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Nick Donovan

@nickpdonovan.bsky.social
845 followers 831 following 3.8K posts

Corruption, conflict finance, investigative journalist. Winner of Fetisov journalism prize.

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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Also looking forward to reading the Contingent Apocalypse section in the Notes section of the accounts, just underneath the Related Party transactions with Oppenheimer and Teller
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Caustic Cover Critic @causticcovercritic.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The fiction categories to be found in my Platonic ideal bookshop:
Photo of lots of old books in a bookshelf. The various shelves have the following labels:

HABSBURG EMPIRE LIT
END OF THE WORLD
ORDINARY LIFE DURING LONDON BLITZ
CENTRAL EUROPEAN MONOMANIACS
EQUIVOCAL FIRST CONTACT
1950S LITERARY BOTTOM-FEEDERS
EXTREMELY DETAILED HEISTS
LITERARY TYPES WRECKED BY HOLLYWOOD
FRAUGHT FEMALE FRIENDSHIP
GROTTY BOARDING HOUSES
SF ABOUT MYSTERIOUS VAST ARTIFACTS
HOW DO I HIDE THIS CORPSE?
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Antony Sguazzin @antonysguazzin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa apppints wealthy backer Tagwirei to senate after winning term extension www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
bloomberg.com
Rewards Start to Flow for the Zimbabwean President’s Backers
The nation’s president appoints 10 allies to the senate.
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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
www.ft.com/content/3259...
ft.com
The mercenaries fighting in Africa’s forgotten war
Hundreds of Colombian fighters were brought to Sudan by a shadow network. At the end of the journey lay a city of corpses
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Janine Gibson @janinegibson.ft.com · 15/08/2026
Good morning time is tight today, but here are a few giftlinks to highlights from FT Weekend. First up this eye opening and brilliant reporting about the shadow network fighting the world's bloodiest war as.ft.com/r/147ade5b-b...
as.ft.com
The mercenaries fighting in Africa’s forgotten war
Hundreds of Colombian fighters were brought to Sudan by a shadow network. At the end of the journey lay a city of corpses
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I need rain.
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Antony Sguazzin @antonysguazzin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Luxury cars, boybands and stacks of cash: An extravagant wedding proves that a new generation of tycoons holds power in Zimbabwe www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
A $20 Million Wedding Shows Zimbabwe Who’s Really Running the Country
In late May, Zimbabwe’s one percent gathered at a polo club on the outskirts of Harare to celebrate the marriage of one of their own.
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
This sentence must have been fun to write. alt: FT article on sci fi author Philip K Dick and his relevance to today. A description of Peter Thiel, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg is followed by a sentence which says “All of these are Dickish characters.”
FT article on sci fi author Philip K Dick and his relevance to today. A description of Peter Thiel, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg is followed by a sentence which says “All of these are Dickish characters.”
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ResJudicata22 @resjudicata22.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Cartoonist: Michael de Adder
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C4ADS @c4ads.org · 05/08/2026
Last Thursday we celebrated one year of Horizons, our investigative platform, with the staff and partners who helped build it. From its corporate records collection to sanctions tracking, it's become a key element used in our work. buff.ly/bEnX9v4
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Simon Allison @simonallison.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
BREAKING NEWS: There's been a major development this month in the war between darkness and light. 1/
Illustration from The Atlas newspaper, showing an astronomical observatory perched on a mountaintop. It's night, and the sky is full of stars, except for a beam of bright light shining down on the observatory itself.
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Simon Allison @simonallison.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I know this sounds crazy. But here's the actual breaking news: on July 9, Reflect Orbital got FCC approval to launch a prototype mirror into space. This thing is happening. (Before you ask: yes, their prototype is named after a Lord of the Rings character...) 11/
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Peter Barth @oldpete45.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Our latest on the Kinahans: A Bellingcat and The Sunday Times review of public immigration records from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has revealed that Christopher Kinahan Jr, the son of cartel founder Christy Kinahan, was issued with a new visa less than two weeks ago.
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Michela Wrong @michelawrong.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The Continent magazine has published an investigation I carried out alongside Kenyan journo James Okong'o exposing how Rwanda's government manipulates social media - secretly paying influencers - in support of the M23 occupation of DRC. Thank you @pulitzercenter.org for your support.
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kwesth.bsky.social @kwesth.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/w...
nytimes.com
How China Keeps Tabs on Foreigners (Gift Article)
An unsecured police dashboard was a rare window into how the authorities track foreigners by collecting and aggregating vast amounts of private data.
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Endometriosis takes nine years to diagnose. That’s about to change. NICE has approved two tests: a saliva test reading microRNA markers, and a gut-sensor test returning results in 45 minutes, sparing women the keyhole surgery currently needed. buff.ly/QX3jHk8 #ShareGoodNewsToo
buff.ly
Rapid endometriosis tests to be made available on NHS in England and Wales
Saliva and gut sensor-based tests hailed as ‘gamechanger’ for millions of women who can wait years for diagnosis
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Holiday reading: Circe, Madeline Miller. Fun, moving, great writing. Esp good to read just after seeing Nolan’s Odyssey. Last English King, Julian Rathbone. Great premise (1066), weirdly written. Avoid. Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. Smart gumshoe sci-fi. Like Yiddish Policeman’s Union on steroids.
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mischling2nd.bsky.social @mischling2nd.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | ‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation
Meredith O’Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out the president’s desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects.
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Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Over the last few weeks, I attended anti-immigrant marches and saw people pulled from their homes & workplaces while police stood by. I met Malawians who had been violently robbed by a gang who told them to go home and who were camped outside their consulate in the cold, waiting to be repatriated
theguardian.com
Beaten, robbed and driven out: violent demonstrations target immigrants in South Africa
Thousands have fled amid months of anti-immigration protests as campaigners demand undocumented people leave the country
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Kendall Gerdes 📚🐦‍⬛ @kendalljoy.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Not about the movie but Emily Wilson’s art of translation, which I find interesting in thinking about all the different “versions” / ways of reading / ways of interpreting Odysseus: www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/m...
nytimes.com
The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ Into English (Gift Article)
The classicist Emily Wilson has given Homer’s epic a radically contemporary voice.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I know it's only a PCC election with low turnout but 11% for a party that happily accepts neo-Nazis as members is really bad.
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Desalination plants are being targeted again. Iran hit one in Kuwait hours ago.
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Sudan: The UK have just sanctioned the following entities and individuals for their links to the Rapid Support Forces. This follows my reporting for @thesentryorg.bsky.social Further reading: thesentry.org/reports/heme... thesentry.org/reports/suda... thesentry.org/reports/24m-...
· Abu Dharr Abdul Nabi Habiballa Ahmmed – RSF financier and procurement facilitator suspected of using a network of companies to secure funding, move money and support RSF operations.

· Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services – Sudanese UAE-based company suspected of being part of Abu Dharr’s commercial network used to support RSF financing activities.

· Mazin Fadlalla – RSF-linked procurement operative suspected of being involved in acquiring funding, equipment and materiel for the RSF.

· Ahmed Hashim – RSF- linked procurement operative suspected of being involved in sourcing funding and supplies for the RSF.

· Natwest Logistics – Sudanese UAE-based company suspected of being used by Mazin Fadlalla and Ahmed Hashim to support RSF procurement and logistics activities.

· Aoun Commercial Brokers – Sudanese UAE-based company suspected of being used by Mazin Fadlalla and Ahmed Hashim to facilitate procurement and financial transactions for the RSF.

· Ahmad Abdalla – Procurement operative linked to the SAF and Defence Industries Systems (DIS), suspected of being involved in securing weapons, equipment and funding for the SAF.
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Nisrin Elamin @nisrinelamin.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is an important story confirming what many of us already suspected connecting Boeing and a US army vet/company to the RSF in Sudan. reut.rs/4vuf5eQ @specialreports
reut.rs
The US army veteran and the mystery Boeings flying Sudan’s war routes
Reuters found that companies controlled by a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran operated a fleet of aging Boeing aircraft that flew to key logistics hubs used by the Rapid Support Forces.
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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
🚨Exclusive🚨 Two ministers filmed a video for a child-protection software firm that lost £17m in three years, made just *£112* in the UK in 2024 and gets 90%+ of its income from overseas subsidiaries that haven't cooperated with auditors for three years. 1/ theuglygame.wordpress.com/2026/07/15/p...
theuglygame.wordpress.com
Prophets without profits
The government’s favourite provider of child protection software, SafeToNet – a perpetually loss-making firm run by recently born-again Christians – has finally filed its long-delayed accounts. The…
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Isn't it weird that this week a currently sitting president had to pay a woman MILLIONS of dollars for *raping* (and defaming) her—and the media has forgotten all about it? There was a time that this would have been the ONLY story—until the rapist was driving from office.
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Very interesting plus one very good joke smuggled in the middle.
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Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My son just told me is favourite sentence is: “I didn’t say we should kill him” because if you emphasise each different word it changes the entire meaning
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 12/07/2026
Elon Musk’s cuts to U.S.A.I.D. led to some 700,000 deaths, Atul Gawande says. www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...
newyorker.com
The Human Cost of DOGE’s War on U.S.A.I.D.
Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the “public man-made death” that they’ve caused.
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Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Public service. www.ft.com/content/8bc8... I have smoked about 250,000 cigarettes. This is how I quit
ft.com
I have smoked about 250,000 cigarettes. This is how I quit
Alex Bilmes on breaking a 35-year habit
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
There's blood in the water and then there's this, chunks of flesh bobbing about- Police investigate £500,000 Reform donations from mother of fraudster who backed Farage www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Police investigate £500,000 Reform donations from mother of fraudster who backed Farage
George Cottrell’s mother Fiona at the centre of criminal inquiry over potential evasion of restrictions on donations
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George Greenwood @georgegreenwood.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Breaking: The Metropolitan Police has launched a criminal investigation into at least £500,000 of donations made to Reform UK by the mother of the convicted fraudster who secretly bankrolled Nigel Farage. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Police investigate Reform donations by mother of fraudster who bankrolled Farage
Fiona Cottrell, mother of George Cottrell, who has been funding the Reform UK leader’s operations, gave £500,000 to the party before the last general election
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 09/07/2026
Guys I can’t keep doing this independently. I need a job. If you know of a place—advocacy, OSINT org, think tank, left media, etc—where I could take this work in-house, pls let me know. I admire the folks making independent work for them, but I am collapsing under the weight and the lack of impact.
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m. @mrh2197.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
🎞️ The Godfather (1972) Behind the scenes #filmsky #moviesky
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Gareth Davies @garethtbij.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I don’t like this policy and I don’t like it being framed as ‘repaying’. These refugees won’t have borrowed £10,000. They will be charged for being granted asylum, as those are the depths we’ve fallen to as a country
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Gregory Koblentz @gregkoblentz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The OPCW has released its latest monthly progress report on the elimination of the former Syrian CW program. This report adds some details to the big reveal in May regarding the discovery of a cache of Assad-era chemical weapons. Here are the highlights: www.opcw.org/sites/defaul...
opcw.org
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Two nations divided by a common love of a good lie-down
British guy in Manchester New Years Eve - drunk on floor reaching for his pint, while police arrest someone else and a woman in a fair coat looks on and remonstrates - pic went  viral
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reginai.bsky.social @reginai.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
The Kryptonite Woman Wins AGAIN! Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/u...
nytimes.com
Supreme Court Lets $5 Million Sex Abuse Verdict Against Trump Stand
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Dan Marshall @danthat.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I once overheard a posh lady on the phone in Waitrose saying with a sense of horrified emergency "well we've run right out of quinoa in *both* houses".
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Three years ago, during Prigozhin’s kind of coup, in Rostov this guy cycled past Russian soldiers with his speaker playing Afroman’s Because I Got High. It remains the best explanation for several civil wars.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
These 2017 sentencing remarks for the murder of Makram Ali & the attempted murder of others by Darren Osborne, a terrorist motivated by anti-Muslim hatred, illustrate the live dangers of the much wider anplification online of this hatred today, on X under Musk & on Facebook
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Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 20/06/2026
"He craves popularity, bends to prevailing winds and lacks a programme for government" - my former FT colleague Philip has always been a very sharp and perceptive observer of politics and nonsense, and this is characteristically very good.
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Zachary Tvarozna @shadyshores.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
18 months in the making! My conclusion forever will be Russia's A7 was never entirely a cryptocurrency network and relied on captured states. Thanks 2 everyone who supported and hugest s/o to the OSC for turning this hypothesis into an investigation. www.opensourcecentre.org/research/the...
opensourcecentre.org
The Big Shor
OSC and TRM Labs reveal how the Kremlin-backed A7 Network used the international correspondent banking system and Kyrgyzstan to likely move billions of dollars of Russian payments through the global f...
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Jane Coaston @janecoaston.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
like c'mon www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXpb...
youtube.com
Muggsy Bogues' Greatest Hits with the Hornets
YouTube video by NBA
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Mark Stryker @markstryker.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
In honor of tiny Cape Verde's shocking 0-0 draw with powerhourse Spain in today's World Cup match. www.youtube.com/watch?v=My6J...
youtube.com
The Cape Verdean Blues
YouTube video by Horace Silver - Topic
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Pawel Swidlicki @pswidlicki.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Yes, exactly this. It's a matter of pure cynical convenience bsky.app/profile/dank...
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Pawel Swidlicki @pswidlicki.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
It's doubly grotesque that Farage is seeing to rile up racial animosity in the UK off the back of the Nowak murder in direct contravention of the family's wishes and also given his own background in legitimising and amplifying bigotry around CEE migrants earlier on his career before his latest pivot
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
The low desk!
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
In addition, literal stacks of M4000 chemical bombs, used by the Assad regime to drop sarin on civilians in 3 recorded incidents, were found and photographed. Yet more evidence everything we published at Bellingcat based on our open source investigations of chemical attacks was accurate.
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Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
There is literally news about India that I can't get anywhere but Twitter (that's not good, it's an indication of how cloistered information has become under a fascist regime). There are maybe about 20 active Indians on this site.
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