Matt Murphy

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...

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...

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!

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 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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

"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.

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-...

AI models can learn to conceal information from their users This makes it harder to ensure that they remain transparent

"As models get better at “essentially lying” to pass safety tests, he argues, their true capabilities will be obscured."

www.economist.com/science-and-...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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

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...

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.

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

Screengrab of a Google MyMaps of locations in Khartoum, including Khartoum North and Omdurman. Blue markers are SAF, red markers are RSF.

2/ Peter Mwai, @benedictgarman.com , @kumarmalhotra.bsky.social alhotra.bsky.social, @matt-murphy96.bsky.social and I have been logging events around Khartoum for two months, across maybe 80 incidents and 100 videos.

(Example detail here. Blue markers are where we saw SAF activity, red is RSF.)

How journalism works (and why while I’m less fussed than I used to be about being ripped off).

If you pick up the print Daily Mail today, or look at the top of MailOnline right now, you’ll find a an exclusive special investigation into London’s Harry Potter shops and the couple who “own” them.

Zelensky: “Have you been to Ukraine? Have you seen the problems we have?”

JD Vance: “I’ve been to… I… I’ve actually watched and see the stories…“

Jeff Bezos declares opinions questioning “free markets” no longer welcome at The Washington Post Months after insisting he would never allow his personal interests to influence the Post's content, one of the world's richest men decides opinions contrary to his "will be left to be published by others."

“The scale of the hypocrisy on display here is eye-watering.”

If you read just one thing about Jeff Bezoz …

www.niemanlab.org/2025/02/jeff...

Fact-checking Donald Trump's claims about war in Ukraine President Donald Trump appeared to accuse Ukraine of being responsible for the war with Russia.

President Donald Trump has made a flurry of claims about Ukraine and its president from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.

BBC Verify has fact-checked some of them. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Mapping China’s influence around the Panama Canal - BBC News How much influence does China have around the Panama Canal?

Great to see our Verify visual investigations presented in one of our premium storytelling formats here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...
@erwanrivault.bsky.social @matt-murphy96.bsky.social

Trump's FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.

Kash Patel has at least $1 million in Shein stock via his work as a consultant through a Cayman Islands-registered firm associated with Shein. lol. lmao, even

www.wired.com/story/kash-p...

Noise complaints are killing London’s pubs We mapped the dozens of pubs forced to shut early or that faced closure last year due to everything from “faint giggles” to “constant honking” from cars.

Great piece on the strangulation of London nightlife.

The Globe, opposite Baker Street station in Marylebone: faced closure after “faint giggles” from patrons annoyed a single local resident.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/noise-compla...

UK 10 year Gilt yield down another 5 basis points today - currently trading at 4.48%

Now within 8 basis points of the level on 30 October 2024 when Rachel Reeves held her Budget 👇

The inside story of Harris' lost gamble on Joe Rogan, Beyoncé and a late Texas rally A new book by Jonathan Allen of NBC News and Amie Parnes of The Hill has details about the Harris campaign's botched attempt to schedule an interview with Joe Rogan.

Fascinating account of the Harris-Rogan negotiations. Different view to the suggestions that she just wasn't willing to play ball that's previously surfaced. www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...

Latest on Syria from BBC Verify… satellite images show Russian military equipment being withdrawn from Moscow’s key strategic port Tartous

@matt-murphy96.bsky.social

t.co/2zuVT6kH25

Russian ships return to Syrian Tartous base ahead of expected withdrawal Analysts say the return suggests that Moscow is preparing to evacuate one of its most valuable overseas bases.

Vessel tracking reviewed by BBC Verify shows that two Russian ships linked to its military have docked at the Kremlin's naval base on the Syrian coast at Tartous, with experts suggesting that an anticipated evacuation of the facility has finally begun.

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

Russia suffering 'environmental catastrophe' after oil spill in Kerch Strait Activists say the spill - caused after two ships ran were battered by a storm - could cover an area of 400 sq km.

Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown a major oil slick spreading across the Kerch Strait between Russia & annexed Crimea, a month after two oil tankers were damaged in the area @jcheetham.bsky.social @matt-murphy96.bsky.social @erwanrivault.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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...

How Elon Musk seized on baseless memo claim to create wave of misinformation The X owner shared false claims that a Home Office memo urged police not to intervene in child grooming cases.

Re: Home Office guidance supposedly issued in 2008 advising police not to intervene in child grooming cases because victims had ‘made an informed choice about their sexual behaviour’?

BBC Verify found no evidence any document containing that advice exists

www.bbc.com/news/article...

How an RSF commander's defection led to a massacre in Sudan Videos reviewed by BBC Verify show men wearing RSF insignia boasting of killing locals in Al Sherifa.

The defection of a senior RSF commander appears have have prompted a massacre in Sudan’s Gezira state by men wearing the paramilitary’s insignia.

BBC Verify has pieced the attack together from video footage and eyewitness testimony.