Shruti Menon
BBC Verify senior journalist

Maritime experts we’ve contacted say they haven’t yet observed a decline in the number of ships passing through the Red Sea despite the sinking of two commercial vessels by Yemen’s Houthi fighters earlier this week.

However, the impact of the latest wave of attacks on shipping could take several days to show up on tracking data.

In the wake of the first round of attacks on shipping by Houthi fighters in November 2023, many companies re-routed their vessels around southern Africa adding 10-12 days to their journeys.

“While 60% of vessels have re-routed since the Houthi strikes first started, the volume of vessels prepared to continue transiting has remained steady throughout even the worst of the violence,” says Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of the specialist shipping data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

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 have been authenticating a video released by Houthi-controlled media of an attack by its fighters on the Eternity C, a Greek-operated cargo ship on Monday in the Red Sea off Yemen, which led to it sinking on Tuesday.

Bearing in mind this was shared on a known Houthi propaganda channel, we were unable to verify the radio communications audio heard. However, the images from the footage can be authenticated.

We could see that the ship featured in the clip matches photos we’ve seen of the Eternity C on the Vessel Finder , externalwebsite from 2020.

The damage to the starboard quarter matches images we’ve seen on the vessel-tracking provider, Lloyd’s List.

We also carried out an additional check using Synth ID which found no evidence that the footage had been manipulated or generated using artificial intelligence.

Reverse image searches of the video clip brought up no prior copies so we know the footage is current.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

We’ve got permission from Ihor Kuznietsov to post his video of smoke rising over the skyline of the Ukrainian capital that Emma referred to in her earlier post.

Lucy Gilder
BBC Verify journalist

We’ll be following the UK-France summit all day today and listening out for a possible deal on immigration returns.

So far this year, the number of small boat migrants arriving in the UK has reached record levels – and most of them go on to claim asylum.

France has claimed that one factor attracting them is the ability to “work without papers” in the UK.In this article, we looked at the evidence for this and other “pull factors” cited as reasons for asylum seekers to choose the UK as a destination.

One recent study by the European Parliament suggested the size of the UK’s informal economy was about 11% of the total economy in 2022, external. This was actually lower than their estimate for France’s at 14% and lower than the average of 31 European countries, which was 17%.

Emma Pengelly
BBC Verify journalist

I’ve verified new footage posted on Instagram showing Kyiv’s skyline filled with smoke this morning.

Three bridges in the video helped me identify the point of view of the person filming. As the camera pans we’re shown Kyiv’s Havansky Bridge, Podilskyi Bridge and in the distance Pivnichnyi Bridge. The curve of the river and sandy banks are also easily identifiable using online mapping tools.

Light levels in the clip suggest it was shot at dawn or dusk – but having established where the footage was filmed we can see sun is in the east and so the video is from the early morning.

Nasa’s Firms satellite system – which detects heat sources on the ground – has picked up readings in parts of Kyiv today. One of them matches the area of the smoke plume in the video – north of Havansky Bridge.

According to a Kyiv resident we’ve spoken to, the attack lasted hours. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad and Kharkiv regions were also attacked.

Emma Pengelly and Fridon Kiria
BBC Verify and BBC Monitoring

We’ve been verifying video being posted online from Ukraine following an overnight Russian attack involving around 400 drones and 18 missiles, according to the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine’s worst hit area was Kyiv, he said, where two people were killed. He reported five other regions were hit.

We’ve verified a video filmed this morning that shows the result of one attack. It was filmed in a central district of Kyiv and shows firefighters tackling a blaze at a residential building. We can see black smoke pouring from its broken windows along with debris at street level.

We’ve also heard from a Ukrainian who lives in Kyiv. They told us the attack lasted for hours and they couldn’t sleep for the continuous sound of explosions.

Across the border, the Russian Ministry of Defence has said it “destroyed and intercepted” 14 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Rob Corp
BBC Verify Live editor

Hello from the team in London Broadcasting House.

We’re currently gathering footage from Kyiv after anothernight of intense Russian bombardment. At least two people were killed in theattack, the Ukrainian interior minister has said.

We’ll be feeding material that our team has verified intothe BBC’s reporting on the story across the day.

We’re also digging into the impact on Red Sea shipping – andthe potential knock-ons for global trade – of the latest attacks by Yemen’sHouthi fighters which has led to the sinking of two ships in recent days.

And we’re assessing the likely effects of a potential “onein, one out” deal on migration between the UK and France as Prime Minister KeirStarmer and President Emmanuel Macron meet for a summit today.