Dave Brookes

@tehuringa.bsky.social

Digital flâneur | Open Source Researcher| GEOINT| Bellingcat GAP Project | Research 中国 & Central Africa | drinks wine & writes stuff |Views are my own |RSs ≠ endorsements

Trade data can reveal everything from money trails to illicit networks. 📊 Bellingcat’s Katherine De Tolly will walk us through how to use these databases for investigations in our final Stage Talk of the year. Join live & bring your questions: discord.gg/D7zDQ5r5?eve...

Bellingcat Stage Talk, Thursday 4/12, 5pm CET/11am EST. discord.com/invite/bellingcat "Digging for gold in import-export data"

Life in Bamako, the capital of Mali, has been brought to a standstill after a jihadist organisation launched a series of attacks on inbound fuel convoys. Bellingcat has verified six attacks since September, which together have damaged more than 130 fuel tankers. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/12...

Mali Under Siege: Tracking the Fuel Blockade Crippling Bamako - bellingcat

Attacks by a jihadist group on fuel convoys bound for Bamako, the capital of Mali, have destroyed more than 130 tankers since September, a Bellingcat investigation has found.  The systematic attacks b...

bellingcat.com

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...

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...

github.com

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...

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

euronews.com

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.

Bild

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...

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.

bellingcat.com

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.

Beau Donelly@beaudonelly.bsky.social · 2y ago

The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab's @kentonthibaut.bsky.social discusses privacy and security concerns of apps linked to China for our @bellingcat.com piece about the tech companies promoted by the MrDeepFakes porn website. www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-...

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...

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.

bellingcat.com

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.

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.

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...

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.

bellingcat.com