Dave Brookes

Incendiary Munitions Strike Gaza-bound Flotilla Two Nights in a Row - bellingcat On September 8 and 9, two vessels of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) were attacked outside the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. Bellingcat analysed footage and images from both incidents. ...

The largest aid flotilla in history has been attacked twice in two days whilst in port in Tunisia. Open source analysis suggests an incendiary munition is to blame, contradicting official statements. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...

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I’ve been enjoying the International Intrigue newsletter lately…. Bite sized rundown’s of the news pieces of the day my ex-diplomats…. Bias free and great reading.

archives.internationalintrigue.io/subscribe/66...

Have LLMs Finally Mastered Geolocation? - bellingcat We tasked LLMs from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Mistral and xAI to geolocate our unpublished holiday snaps. Here's how they did.

We all know AI models can now create realistic images and videos but how do they fare at identifying where a real image was taken? Bellingcat researchers have put Large Language Models to the test: www.bellingcat.com/resources/ho...

Bellingcat Open Source Challenge- Live! With Carlos Gonzales | Bellingcat Get more from Bellingcat on Patreon

In 15 minutes, our researcher @mabl2k.bsky.social will take on the latest Bellingcat challenges live on Patreon. Do you think he can solve all five within the hour? Join us for free here: www.patreon.com/posts/bellin...

Open Sources Show Myanmar Junta Airstrike Damages Despite Post-Earthquake Ceasefire - bellingcat Photo: Reuters

Airstrikes continue in Myanmar despite a temporary ceasefire and suffering from a March earthquake. Bellingcat has identified at least 22 villages damaged by airstrikes, 14 of which are in the regions most impacted by the recent earthquake. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/04...

Have you solved the latest Bellingcat Open Source Challenges yet?
We'd love to hear how you got on? Have you published your working out anywhere? Let us know!

Release v1.0.0 · bellingcat/auto-archiver 🎉 Auto Archiver v1.0.0 We're excited to announce a major stable release of the Auto Archiver tool! This release comes with some major improvements in stability and flexibility, with a modular and e...

The Bellingcat Auto Archiver is an essential tool for online investigations, helping you to secure the source material crucial for your research. We now have a brand new version of the tool, find it here: github.com/bellingcat/a...

Pitch Wildlife and Environmental investigations to Bellingcat - bellingcat If your source material is online and public, and your story unearths something deeper about our planet, we'd love to hear from you.

Are you a keen researcher and passionate about environment or wildlife investigations? Bellingcat is looking for wildlife and environment related investigations that use open source methods and tools. www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...

***UPDATE***

I hate being right about things. #OSINT

What looks like the first photos of China’s ‘invasion barges’ we first reported in naval news recently www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

The front barge (self propelled) is the smallest type, some are twice this size

Luxembourg delays adoption of EU sanctions against Rwanda Causing surprise across the bloc, Luxembourg has blocked the adoption of sanctions against Kigali. European ministers have suspended EU defence consultations with Rwanda. #EuropeNews

Luxembourg's plans for a financial centre in Rwanda explain why the EU response to the conflict in DRC has been so limp to date. The undermining role one small country can play highlights the structural weaknesses of the EU: www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

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Could you be our new executive director driving our collaborations and impact in the USA? Find out what we're looking for and what the job involves here: www.on-ramps.com/jobs/3408

A lot of factors in play, but between overseas donors and the exploitation of the DRC's mineral wealth, I think it's fair to say they've been put in a lot stronger position.

UK Statement on response to the situation in Eastern DRC The UK has issued a statement in response to the situation in Eastern DRC.

The U.K. suspends aid to Rwanda in response to the the ongoing conflict in the DRC.
www.gov.uk/government/n...

Thank you for having me!

An approximate area of M23 control in the #DRC. All reports indicate M23 have taken Kalehe and the current front is between #Kasheke and #Kabamba.
At this point, it seems likely that Congolese forces have moved equipment out of Kavumu airport.

Excellent article....nice to chat last night @ethuin.bsky.social 🙂

Mainstream discourse on conflict in eastern #Congo overemphasizes the role of natural resources. This precludes a more solid and thorough analysis overall. @judithverweijen.bsky.social and I explain how and why 👇🏼

The Internet Archive has removed its archives of individual tweets from the account belonging to DOGE staffer Marko Elez.

The WSJ reported yesterday that this account belonged to Ekes, and that many of these tweets were racist and led to his resignation.

Our team has launched a tracker account for flights in and out of the US naval base and detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The tracker is based on open data from ADS-B signals. Check it out here @gtmowatch.bsky.social

1st Meeting, 37th Special Session of the Human Rights Council 37th special session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

United Nations' Human Rights Council's Special Session on the #DRC situation starts in a moment:
#6MillionVoices for #Justice4Congo #Rwanda #Goma
webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1a...

57E6 surface-to-air missiles, which are launched from Russia’s Pantsir air defence system, have seen widespread use in recent years.

The OSMP contains a range of images showing 57E6 Pantsir debris, along with a brief munition description.

View it here: osmp.ngo/model/57e6-s...

In a new Q&A piece for the Centre, Fellow @ethuin.bsky.social unpacks the complexities of the #M23 conflict and the broader crisis in the #EasternDRC.

Read it here: www.armedgroupscentre.org/m23drc-vogel

Satellite Imagery Shows Schools and Hospitals Destroyed in Northern Gaza - bellingcat Thousands of people have begun returning to their abandoned homes in northern Gaza after Israeli forces opened the Netzarim corridor, which separates the northern and southern parts of the territory, ...

What's left of Northern Gaza's infrastructure for those returning? Bellingcat takes a look at the damage to schools, hospitals and other sites in Northern Gaza www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/02...

We’re honored to collaborate with Bellingcat for another article‒this time about the recent assault on Goma.

M23 Rebels Consolidate Control over Key City in DR Congo - bellingcat After days of clashes the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have taken great control of the city including securing the international airport.

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are consolidating their control over Goma, a city of approximately 2 million people. Clashes dominated the streets earlier this week forcing residents to stay inside. Bellingcat has been monitoring the ongoing crisis… www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/01...

It was great to work with @bellingcat.com on this piece. We discussed how Chinese companies obfuscate shady goings-on via networks of LLCs registered abroad. I also discussed data gathering practices of some companies, which are used to build datasets of valuable targets for Chinese intel agencies.

Chinese Suppliers Behind Ads Deadly For Nitazenes Targeting Europe Investigation finds more than 1,000 online ads for nitazenes, including from Chinese companies, and links European shipments of the deadly drugs to China.

Adverts selling an opioid up to 500 times stronger than heroin are all over the internet, from social media platforms to trade sites. Bellingcat and partner Postimees investigate how this deadly drug is infiltrating Europe and beyond… www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/01...

A satellite image from Planet Labs from January 8 2025 shows the extent of destruction in Pacific Palisades near Los Angeles after the Palisades fire swept through the area. Most of the homes are gone.

A satellite image from Airbus and Google Earth from January 2024 shows the Pacific Palisades neighborhood before its destruction in 2025.

January 8 SkySat imagery from @planet.com shows the extent of devastation in Pacific Palisades near Los Angeles due to the #PalisadesFire.

Airbus imagery from Google Earth shows the same area a year earlier. Much of the neighborhood is gone with only a handful of homes still standing.

Discovering Clues Hidden in Google Maps Image Filenames The Bellingcat Filename Finder makes it easy to see the filenames of images on Google Maps, which can provide useful contextual clues.

User-uploaded images on Google Maps can be really useful for researchers but the filename of those images is not visible by default. We built a tool to help reveal that information which can add important contextual clues to any image: www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

"The Writing On the Wall"

A few days after HK police laid siege to CUHK, it decided PolyU should taste tear gas and violence too. This is a small thread of the graffiti students left around their campus during the siege

Below: "There's no future. Why bother going to school?"

Source: TG (Nov 2019)