The shadow in an image can be the key to narrowing down your geolocation. Bellingcat’s new Shadow Finder Tool helps by automating the process- searching the globe for matching shadow angles to provide clues about where an image was taken. bellingcat.com/resources/2024… The tool is similar to popular open source resource SunCalc, but searches multiple locations at once, providing a specific area to investigate. colab.research.google.com/github/Belling…

In this guide Bellingcat Tech Fellow @belisards shows you how you can use artificial intelligence models to speed up reviewing and categorising images that you’ve collected for research; demonstrating our new tool the Smart Image Sorter. bellingcat.com/resources/how-… The Smart Image Sorter is a free-to-access tool that uses zero-shot models, and requires no coding know-how. colab.research.google.com/github/belling…

Tell us where to point satellites to take high quality satellite imagery! 🛰️
Put the coordinates of the area of interest and why it is important for research purposes in the comments. We will select a few of your suggestions to publish with analysis by Bellingcat researchers... Photos from @planet and @umbraspace satellites usually cost a fee so this is a unique opportunity to get high resolution snapshots of an area of interest for free.

Protests against police violence led to the end of the 15 year rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh this week. In our latest the Bellingcat team geolocates videos just before the PM's fall, showing violent responses to the civil unrest. bellingcat.com/news/2024/08/0… More than 200 people, mostly students, were reportedly killed, making it the worst violence in the country since independence. Protests began in July with students demanding an end to the government job quota which restricted access to 30% of jobs, reserved for veteran relatives.

Violent riots by groups associated with far-right networks have erupted in the UK. Social media videos of groups setting fire to hotels, police vans and breaking into shops are everywhere. It’s important to archive this material so it doesn’t disappear. Here's how to do that… 🧵 The Bellingcat Auto Archiver tool is free-to-access and automatically archives any link added to a spreadsheet. It will save the content for you in a repository and also extract vital details like the time it was posted and what platform it was posted on. github.com/bellingcat/aut…

Identifying weapons is a skill that comes with high risk. Misidentification can add to false narratives, and in clearance efforts, even death. Bellingcat Tech Writing Fellow @Andro_Mathewson provides guidance on verifying explosive ordnance. bellingcat.com/resources/how-… Explosive Ordnance are weapons that can detonate without warning, killing or injuring civilians long after conflicts have ended.

US neo-Nazi Robert Rundo’s federal rioting and conspiracy charges have been reinstated by a US appeals court. This means that Rundo should finally be facing trial on these charges. He faces up to ten years in prison.

Bellingcat has been tracking Rundo’s movements for a while. Here’s a thread on our coverage of the co-founder of ‘Active Clubs’ and the Rise Above Movement (RAM) ...

A Russian vessel was granted clearance by a UN inspection body to call at a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen after surreptitiously exporting grain from occupied Crimea, an investigation by Bellingcat and @lloydslist finds. bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/1… The bulk carrier, Zafar, concealed its whereabouts in Crimea by switching off its Automated Identification System (AIS) before docking at Sevastopol in mid-May, but its presence there was captured on Planet satellite imagery.

The secretive far-right festival ‘White Boy Summer’ is back; an event experts warn is used to grow extremist networks. @colbornemichael and Bellingcat community member @niemisentee reveal the hidden location and nature of the event organised by neo-nazis…bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/1… Bellingcat first investigated Finland’s ‘White Boy Summer Fest’ (WBS) in 2023. With the help of @bellingcatgap and our Discord community, we geolocated both the 2023 and 2022 events to two separate rural campgrounds in the Kanta-Häme region. bellingcat.com/news/2023/08/3…

Latest: An analysis of open source evidence, as well as multiple missile experts, have pointed to a Russian launched Kh-101 cruise missile being the weapon that struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv bellingcat.com/news/2024/07/0… The July 8th attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital has left three children dead and 16 injured according to the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU). More are thought to still be under the rubble.

In our latest documentary, Bellingcat and @scrippsnews used satellite imagery and open source videos and photos to identify dozens of cultural heritage and religious sites that have either been damaged or destroyed in Gaza. bellingcat.com/news/2024/06/2… The Israel Defense Forces told us there “is no doctrine that aims to cause maximal damage to civilian infrastructure regardless of military necessity,” However some sites examined by @scrippsnews and Bellingcat appear to have been targeted, including cemeteries and mosques.

Darfur’s largest city is at risk of falling to the Rapid Support Forces, leading experts to warn of the real risk of genocide. Bellingcat and our partners @beamreports have been examining the deteriorating situation over the past month... bellingcat.com/news/africa/20… Using open source footage and satellite imagery, Bellingcat researcher @Emythat analysed several areas within and surrounding Al Fashir that were impacted by recent clashes.

The military junta in Myanmar is losing control of large areas due to anti-coup resistance fighters and ethnic rebel groups. Bellingcat’s @pooja_Chaudhuri monitors the impact on civilians as the military reacts violently to its territorial losses. bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-w… The military’s response to losing ground has been characterised by increased attacks against civilians. “Over the last five months, there has been a five-fold increase in [military] airstrikes against civilians,” the UN reported in March.

Bellingcat’s @Pooja_Chaudhuri identified four Indian far-right media outlets that are receiving non-transparent foreign donations. Two sites could be linked to a US-based group associated with the RSS, the group that birthed far-right Hindu ideology. bellingcat.com/news/2024/05/2… India’s current government has increased the scrutiny of NGOs, journalists and human rights groups. This has led to the suspension of their licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) which permits organisations to receive funds from abroad.

A tugboat that has not been seen since an oil spill that caused damages totalling a reported $23 million in waters off Trinidad and Tobago has been detained by the Angolan Navy. New from @obtusatum and @GuardianTT … bellingcat.com/news/2024/05/2… Earlier this year we investigated an unidentified oil tanker spilling oil across beaches, coral reefs and mangroves in Trinidad and Tobago. We identified the vessel as the barge “Gulfstream”. It'd been pulled by a tugboat named Solo Creed. bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/1…

UN Special Rapporteurs have called on the Colombian Government to urgently investigate the fatal shooting of indigenous journalist Abelardo Liz, following an investigation by Bellingcat and @cerosetenta

@MaryLawlorhrds @Irenekhan @cvoulebellingcat.com/un-rapporteurs… With @cerosetenta we investigated the killing of Abelardo Liz, an indigenous Colombian journalist who was shot on camera whilst covering clashes between protesters and the army, in a land demonstration in Corinto, Colombia in 2020. Here’s 5 things we uncovered about his death

A real life coyote or a con? Bellingcat’s Carlos Gonzales @Mabl2K and @CLIP_AmericaLat investigate a TikTok influencer claiming to help people cross the US-Mexico border undetected...
bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/3… Bellingcat and Latin American investigative partner El Clip reviewed more than 100 posts that use TikTok to advertise alleged smuggling services. Out of all the TikTok posts, the account of a man who goes by the name Maldonado stood out.

New: Bellingcat and @scrippsnews followed one IDF battalion’s movements across Gaza, geolocating their social posts to highlight IDF involvement in systematic destruction of Palestinian land and livelihoods: bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/2… The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal described the nature of the systematic and widespread attacks on civilian housing and infrastructure in Gaza “domicide”. ohchr.org/en/press-relea…

Latest: Bellingcat, with our partners @LloydsList , reveal two more ships involved in Russian grain smuggling operations from occupied Crimea to Iran. bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/2… Last year Bellingcat revealed Russian Ships were violating international maritime guidelines by turning off AIS location trackers and we tracked the ships using SAR satellite imagery, discovering the action of ship-ship transfers of grain in the black sea. bellingcat.com/news/2023/08/2…

NEW: Bellingcat’s @Emythat geolocates strikes carried out in Rafah after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan. bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/1… On Monday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a date had been set for a large-scale Israeli military offensive in Rafah, despite there being approximately 1.5 million people taking refuge in Rafah, following previous orders to evacuate the North of Gaza.

Exclusive: Today, our reporting on wanted narco boss Christopher Kinahan Sr. continues as we reveal with @ST__Ireland that the Irish Cartel boss’ Google Reviews also exposed others he travelled with, dined with and interacted with bellingcat.com/news/2024/04/0… Last week, Bellingcat and the Sunday Times reported that Kinahan Sr. had left a detailed log of his movements by posting Google reviews for a variety of plush and swanky establishments. bellingcat.com/news/2024/03/3…