Paul Brown

a man in a white shirt is standing on a stage with his mouth open and a purple background . Alt: Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, in a white vest, standing on a stage and throwing his hand out triumphantly.

MAGNIFICO-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh!

BEATLES WORLD CUP is no more.
#BeatlesWorldCup

Tomorrow, we kick off the QUEEN WORLD CUP.
#QueenWorldCup.

A knock-out tournament, songs going head-to-head each day, until we have determined the greatest ever Queen song.

Get hyped. Or don't.

How did rebels train to overthrow the President of Syria? The BBC identifies videos of sites and training showing how the rebels formed a single force.

/1 THREAD (Call it OSint if you want.)

How we know where rebels trained in Syria, and how you can too. With a little bit of asking why Assad / Putin didn’t.

Or, let me break down this video, it’s five months’ work in 65 seconds.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Screengrab of collage of four photos posted on Telegram by Serhiy Lysak showing aftermath of strike on a bus near Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, morning of 23 April 2025.

1/ THREAD

What can we tell about images of a strike on a bus in Marhanets, Ukraine earlier this week?

On Wednesday, Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk, posted these images, saying nine people on the way to work at a local mining company were killed in the incident: t.me/dnipropetrov...

AI dolls are taking over - but real artists are sick of them Artists hit back on social media to warn artificial intelligence may be endangering their livelihoods.

Are you fed up with AI-generated action-figure starter packs?

Plenty of illustrators are, and have taken up their pens.

@twgerken.bsky.social asked me to drop in and work with the Tech desk by verifying some details. Then I got chatting to some creative types…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A screengrab of seven photos published on Telegram by Palestine Daily Newspaper, showing destruction in central Khan Yunis, 2 April 2025

1/ THREAD

What do @paulybrown.bsky.social and I know about two strikes in Gaza today, which have reportedly killed at least 31 people? And how do we know? And how can you open-source investigate it, too?

First: Khan Yunis, where Palestinian media say a family home was struck overnight.

Five key moments in the battle for Khartoum BBC Verify examimes social media footage of the fight for control of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum

THREAD

1/ The Presidential Palace in Khartoum, Sudan, was taken back by the SAF on Friday. It’s a high-profile step in their aim to regain control of the capital from the RSF.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Here's a run-through of how we know how much we know.

Aid workers killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza, charity tells BBC The Israeli military says it was targeting terrorists who

1/ What can @paulybrown.bsky.social and I say about the strike in Beit Lahia yesterday?

Or, what can you or I tell from images of the aftermath?

You may have seen it covered here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

TL;DR version: Sending M113s to Ukraine where they might be destroyed is probably cheapest & quickest way for DoD to get them out of inventory, fund $6.5m replacement & save on storage/demilitarization costs.

An image of police attending to a man lying on the ground, an image of Mulhouse market, and an image of a man sitting down with a police officer and a paramedic attending to him, each highlighted and pointing to a different position on a Google Maps image of Mulhouse.

1/THREAD

Quick bit of geolocation work this afternoon with @paulybrown.bsky.social - trying to give BBC News outlets as much information as possible covering the knife attack in Mulhouse, France.

In short, three videos and a still all located to within 200m of the market.

Gaza ceasefire latest: Ceasefire sees displaced Gazans return home as Israel awaits hostages A Red Cross team is on its way to pick up three hostages in Gaza - including UK-Israel national Emily Damari - before their return to Israel.

1/ THREAD

What we know about a strike in Khan Yunis, Gaza, this morning.

Yes: An explosive projectile fell from the sky, blowing up a van in Khan Yunis, pre-ceasefire.

No: We can’t say what had happened to two bodies lying metres from the van minutes before.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ck...

How 15 months of war has devastated Gaza BBC Verify examines how fighting has impacted civilians lives in Gaza, after over a year of fighting.

The situation in #Gaza, 15 months after Oct 7 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @nickeardleybbc.bsky.social @paulybrown.bsky.social @matt-murphy96.bsky.social

Almost 100 strikes in Gaza 'humanitarian zone', BBC Verify finds The area in Gaza which Israel's military has told people to go to

Almost 100 strikes in the IDF's unilaterally designated "humanitarian zone" in Gaza - and this figure doesn't take into account the many reported strikes which didn't have imagery from the scene for us to verify. W/ @richib.bsky.social and @paulybrown.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What verified videos tell us about Igor Kirillov's death Footage from the scene shows a blast targeting the Russian general as he left a Moscow apartment block.

BBC Verify has been analysing social media videos and images from Moscow to try to build up a clearer picture of the blast that killed Russian Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant.

@matt-murphy96.bsky.social @joshcheetham.bsky.social @richib.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#life

THREAD - What do we know about videos of explosions in Moscow?

1/ Short answer: They're both right place, right time.

How do we know?

So, go back to this thread on how we verified where the two bodies were seen: bsky.app/profile/rich...

a black and white photo of the beatles singing . Alt: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon clapping and cheering

IT'S ONLY THE WORLD CUP FINAL
#BeatlesWorldCup

Welp, here we are.

HERE COMES THE SUN
v
IN MY LIFE

64 songs were nominated, and we have reduced them by half over several rounds.

Vote 1/person, in reply, for either #Sun or #Life

Result at 9pm, I'll update throughout the day.

#HCTS

#let

SOMETHING

#Help

#Paperback

Track 2

Checking in on Syrian state TV for #OverthrowTunes. A limited playlist so far - and no videos yet.
Message reads: "The victory of the great Syrian revolution and the overthrow of the criminal Assad regime"

Tracking Syrian rebels' lightning offensive as they approach key city BBC Verify has been tracking the territory captured by Syrian rebels as they move towards Homs.

A follow up to our previous piece tracking rebel forces in Syria w/ @paulybrown.bsky.social @shayan86.bsky.social @merlynthomas.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

BBC Verify tracks week of rebel advances in Syria It’s been one week since rebel forces launched their largest offensive against the Syrian government in years. BBC Verify has been tracking their advances.

THREAD - Have-a-go-yourself geolocation in Syria

1/ If you've not seen it, here's BBC Verify on rebel movements in NW Syria: www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

The thumbnail is an example @paulybrown.bsky.social and I did.

It's an instance of being certain of buildings, but guided by the wider layout.

If the screenshot concerns a politican, check their official social media accounts. If it's a politican from a specific country, look for well-known news outlets in that country.

If you can't find the BBC or a reputable French news outlet reporting this fake Macron quote, then something's wrong.

BBC Verify tracks week of rebel advances in Syria It’s been one week since rebel forces launched their largest offensive against the Syrian government in years. BBC Verify has been tracking their advances.

It’s been one week since rebel forces launched their largest offensive against the Syrian government in years.

BBC Verify has been tracking rebel advances by analysing and tracking footage on social media.

@paulybrown.bsky.social @benedictgarman.com

www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

#Something

Israel building new military dividing line across Gaza, satellite images suggest Satellite images show the IDF has destroyed hundreds of buildings in north Gaza as it creates the divide.

IDF establishing new military corridor across northern Gaza, its third in #Gaza along with Netzarim and Philadelphi, with @nickeardleybbc.bsky.social & @matt-murphy96.bsky.social

Analysis from @drhahellyer.bsky.social (RUSI) and Dr Eado Hecht (BESA)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

a cartoon of the beatles dancing with their arms outstretched Alt: a cartoon of the beatles dancing with their arms outstretched

ABBEY SUBMARINE
#BeatlesWorldCup

If you're new to this: Each day I present two Beatles songs, we all vote for which is better. The winner will go into the Last 16.

So:

HEY BULLDOG
(a personal fave)

VS

I WANT YOU (SHE'S SO HEAVY)
(the reeeally long one off Abbey Rd)

Vote #Hey or #Heavy by 10pm.