Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

That’s all from this live page for today, but do take a moment to read back to see what we’ve covered.

Iranian-flagged oil tankers suddenly began broadcasting their locations this week, before going back offline two days later. It was an unexpected turn of events, so we spoke to experts for their analysis of some possible explanations.

As Israel prepares to reopen the Rafah crossing into southern Gaza, we’ve examined a queue of aid lorries visible in satellite imagery and analysed the challenges facing Palestinians as they seek to rebuild.

Plus, we’ve verified videos of:

• Chaos in Kenya as mourners gathered to view the body of a former prime minister
• Drone footage of a Russian strike on on UN vehicles in Ukraine

The BBC Verify team in Washington DC are preparing for tonight’s New York City mayoral debate, so you will be able to read their analysis of major claims on the main BBC News live page later.

BBC Verify Live will be back tomorrow to close out the week, thanks for reading.

Shruti Menon
BBC Verify senior journalist

As we mentioned earlier, President Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on India to end its purchases of Russian oil.

But although the US and UK have banned direct imports of Russian oil themselves, but both countries continue to buy oil products such as diesel and jet fuel from Indian refiners processing Russian crude in large volumes.

Energy analysts say these refined products lose their “Russian origin” after processing, which allows them to be sold in countries in countries with sanctions in place without violating them.

India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar has previously responded to the US imposing additional tariffs on India over its importation of Russian oil saying: “If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don't buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it.”

Data from data and Kpler shows India’s exports to the US this year were lowest in September but picked up this month.

These figures also show the UK has not imported any refined products from India so far in October, but this preliminary data may well be updated.

Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist

Earlier we reported how Iranian-flagged oil tankers suddenly began broadcasting their accurate locations this week for the first time since 2018 before going back offline two days later.

Ever since US President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions in 2018, “Iran has been playing a game of cat and mouse with its oil exports, trying to keep their shipments literally under the radar,” says Ali Vaez, lead Iran expert with the International Crisis Group.

A new set of United Nations sanctions was imposed in the last month which allow for the interception of Iranian vessels in international waters, including by the US. Vaez says Iran may have momentarily switched on tracking data “as a gesture of defiance“.

Gregory Brew, Iran analyst for the Eurasia Group, agrees this is an option. He says it was “essentially a dare” by Iran, which has threatened to attack US ships in return.

Vaez added another option is the sharing of location data was caused by “an involuntary intervention”. Brew used the words “asymmetrical operation”. As we reported earlier, an Iranian official is reported to have called it “sabotage”.

Rob England
BBC Verify senior data journalist

The number of newly recognised refugee households recorded as homeless in England was 3,350 between April and June, according to figures published today.

These are people who became homeless after being granted asylum, which made them no longer eligible to stay in Home Office accommodation.

It’s the first time in nine months that the figure has fallen compared with the previous period.

The number had previously hit a record high between October and December 2023.

At the time, refugee charities urged the then Conservative government to extend the “move-on period”, the time between a person being granted asylum and being required to leave government accommodation, then set at 28 days.

The current Labour government later announced a pilot scheme to extend this period to 56 days, which is still running.

Anthony Reuben
BBC Verify senior journalist

The government has announced £80m of additional support for nine programmes targeting areas of England and Wales that are economic inactivity hotspots. Additional support will be provided to help get people back into work.

Economically inactive people are those who are not in work or looking for employment.

The government’s “ambition” is to have an 80% employment rate. Across the UK it is currently 75% but there is a wide regional variation, external.

The South West is closest to the target at 79.5%. At the other end of the scale the North East of England has a rate of 68.8%.

Of the nine projects, three are in Yorkshire and three in London, with one each in the North East, Greater Manchester and Wales.

Peter Mwai
BBC Verify senior journalist

Image source, X/TeyaKevin

We have been monitoring events in Kenya where the body of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who died yesterday, has been lying in state.

We have verified three video clips showing chaotic scenes inside the international stadium in Kasarani, north-east of the capital Nairobi, where mourners had come to pay their respects.

The footage shows teargas being fired towards mourners who had crowded the pitch and sounds of gunfire. People can be seen running for safety.

Reports indicate there have been casualties, although no official figures have been provided.

Footage filmed shortly afterwards shows the stadium, which had been full of mourners, largely empty.

There had also been chaotic scenes at the airport earlier in the day as a plane carrying Odinga’s body back from India, where he’d been receiving medical treatment, landed.

Verified video showed mourners breaching security barriers, with some managing to get inside the aircraft, taking photographs.

Odinga, who was 80 years old, served as the country’s prime minister between 2008 and 2013 and is set to be buried on Sunday.

Kevin Nguyen, Emma Pengelly and Merlyn Thomas
BBC Verify

The US and Israeli-backed private contractor that had been responsible for distributing aid in Gaza has told BBC Verify it has not operated since Friday 10 October despite being funded until the end of November.

A spokesman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it is unsure if it will be able to continue its operations providing aid in the Strip.

"Right now we're paused… we feel like there's still a need, a surge for as much aid as possible. Our goal is to resume aid distribution,” said the spokesman.

The spokesman added it had been poised to open an upgraded centre in southern Gaza near Secure Distribution Site 1 (an announcement the Israeli military made at the end of August) and said the GHF wants to work alongside the UN to deliver aid to Palestinians.

Recent satellite imagery reveals SDS4 - another GHF aid site - has been abandoned. Images show tyre tracks, disturbed earth and detritus.

Lucy Gilder
BBC Verify journalist

Image source, EPA

Speaking about the FBI’s crime crackdown across multiple US cities during a media conference yesterday, director Kash Patel said the agency’s operations had resulted in the seizure of large quantities of the synthetic opioid drug fentanyl.

“Fentanyl – as you know it’s a scourge that’s killing our youth, 100,000 plus a year,” Patel told reporters. That’s much higher than the official death toll published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a US government public health agency.

The CDC’s latest provisional figures, external show 42,233 overdoses involving synthetic opioids including fentanyl in the year to April 2025.

There were 73,690 overall drug overdoses reported in the same period.

The CDC cautions that these figures “may not include all deaths that occurred during a given time period” because of the delays that can sometimes happen when determining a cause of death.

It’s possible the FBI director was talking about more recent data on overall drug overdose deaths.

The most recent finalised data, external recorded 105,007 overall drug overdose deaths in 2023, a large proportion of which (72,776) involved synthetic opioids. Both figures declined compared to the year before.

We asked the White House for the source of Patel’s claim and it referred us to the FBI, who we’ve also contacted.

Shruti Menon
BBC Verify senior journalist

US President Donald Trump claimed yesterday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him India will stop its imports of Russian oil.

There has been no confirmation of this from India, however its external affairs ministry responded by saying energy decisions are guided by domestic needs including keeping fuel prices stable.

India became one of the largest buyers of Russian crude oil in 2022. Following the imposition of Western sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow began to sell its oil at a significant discount to countries still willing to buy it.

The share of India’s oil imports from Russia has risen significantly from 2% in 2022 to 35% now - and figures released by data and analytics firm Kpler show that in volume terms purchases have remained largely steady throughout this year.

Trump has recently targeted India over its Russian oil purchases and has imposed tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US.

It’s also noteworthy that provisional data for October indicates that India has significantly increased its oil purchases from the US this month.

A senior crude oil market analyst at Kpler, Yui Torikata, told BBC Verify the price of Russian oil has risen recently as a result of the damage inflicted by Ukrainian drone strikes on its oil depots and refineries.

Shayan Sardarizadeh and Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Verify and BBC Persian

Image source, Getty Images

Vessel-tracking website TankerTrackers says the majority of Iranian-flagged oil tankers are now back offline having been broadcasting accurate location data for the first time since 2018.

TankerTrackers reported on Monday that most Iranian-flagged tankers suddenly began transmitting their locations via the maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS) “for reasons still unknown”.

Two independent AIS data providers had verified the change, the website added.

But TankerTrackers told BBC Verify that today only 11 out of 62 tankers owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company were transmitting AIS data. It added this was “a sharp drop from the 60% that were online just two days ago”.

Iran has been using a variety of measures to conceal its , externaltankers , externaland evade sanctions on its oil exports since US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and unilaterally reimposed sanctions in 2018.

While Iranian officials have not publicly commented on why the tankers were broadcasting accurate positions, Iranian news website Energy Press quoted an “informed source” as saying - without providing evidence - that it might have been “a targeted act of sabotage” against Tehran.

According to BBC Monitoring, Iranian newspapers have speculated that the change may have either been an attempt to "provoke" the US or as a signal to international regulatory bodies.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

BBC Verify is dedicated to examining the facts and claims behind a story to try to determine whether or not it is true - whether that’s a political statement, a video shared on social media, or images from a war zone.

And we’re also keen to hear from you - is there something you think we should investigate? We're particularly interested in claims you have heard or seen that maybe don’t seem right.

Or perhaps you’ve come across something online and want to know if it was created using AI or even a deepfake.

You can send your suggestions to the team here.

Sherie Ryder
BBC Verify journalist

We’ve been looking at drone footage which has appeared on social media of a Russian drone strike on World Food Programme (WFP) vehicles in Ukraine two days ago.

In the video taken from the drones' onboard cameras we can see the moment two white lorries are struck as they travel along a road near Bilozerka, a village in Kherson region.

As one of the drones circles around, we were able to match a white building with a red roof, a cluster of trees and an area of crops to the location of aftermath images of the incident.

On Tuesday a Ukrainian official accused Russia of the attack and the UN condemned the strike on a humanitarian convoy, which it said was carrying hygiene kits, medicines and shelter materials.

No-one was hurt in the incident, the UN said, but two of the four vehicles in the convoy were damaged.

The footage carries the logo of the Dnepr grouping of Russian army and was shared on Telegram by a Russian war blogger. These are people who often either serve in units or have direct links to soldiers in them, which can provide access to exclusive material that doesn’t appear on official Russian channels.

Image source, Getty Images

As thousands of Gazans made the journey back to their neighbourhoods following the ceasefire, many of them already knew their homes were in ruins.

The prospect of rebuilding homes, businesses and all the institutions and services needed for a return to normal life in Gaza is daunting by any measure: the UN estimates that the damage amounts to $70bn (£52bn).

Prof Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security expert from King's College London, told us: "It's worse than starting from scratch - here you aren't starting in the sand, you are starting with rubble."

• You can read more about the challenges of rebuilding Gaza here

Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify journalist

Overnight a Russian drone and missile attack on energy infrastructure in the Poltava region of Ukraine has halted the operation of gas production facilities belonging a major energy firm.

DTEK Naftogaz confirmed the night-time bombardment of its facilities and its operations in Poltava were stopped as a result of the strikes in a statement on Telegram.

Poltava regional head Volodymyr Kohut said falling debris and direct hits damaged oil and gas sites. He reported no casualties but added more than 6,000 people were left without gas supply.

We’re working to verify social media footage of a big smoke cloud on a horizon, reported to be a gas site on fire in Poltava region.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles towards Ukraine last night. It said initial investigations showed there was direct hits from 14 missiles and 37 drones at 14 locations - and debris from downed targets fell in two other places. The worst-hit regions are Poltava and Kharkiv.

Benedict Garman
BBC Verify senior journalist

Satellite images captured yesterday morning at 08:15 show several rows of lorries half a kilometre (1,500ft) long gathered outside Gaza on the Egypt side of the Rafah crossing.

Reuters video from this morning shows some are piled with aid pallets and others are fuel tankers. This is where they wait before taking a southerly route to the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. A queue of lorries about 1.4km (0.9 miles) long is also visible on this road too.

These are not the lorries which distribute aid inside Gaza. Instead, once they are inspected and permitted access at Kerem Shalom, they drop off their aid at the depot before leaving.

Another fleet of lorries already inside Gaza then collect aid for distribution. The satellite imagery taken yesterday reveals a 1.1km (0.7 miles) line of vehicles in south-west Gaza waiting to do just that.

Kerem Shalom crossing has been expanded and upgraded by Israel in recent months.

A new area measuring about 5.5 acres was constructed on the Gazan side at the end of August. An Israeli military official told BBC Verify this is “an organised area for trucks to wait at”.

On the Israeli side, new roundabouts and roads have been added, along with freshly paved areas and recently constructed buildings.

Image source, Planet Labs PBC

Image source, Planet Labs PBC

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

Good morning.

With Israel saying preparations for the reopening of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza are “ongoing”, we’ve seen satellite imagery showing a queue of lorries are waiting on the Egyptian side of the border loaded with aid and supplies. We’re also looking to see what people inside Gaza are posting online about how much aid is getting into the territory.

We’re investigating reports that a Ukrainian gas production facility has been attacked overnight as Russian forces continue to target energy infrastructure in the country. So far we’ve seen - but not verified - footage showing a big smoke cloud at a facility near the eastern city of Poltava.

A Russian warblogger has shared footage showing a drone attack on a United Nations aid convoy in Ukraine. We’re verifying the video - which emerged yesterday - that shows two lorries marked WFP (World Food Programme) being attacked on a country road.

BBC Verify has also been investigating the size of the task facing Gazans as they attempt to rebuild their communities after two years of war. More on that shortly.