For our third installment of our Vaporstate series, @alixdunn.com spoke with two phenomenal journalists from @lighthousereports.com: @daniel-howden.bsky.social and @bearamalhosilva.bsky.social about their months-long investigation into TBI and Oracle. They’ve got the goods. Check it out:

The Maybe

themaybe.org

🚨 Exclusive: Tony Blair isn’t just a big fan of AI — he's now trying to build and sell AI tools to governments Tony Blair Institute staff have described the plan as 'insane' and compared it to Palantir New by D4S and @lighthousereports.com 🧵 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/blair-bids...

Blair bids to build own AI tools to rival Palantir

TBI insiders warn of “'insane” plan to transform think tank into a tech company

democracyforsale.substack.com

Europe frames migration as a crisis—but this masks the reality of its aging population and skills shortages. Over 18 months, with 20+ journalists, across 7 countries we answered: What’s the true cost of shutting migrants out of jobs? Hear from the reporters:

The cost of Europe’s structural racism

Europe frames migration as a crisis—but this masks the reality of its aging population and skills shortages.

lighthousereports.com

Gianna, Tahir and Grabiela are the faces behind the increasing number of skilled immigrants that can't have their qualifications recognized in Portugal.

A worthless diploma: In Brazil, Gianna is a teacher; in Portugal, she struggles to teach | PÚBLICO

Across Portugal, thousands of foreign teachers are trapped in a bureaucratic maze, suffering from ‘brain waste’ as they are barred from professional positions that go unfilled

publico.pt

Across Europe college-educated migrants are locked out of the skilled workforce due to policy failures. @publico.pt & @lhreports.bsky.social reveal how Portugal mitigated brain waste, as well as the limits of this success

You can listen to Público data journalist Rui Barros and our reporter @bearamalhosilva.bsky.social discuss their findings on the newspaper’s morning podcast here:

Portugal está a desperdiçar o talento dos imigrantes

P24 · Episode

open.spotify.com

It took a year to scour every local office for every record of a migrant death on the Texas border w/Mexico. The results are devastating amid a Texas border crackdown. >1K drowned btwn 2017-23, many children. We tell the story of a 4yo lone survivor of a family drowned in the Rio Grande last year.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez@yvonnewingett.bsky.social · 2y ago

Border drownings rose as migrants rushed to cross and Texas clamped down www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...

This is great work on biometrics and digital ID, and really shows the power of what only investigative journalism can do. Also great to see that the journalists, @oliviasolon.bsky.social @tomasstatius.bsky.social @bearamalhosilva.bsky.social are over here on Bluesky!

Tony Roberts@phatcontroller.bsky.social · 2y ago

The False Promise of Biometrics in Africa: Digital IDs in Africa are failing to deliver promised democratic and development boost, while making *fortunes* for tech vendors. #DigitalRights @lhreports.bsky.social www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...

Over a year, we collected & analyzed data on drowning deaths along Texas' stretch of the US/Mexico border on the Rio Grande Yesterday our collaborative investigation went out on the front covers of @washingtonpost.com + @eluniversalmx.bsky.social @lhreports.bsky.social

Grâce à 100+ pages de documents exclus, @lhreports.bsky.social & @bloomberg.com sont en mesure de raconter l’histoire détaillée de cette faillite Comment Atos et ses partenaires n'ont pas livré le bon matériel, envoyé des techniciens inexpérimentés sur site www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Atos Consortium Fumbles Rollout of EU Biometric Border System

Financial and technical problems are fueling concern about whether the bloc can revamp its approach to borders

bloomberg.com

En 2019, l’UE a décidé d’investir 100+ millions d’euros dans un nouveau système biométrique de contrôle aux frontières, EES. 5 ans plus tard, le système ne fonctionne pas et son lancement a encore une fois été repoussé. La faute en grande partie à une entreprise : Atos 🧶

📣 Syrian journalists, artists, architects and activists residing in Europe, this is a chance to attend a free 4 days extensive training in digital investigations techniques with @lhreports.bsky.social in Berlin forms.gle/hwn7S8tXtBx2...

I do a lot of FOIA and I’m used to stonewalling. But Sweden surprised me. After 3 years of telling me no, a high level official at Sweden’s welfare agency Försäkringskassan accidentally left me on cc, writing “Now we must hope that we are done with him.”

Daily life in Kinshasa's tallest residential tower, the "Presidential Galeries", built in the 1970s by Mobutu with luxurious marble floors and escalators. My film will be screened at the beautiful Dakar biennale on Nov 30.

The Taliban has demolished over 1.5 million sqm in Kabul, displacing 1000s & hitting marginalised communities hardest. @lhreports.bsky.social new investigation w/Afghan Witness, Centre 4 Information Resilience,Zan Times,Etilaat Roz & @theguardian.com reveals www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...

Inside the Taliban's demolition campaign in Kabul

Mapping the Taliban’s demolitions: the darker side of their development drive

lighthousereports.com

Hello Bluesky friends! We'll be posting here more often going forward In the meantime, sharing a starter pack of current/former staff and contributors to Lighthouse Reports investigations. Will update as we go! go.bsky.app/J6a68Yg

Tens of thousands of Black refugees & migrants are being rounded up across North Africa & dumped in the desert & remote areas, sometimes left for dead. These operations are secretly financed with European money, despite regional and EU denials. 🧵