Foreign
Trump’s claim of ‘massive cheating’ in Philadelphia rejected by officials
As millions of people cast their ballots in the US election, claims have been spreading online questioning the integrity of the vote.
Election officials have been quick to reject some accusations of voting malpractice – including one from Donald Trump – as well as clarifying some legitimate problems which have been taken out of context.
BBC Verify is tracking and investigating the most widely shared claims.
1) Trump claim of ‘massive cheating’
Trump has posted on his social media platform, Truth Social saying “law enforcement coming” to Philadelphia because of “massive cheating” there.
He did not provide details of the alleged cheating or any evidence.
The Philadelphia Police Department told BBC Verify that they were not aware of what Trump was referring to.
Philadelphia’s District Attorney Larry Krasner, who is a Democrat, posted on X saying: “There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation.”
Seth Bluestein, the Republican City Commissioner in Philadelphia, also posted on X saying: “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure.“
2) Claim about power outages and voting
Multiple posts on X have suggested that power outages reported in Pennsylvania earlier today were linked to election interference.
Some of these posts have focused on outages in Northampton County in particular.
One post, external, which has a quarter of a million views, claimed “they are shutting down the power in Pennsylvania” alongside a power outage map of the county.
According to a power outage tracking website, external, Northampton County is served by two electricity providers: FirstEnergy and PPL Electric Utilities.
Todd Meyers, spokesperson for FirstEnergy, told BBC Verify that eight polling locations in the county had been affected by outages today, which were caused by an electrical fault.
“All polling locations had their power restored within 10 minutes and all had battery backup for voting machines and voters were not impacted”, Mr Meyers said.
BBC Verify also contacted PPL Electric Utilities for comment.
3) Viral claim about ballot markings
An image on social media shows a person holding a mail-in ballot paper which they claim already had a mark next to Kamala Harris’s name.
The image was originally posted online a few days ago but it has been circulating again on election day.
The person who posted it on X claims that voting for anyone else would render the ballot void.
One post, viewed more than 3 million times, said the picture showed “weird ballot shenanigans happening”.
BBC Verify spoke to the Kentucky Board of Elections which rejected the allegation.
It said it had mailed out 130,000 ballots so far and had not been made aware of any complaints about mail-in ballots having pre-printed marks in any candidate selection boxes.
“As no one has presented a pre-marked ballot to election administrators or law enforcement, the claim that at least one ballot may have had a pre-printed mark in Kentucky, currently only exists in the vacuum of social media,” it said.
The election board added that for mail-in ballots in Kentucky if more than one candidate choice is marked in ink, then the ballot will still be counted if the voter circles their preferred choice.
4) Claim about absentee ballots for the military
A post on X which claims, external “the Pentagon reportedly failed to send absentee ballots to active military service members before the election” has been viewed over 28 million times.
It references a letter to Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, written by three Republican members of congress, external, expressing “grave concern” over “deficiencies” in procedures for overseas military personnel to vote.
However the letter does not accuse the Pentagon of failing to send them absentee ballots.
It is not the Pentagon’s job to do this – military personnel can vote abroad through the Federal Voting Assistance Program, external (FVAP) and ballots are sent to them by election officials where they are registered in the US.
If the ballot is in danger of not arriving before the voting deadline, personnel can vote via what is called a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).
The letter claims an unspecified number of “service members” had requested a FWAB but were told their base had run out. However, it is possible to download and sign one through the FVAP website, external.
We asked the Department of Defense for details about how many people had been affected by the issue, but it would not comment. It did say that it had trained 3,000 Voting Assistance Officers to support personnel with voting.
5) Claim about voting machine in Kentucky
A video which appears to show someone repeatedly trying and failing to vote for Donald Trump on a voting machine in Laurel County, Kentucky – before a vote appears next to Kamala Harris’s name – has gone viral.
The person posting it says: “I hit Trump’s name 10 times and it wouldn’t work I then began recording and you can see what happened…. Switched it to Harris.”
Another post, viewed nearly seven million times, features the video with the claim: “Voting machines in Kentucky are literally changing the vote from Donald Trump to Kamala Harris. This is election interference!”
Pennsylvania officials reject viral claim about illegal voters
Election officials confirmed the video was authentic and the machine did malfunction, but said it was an isolated incident and the voter was able to cast their ballot as intended.
“After several minutes of attempting to recreate the scenario, it did occur. This was accomplished by hitting some area in between the boxes. After that we tried for several minutes to do it again and could not,” the county clerk said in a statement.
The machine in question was taken out of action until it was inspected, and later in the day the county clerk posted a video on Facebook, external showing the machine working correctly.
“In an election on this scale there are always going to be some problems,” said Joseph Greaney, a voting expert at US election website Ballotpedia.
“It can be one or two machines but people are extrapolating those out into a bigger problems, but I would say with a good degree of confidence that they are isolated incidents and they are caught,” he added.
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
The family of Philip Ifeanyi Elobuike, an indigene of Eziama Village, Ebe, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, has appealed to the public for assistance in locating him after his photograph surfaced on social media following nearly two years without contact.
Elobuike first travelled to the United States around 2004 and initially settled in the Los Angeles area of California. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Dallas, Texas.
According to his family, Elobuike remained in contact with his relatives in Nigeria until around 2024, when communication with him suddenly stopped. Before losing contact, he was active on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
His family had continued searching for him, and on August 11, 2026, they were relieved when his photograph surfaced on social media. The picture provided them with at least some reassurance that he was alive.
Elobuike Philip
However, contrary to reports circulating in some media outlets and on social media, Elobuike has not been reunited with his family or located by his kinsmen in the United States.
His relatives and members of the Nigerian community reportedly spent the entire day on August 12 searching for him in different parts of Dallas but were unable to locate him.
The family is therefore appealing to members of the public, particularly Nigerians and other individuals in the Dallas area, to assist in locating Elobuike and ensuring that he is safely reunited with his family.
The family also urged people to disregard reports claiming that he has already been found and reunited with his relatives, describing such reports as inaccurate.
Anyone who has information about Elobuike’s whereabouts or comes across him is urged to contact any of the following:
Dr. Fred Ngwu: (214) 418-8145
Moses Onyejekwe: (213) 479-2340
Law Okolo: (646) 302-2597
The family expressed appreciation to everyone who has shared his photograph and appealed for continued circulation of the information until he is successfully located.
No fewer than 205 Nigerians were deported from Canada in June 2026 as Canadian authorities intensified enforcement of the country’s immigration laws, according to official figures released by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Immigration removal statistics published by the CBSA showed that 10,607 individuals were removed from Canada during the month, with Nigerians ranking among the top 10 nationalities affected by the exercise.
The figures indicate that Nigerians accounted for nearly two per cent of all removals carried out in June.
India recorded the highest number of deportations, with 3,323 nationals removed, followed by Mexico with 1,573. The United States accounted for 372 deportees, while Colombia and Romania recorded 354 and 293 removals respectively.
Other countries with significant numbers of nationals deported included Bangladesh, with 227, and Pakistan, with 207.
Explaining the rationale behind the removals, the CBSA said enforcing immigration laws was critical to protecting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
“Removing individuals who do not have the right to enter or stay in Canada is essential to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration program and to ensuring fairness for those who come to this country lawfully,” the agency stated.
The latest figures underscore Canada’s continued enforcement against individuals found to have no legal right to remain in the country, as authorities seek to ensure compliance with the nation’s immigration laws.
The sentence was handed down on Friday by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after Adewale pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud.
Announcing the sentence in a statement on Friday, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, David Metcalf, said Adewale was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
“United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 27, of Nigeria was sentenced today by United States District Judge Joel Slomsky to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release for money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud related to the sexual extortion and death of a young man in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” the statement read.
According to Metcalf, Adewale was arrested in Nigeria on August 17, 2023, during a joint operation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeting sexual extortion suspects preying on victims in the United States.
Metcalf noted that the convict was extradited to the US in February 2026 with the assistance of the US authorities and the Nigerian government.
Following his extradition, Adewale was arraigned and subsequently pleaded guilty in April this year.
Commenting on the conviction, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Philadelphia, Wayne A. Jacobs, said the sentence demonstrates that offenders cannot escape justice by operating outside the United States.
“Today’s sentencing illustrates criminals cannot evade justice, even outside of our borders,” Jacobs said.
“This final sentencing is the result of diligent investigative work and close coordination with our domestic and international law enforcement partners.
“Most importantly, today’s sentence represents our continued commitment to seeking justice for victims and their loved ones. Let today’s sentencing send a clear message: alongside our partners here and abroad, the FBI remains committed to identifying, locating, and bringing to justice those who prey on our communities.”
Also reacting, the chief of the Abington Township Police Department, Patrick Molloy, praised the collaboration between local and federal authorities.
“We are grateful for the federal agents and prosecutors who worked so hard to bring those responsible for this heinous crime to justice.
“This could have been anyone’s child, and while this prosecution may provide some measure of relief, the pain and suffering for this family will never go away,” Molloy said.
The US authorities said Adewale was the last of three Nigerian suspects convicted in connection with the sextortion case.
His co-defendant, Samuel Abiodun, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in June 2025.
Another accomplice, Imoleayo Aina, also known as “Alice Dave,” pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, interstate threat to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud, and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in October 2025.
“I hope that their arrests, extradition, and prosecution make clear that the DOJ will go after those terrorising our young people — no matter where the scammers and sextortionists may be.
“Though this case is now closed, our thoughts will remain with a family and community forever changed,” Metcalf noted.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has finalised a new rule limiting most foreign students and exchange visitors to a maximum stay of four years, unless they obtain an extension from the federal government, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
The new regulation, announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ends the long-standing “duration of status” policy, which allowed international students to remain in the United States for the length of their academic programmes, provided they complied with visa requirements.
The restriction applies to holders of F-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visitor visas.
According to The Washington Post, the DHS acknowledged concerns that some students may struggle to complete their academic programmes within the new timeframe, noting that many bachelor’s degree programmes take more than four years to complete, while doctoral programmes often require significantly longer.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the change was necessary to strengthen immigration enforcement and reduce visa overstays.
“For nearly half a century, the outdated ‘duration of status’ system has compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud,” Mullin said.
The policy has drawn criticism from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which described the move as unnecessary and warned that it would create uncertainty for international students.
“DHS’ decision to end Duration of Status is a misguided and unnecessary policy shift that injects uncertainty, bureaucracy, and fear into a system that has long worked effectively,” NAFSA Executive Director Fanta Aw said.
The new rule comes as many US colleges and universities continue to face challenges in attracting international students amid tighter immigration policies and visa restrictions introduced by the Trump administration.
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