Researching China isn’t easy. With many foreign sites blocked, journalists depend on domestic platforms. Even under tight controls, Chinese apps are the main window into the country. Chu Yang’s latest guide explains how to research Xiaohongshu (Rednote). www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...
Breaking: Kinahan cartel leader Daniel Kinahan has been arrested in Dubai. It follows a Bellingcat investigation last month that traced him to an MMA event in Dubai - providing the first proof that the cartel's leadership was still in hiding in the UAE. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
India has exported more than 320 million unapproved synthetic opioid pills to West Africa in just three years. Trade data shows over 1,400 shipments of tapentadol — a potent painkiller — were sent to a region already facing an opioid crisis. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04...
Occasional missile strikes on recreational-sized boats doesn't do shit to stop the cocaine transported on commercial cargo ships, aircraft, and overland
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/w...
Last week the @npr.org team interviewed our researcher @godin.bsky.social about the obstacles faced by those looking for open source information on the Iran-Israel-US conflict and why the development of new tools is important within this space: www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...
In the wake of the Iranian attacks on the UAE, the country’s attorney general warned that publication of images or videos of strikes was illegal. People were also encouraged to report anyone sharing photos or videos of the strikes to authorities.
www.youtube.com/shorts/J04UK...
Can a journalist with press credentials ask JD Vance why he follows an account like this? Is this better or worse for the safety of the Jewish community than a college student wearing a keffiyeh?
Latest: Bellingcat has found close to 800 Hungarian government emails and associated passwords online, which in some cases have exposed confidential data of military personnel and civil servants. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04...
When Bondi took over, the DOJ declined to prosecute a staggering 23,000 criminal cases, including those stemming from yearslong investigations into charges of terrorism, white collar crime and drugs.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Bellingcat found 31 posts with AI-generated imagery shared on social media by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam and West Bengal in December that appeared to meet the United Nations’ definition of hate speech. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
New YouTube doc out today by the brilliant team at Search Party. A deep dive into the Kinahan cartel and our ongoing investigations with @johnmooneyirl.bsky.social into their global (and surprisingly digital) footprints.
We train thousands of journalists a year on PACER. For the public, we’re showing our tricks for finding stories in the federal courts to the next 100 new paid subscribers between now and Friday evening.
Take advantage of the limited time offer here.
www.courtwatch.news/p/learn-our-...
It was a privilege to be a small part of a large group of Bellingcat volunteers and researchers who helped with this. I hope his research inspires other folks to try and tackle other historical mysteries. There’s also a great book on men like the shooter: Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning
Myrlie Evers is celebrating her 93rd birthday today. She successfully pushed for the prosecution of the killer of her husband, Medgar Evers. In 1995, she chaired the national NAACP, helping rescue the civil rights organization from the brink of bankruptcy.
mississippitoday.org/2025/03/17/1...
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.
Last week we revealed that former UFC fighter Mounir "The Sniper" Lazezz had been photographed with two of the leaders of the Kinahan cartel at a Dubai MMA event he organized. Now, records we uncovered raise serious questions about his relationship with the senior leaders of the Irish cartel.
The Singularity is upon us: Apple's AI summarized a text message that read "I'm still down to clown if you are" to.... "clown event still possible."
What could possibly go wrong?
Trump's assertion here that the Tomahawk is "generic" and that "Iran has some Tomahawks" is absurd and a lie.
The only party to this conflict that operates the Tomahawk is the United States.
Read our analysis into the Tomahawk strike in Minab here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
We found footage of Daniel and Christy Kinahan at the 971 Fighting Championship MMA event in Dubai last summer, the first visual evidence in years that the cartel leaders remain in the UAE. Read our full @bellingcat.com investigation in collab with @thetimes.com 👇 www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...
As @johnmooneyirl.bsky.social reports in the @thetimes.com , Christy’s “appearance in the open, seated in such a public place, is all the more remarkable because it is so likely to draw attention, a stark departure for Kinahan, who typically operates like a ghost.” www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...
In most of the footage in which the man is visible, his hand partially obscures his face. But the Sunday Times subsequently confirmed his identity with three sources who either knew the cartel leader personally or have investigated his activities.
After discovering the photo of Daniel Kinahan, we searched for more footage to verify the gangland figure was in the crowd. During this process, we also identified a man who strongly resembled his father and the founder of the cartel, Christy Kinahan. He was wearing a white Panama hat with blue band
Daniel Kinahan, who authorities say is responsible for managing the cartel’s vast drug trafficking operations, has been heavily involved in combat sports since the early 2010s. He was photographed next to 971 FC founder and former UFC fighter Mounir “The Sniper” Lazzez.
The Kinahan cartel is one the world’s most notorious criminal organizations. Worth an estimated €1.5 billion, it is involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and money laundering operations. Investigators have also linked the gang to Iran’s intelligence services and Hezbollah.
We found two of the three heads of the Kinahan Cartel sitting front row at an MMA event in Dubai last June. These are the first images of them in years. Along with Christopher Jr., the three Irishmen are the subject of a collective $15 million reward for information leading to their arrest.
Official statements placing U.S. forces in the area – along w/ analysis of social posts, videos, sat. images – suggest U.S. forces bombed a school in Minab, Iran during strikes targeting an IRGC base. Over 150 were killed, Iranian officials say. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/w...
Trying to make sense of an aircraft’s movements during a conflict? Context is everything. That’s why we built Turnstone, an open source tool that searches historical flight data to allow researchers to explore flight patterns over time and in specific locations. www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...
