Lebanon.

bbc.co.uk

I climbed Kilimanjaro with 4 brown gal pals and spoke about it for the New Years edition of From Our Own Correspondent. You’ll find a lil bit of history, some talk about freedom, colonialism, friendship and even LOTR. From 22:55 onwards. Have a listen! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

“We really haven't seen anything quite like this since the Nazis," said Rapp, who led prosecutions at the Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes tribunals” www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Syrian mass graves expose "machinery of death" under Assad, top prosecutor says

An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run "machinery of death" under toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered since 2013.

reuters.com

I grew up on a good dose of Zakir Hussain by way of my dad, also a trained classical musician. Lately, fuelled by my love of dance, I re-discovered his music through a different lens that marries spirituality, art & storytelling. Zakir epitomised that. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Zakir Hussain: Legendary tabla player dies at 73

The Indian classical music icon died of a lung disease at a hospital in San Francisco.

bbc.com

@olough.bsky.social Hi Oliver, just checking this is you: odi.org/en/profile/o... If so, would love to speak to you for a BBC story. Thanks

Luigi Mangione reviewed the Unabomber manifesto "violence is necessary to survive":

A very British Indian Christmas tree.

The string of Greg Wallace allegations currently dominating news wouldn’t have come to light without @noornanji.bsky.social breaking the story. Follow her for brilliant scoops in the media and arts world. Here’s her latest update: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Gregg Wallace 'fascinated by my sex life and made lesbian jokes'

A number of workers across a range of shows have approached BBC News with claims about the TV presenter.

bbc.com

Gutted. Mishal Husain has allowed me and countless other South Asian female journalists to dream big. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Radio 4 Today host Mishal Husain to leave BBC

The presenter will move to Bloomberg to host a new interview series.

bbc.co.uk

On the front cover of Vogue Germany today, Gisèle Pelicot for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Hello! I'm a reporter for the BBC. This year I've investigated the number of religious sites destroyed in Gaza, reported on Hindtuva, the Woman Life Freedom movement + more. I focus on digital human rights and use a mixture of OSINT and narrative storytelling for my reports. Follow for lots more.