@giancarlofiorella.bsky.social
Director of Research and Training | Bellingcat Assistant Professor | Utrecht University PhD, Criminology & Sociolegal Studies | University of Toronto www.giancarlofiorella.com Opinions my own
It’s crystal clear now that Trump has lost control of this war. He badly misjudged Iran’s ability to retaliate. The region is on fire.
1/ I’m going to explain to you in this🧵what I’ve learned - in part from closed door briefings - about the four biggest current crises.
We want to uncover wrongdoing. We can with your support. Bellingcat is a not-for-profit. Consider donating so we can continue to create impact in 2026. www.bellingcat.com/donate
Mounir Lazzez, the ex-UFC fighter who is pictured talking to Daniel and Christy Kinahan at an event in Dubai last year, has business interests far beyond combat sports... Our follow-up to last week's investigation.
I have been thinking this very thing.
The Improv War
A surprising amount of interest in this story today, suggesting it may not be the “inside baseball” purview of navel-gazing journalists that some politicos might have hoped.
www.thestar.com/politics/pro...
Congrats to the White House Correspondents Association on deciding it was a good idea to “celebrate the First Amendment” with this guy.
EXCLUSIVE: Military leaders warned Hegseth not to gut the offices that limit risk to civilians. He ignored them.
The decision faces renewed attention as the Pentagon investigates a strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed hundreds of children.
A US-made HIMARS launcher was filmed firing missiles at Iran from Bahrain. Most other Gulf states have denied that the US has launched attacks from its soil against Iran. Bahrain has remained silent on this question.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/w...
Declaring that no quarter will be given unequivocally violates international humanitarian law. Indeed, ordering that no quarter will be given, threatening an adversary therewith or conducting hostilities on this basis is prohibited and constitutes a war crime.
this means it is not open for transit
How do investigators identify weapons used in war? @easybakeovensz.bsky.social explains the techniques used to analyse munitions and verify their use in combat, including weapons emerging in the conflict involving Iran. Type 'Stage Talks with Bellingcat' on podcast platforms: rss.com/podcasts/bel...
Polymarket, Kalshi and all the rest of these prediction markets need to be wiped off the face of the earth. They provide absolutely nothing of value and are corrupting everything they touch.
the country is at war and the president is leaving DC this afternoon for a weekend at his private club in Florida that he'll spend with his paying customers
“He appeared to be triggered by media reporting on the rising costs of the conflict, as well as the ongoing deflection over America’s involvement in the strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school …The strike, using a Tomahawk missile, killed at least 175 people, mainly children.”
Two things here.
One, you don't sit there and whine about media coverage and headlines if things are going well.
Two, the administration is just outright saying that they fully expect Ellison to use CNN to be a Trumpist propaganda organ.
Q: Can you provide guidance about strike on the girls' school? There's been reporting indicating the preliminary inquiry has determined the strike was carried out by US
HEGSETH: With an issue of such seriousness, we're not gonna let reporting lead us or force our hand into indicating what happened
Again, leaders of other countries don’t talk this way. The glee with which our current leaders talk about killing people is not normal, and nor is their lack of concern for who exactly we’re killing. American bombs incinerated 100 kids in Minab. Were those the “right people”?
How it’s playing in France. 🤡
BREAKING: CENTCOM says a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft was lost during Operation Epic Fury in friendly airspace.
The incident involved two aircraft: one crashed in western Iraq while the other landed safely.
MAGA's rhetoric of western civilizational emergency is so weird. They look at ICE arresting grandmothers and they see the ancient Greeks defeating the Persians or the Franks stopping the Islamic invaders in 732.
Everyone else sees ICE arresting grandmothers.
newrepublic.com/article/2076...
So I don’t think a sitting president has ever threatened the life of a soccer team coming to their country’s World Cup?
Join me on my Twitch channel tonight at 7:00 PM EST where I'll be playing GREEN HELL, a game where you have to survive infection, disease and (I think cannibals?) in a jungle.
I'm doing this to raise funds via @extralife4kids.bsky.social for Toronto's SickKids hospital!
www.twitch.tv/gianfiorel
Gillibrand: "How they missed this was a girls' school is very concerning to me. If Sec. Hegseth did not cut the funding for this area of review by 90%, if he did not continually try to undermine the rules & procedures our service members & generals take - I think he should resign bc of this failure"
Tapping the sign: zeteo.com/p/trump-addi...
De Telegraaf, the Netherlands’ largest newspaper, recently published an interview with a woman promoting €1,600 seats on private evacuation flights from Dubai. Bellingcat found that her image was likely AI-generated, and flight data suggests no such plane took off. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
New, from me:
New in PN: Trump’s military excursion, into an abyss
"The evident fact is that the president is completely nuts, and that he’s 'governing' the country — and has now taken the US to war — based on his impulses alone, without even the pretense of a strategy or goal."
(Reuters) - U.S. intelligence indicates that Iran's leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless U.S. and Israeli bombardment, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-us...
