Becky Dale and Matt Murphy
BBC Verify

Unredacted images and videos showing nudity released in the Epstein files have been online for days despite US officials being warned about failures in redaction.

The files seen by BBC Verify are among thousands of documents lawyers say they have discovered that contain identifying information about dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.

Victims groups first spoke out about the issue at the weekend when the New York Times reported nearly 40 separate images had been published as part of the Epstein files on Friday.

“I’m heartbroken for the girls whose information was released,” Ashley Rubright, a survivor of Epstein’s abuse, told the BBC. “That’s such a huge violation of one of the most horrible moments of their lives.”

On Tuesday, a New York judge said the Department of Justice (DoJ) had agreed to quickly fix the issue after victims called for the website to be shut down until names and images could be properly redacted.

But BBC Verify found independently that a number of images of identifiable people were online on Wednesday.

You can read our full story here.

Joshua Cheetham and Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify

As we reported in our previous post we have been following the movement of US military jets in recent days as part of our work monitoring the build-up of American forces in the Middle East.

Spangdahlem Air Base, a large Nato facility in Germany operated by the US Air Force (USAF), is now operating round-the-clock, according to a message sent to an American transport plane.

A text communication sent to a USAF C-17 transport plane – RCH858 – flying from Germany to Saudi Arabia yesterday detailed that ETAD, the airport code for Spangdahlem, “is currently open 24 7 due to tempo”.

The message was delivered to the jet by the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars). The transmissions can be picked up by anyone with a suitable receiver on the ground.

Joshua Cheetham and Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify

We’ve been reporting on a significant build-up of US military assets in the Gulf as the Trump administration has been increasing the pressure on Iran over its nuclear plans and the violent crackdown on January’s protests.

A third US Air Force E-11A aircraft departed from Chania International Airport on the Greek island of Crete yesterday. It touched down about four hours later at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

These modified commercial jets act as a flying communications hub so US forces can share information quickly and securely across broad areas.

We told you about two of these planes arriving in the region last week.

“The most specialised aircraft show up last,” plane-tracking expert Steffan Watkins told us. “That they’re showing up now shows they have work to do.”

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

We’re continuing to check what publicly available sources reveal about the US military’s build-up in the Middle East as tensions remain high between Washington and Iran.

Using flight and ship-tracking tools we can get a picture of what types of aircraft and ships are either in or heading for the region. We’ll bring you more on that shortly.

BBC Verify has found that unredacted images and videos showing nudity were released in the Epstein files and stayed online for days. Lawyers for Epstein’s victims have warned this has caused them “irreparable” harm. You can read our full report here.

With talks on ending the war now into a second day, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba says Russia has attacked railway infrastructure in the northern Sumy region. We’re looking to see if there is verifiable video of these strikes, or their aftermath, that show what’s been attacked.

Elsewhere we’re looking into reports of an explosion and fire on a cargo ship off the Russian city of St Petersburg. We’re looking at the latest ship-tracking data and checking if any images are being posted online to help us see what happened.