Nick Donovan
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nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Nick Donovan
@nickpdonovan.bsky.social
730 followers 770 following 3.6K posts
Corruption, conflict finance, investigative journalist. Winner of Fetisov journalism prize.
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Nick Donovan @nickpdonovan.bsky.social · Jul 14
Got a problem? Kill them. Thread on two cases from my Economist article on assassinations in South Africa: 1, a corruption case which domino-like, has just led to the suspension of the police minister; 2, a cop killing which may reveal a military death squad.

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www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Got an enemy? Hire a killer
In South Africa, contract murders are spreading from gangland into wider society
www.economist.com
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Kids looking at vegetables they’ve left until last:
gilbertwhite.bsky.social Gilbert White @gilbertwhite.bsky.social · Sep 26
1776: Some swallows remain.
September 26, 2025 at 8:04 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Groan. Russia has taken a more sensible budget decision than the UK is about to.
The Kremlin has decided to publicly blame the west for a forthcoming tax rise to spare Vladimir Putin from criticism that his war economy is starting to hurt ordinary Russians. The Russian president's top officials, including domestic policy chief Sergei Kirienko, participated in at least one of the meetings on how to divert blame for the economic hardship. The meetings took place in the run-up to Russia's new budget law, which was introduced in September and passed its third reading on Thursday, said two people familiar with the discussions. The budget will raise the rate of value added tax in Russia from 20 per cent to 22 per cent from January, going against Putin's pledge not to raise taxes again before 2030. One of the meetings on how to handle public reaction to the VAT rise was attended by members of the state-controlled media who were issued with a set of guidelines, seen by the Financial Times. These prescribe that the media should place responsibility for the tax rise on the west, arguing it is "not interested in a peaceful settlement" of the Ukraine war. "Your money or your life?" is among the phrases the guidelines recommend using, along with "nothing matters more than security".
November 24, 2025 at 8:11 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
I’d go further. I’d argue there *is* something intrinsically bad with PR. PR professionals are often paid-for liars. Their job isn’t to tell/seek the truth; they have different interests. They should be nowhere near the standards boards of media organisations.
philtinline.bsky.social Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 6d
This raises exactly the right questions, including the role in the oversight of BBC editorial standards of people who work in PR, rather than, say, full-time journalists:
November 20, 2025 at 9:52 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
I’d like to propose a new international etiquette: if you are the person requesting a meeting with someone in a different time zone, then you - the requestor - work out the time in the recipient’s timezone.
November 20, 2025 at 7:50 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
I bet some BlueSkyers are now rooting for the drug-resistant superbugs.
FT headline reading: GSK-backed venture to use Al against drug-resistant superbugs
November 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Very meta
crowby.bsky.social Crowby @crowby.bsky.social · 8d
#BBCNews inexplicably just went live to this like it was a breaking news story which backfired pretty quickly because Sally Philips said FUCK and they had to apologise
November 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
alisonfisk.bsky.social
Something lovely to start the week! 🐙🏺❤️

Ancient clay pots with octopus decoration, made by artisans from Bronze Age Crete some 3,500 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology
My photo collage shows four pottery vessels, all a creamy yellow in colour, with black painted decoration depicting underwater sea-life featuring lively stylised octopuses with writhing tentacles (arms), All on display at Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. Top L - Minoan pithoid storage jar decorated in the “Marine Style” with wide-eyes octopus, argonauts, rocks, and coral. Rounded top tapering down to a narrower base. Short cyclindrical neck flaring out at the mouth with black wavy decoration reminiscent of waves. Loop handles attached to the shoulders of the body. Height 55 cm. From Zakros. 1500-1450 BC Top R - Minoan flask with a rounded body, short cyclindrical neck which flares at the rim, and two small curved handles attached between the top of the spout and the shoulders of the body. Decorated in “Marine Style” which depicts an almost cartoon-like octopus with wide eyes and sucker-lined tentacles which writhe around the vase. Other decorative sea-motifs include sea urchins, seaweed and rocks. Height 27cm. From Palaikastro, 1500-1450 BC Bottom L - alabastron, broad at the base, swelling outwards into a fuller belly before narrowing near the top with a very short cyclindrical neck and a wider flat rimmed mouth. Decorated in “Marine Style” with a wide-eyed octopus among rocks. From Knossos Little Palace, 1450-1370 BC Bottom R - krater with rounded body narrowing at the bottom towards the foot. Wide flaring mouth and rim with black painted wavy decoration, and two sturdy handles attached on each side between the top of the mouth and shoulders of the vessel. Decorated with a central very stylised wide-eyed octopus whose tentacles loop up and down around the body of the pot, 1370-1300 BC
November 17, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
mirandakeeling.com
A woman pretends she isn't reading the book of a man beside her on the bus, who pretends he isn't holding it so it's easier for her to do so.

Art by Steven Rhodes. Words by me.
A cartoon drawing with a slightly surreal style of a woman sitting beside a man on the bus. He allows her to read his book, which has a red cover. They have greenish skin, large eyes and no feet.
November 4, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
spaincivilwartours.bsky.social
The map in my original tweet shows the number of graves, not number of bodies. Andalucía, by some way, has the most in terms of victims. In mass graves as shown in this map or otherwise.
November 16, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
shonatiger.bsky.social
Zimbabwean activist wins German Africa Prize www.dw.com/en/zimbabwea...
Zimbabwean activist wins German Africa Prize – DW – 11/14/2025
Namatai Kwekweza from Zimbabwe has won the German Africa Prize 2025. The young activist receives Germany's highest honor for Africa for her "courageous commitment" to the rule of law and democracy in…
www.dw.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:31 AM
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Such bellicosity shouldn’t pass without note:

China's consul general in Osaka said of comments on Taiwan from Japan’s new PM: if a "filthy neck sticks itself in uninvited, we will cut it off without a moment's hesitation. Are you prepared for that?"

Per FT.
The comments sparked protest from Beijing, where a foreign ministry spokesperson vowed that "China will ultimately be reunified" and added that the country would "decisively crush any schemes to interfere with or obstruct China's reunification efforts". China's consul general in Osaka followed with a post on X, saying that if a "filthy neck sticks itself in uninvited, we will cut it off without a moment's hesita tion. Are you prepared for that?"
November 13, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
womensartbluesky.bsky.social
'Joyous' by contemporary UK printmaker Sarah Morgan #WomensArt
Print featuring two women in swimming costumes mid air jumping into a lake with arms out
November 9, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
christopherjm.ft.com
Totally surreal Mad Max shit. This is Russian forces entering Pokrovsk on the E50 highway under cover of fog. 🎥 Video from Telegram.

How are they able to do this? In large part because of their manpower advantage. Read @fabricedeprez.bsky.social’s story about that here: www.ft.com/content/ebdf...
November 11, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
crooked-marquee.bsky.social
In honor of the Richard Burton's 100th birthday this week, we look back at “The Spy Who Came In From the Cold,” a role that offered him the rare chance to underplay his brash persona. crookedmarquee.com/richard-burt...
November 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
evansmithhist.bsky.social
On 11 November, 1965, Rhodesia announced its Unilateral Declaration of Independence and its break with Britain. For the global far right in the 1960s-70s, Rhodesia became a cause celebre, seen as on the frontline (alongside apartheid South Africa) against communism and multi-racial democracy.
Flyer from the Australian League of Rights in 1965: Rhodesia Today - Australian Tomorrow!
November 11, 2023 at 4:04 AM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
newyorker.com
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
The missing piece of the puzzle is: who, or what, pays GSSG to supply the mercenaries?

If you know the answer please contact me securely. donovannick - AT - protonmail - com
signal: nickpdonovan.01

Read more in this investigation by The Sentry:

thesentry.org/reports/suda...

10/10
Sudan Mercenaries Linked to Business Partner of Top UAE Bureaucrat - The Sentry
November 2025 Download the full alert As the war in Sudan rages on and the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) killings of civilians in the western city El Fasher continues, reports have emerged of Colombian ...
thesentry.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
UN Security Council members should investigate and, if appropriate, freeze the bank accounts of these UAE, Colombian and Panamanian companies - to interrupt the 'mercenarismo' worsening the situation in Sudan.

9/
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
The mercenaries appear to be paid offshore. Contracts signed by Colombian recruits authorize GSSG to transfer their salaries to a Panamanian company, Global Staffing, whose director is Oliveros.

See this video by Noticias Caracol at 6mins30

www.noticiascaracol.com/informes-esp...

8/
https://www.noticiascaracol.com/informes-especiales/el-coronel-retirado-que-estaria-tras-de-reclutamiento-de-mercenarios-colombianos-en-guerra-de-sudan-rg10
t.co
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
To recruit Colombians GSSG partnered with Colombian firm A4SI, reportedly controlled by former Colombian Colonel Álvaro Quijano, who used to work as a foreign legionary in the UAE military. A4SI is owned by Quijano's wife Claudia Oliveros.

Pic: Quijano, via La Silla Vacía

7/
Colonel Álvaro Quijano
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Also in Arabic: the relationship between Alzaabi (owner of GSSG, who provides the Colombian mercenaries to the RSF) and Al Humairi (secretary general of the UAE Presidential Court).

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Chart (in Arabic) showing that Al Humairi and Alzaabi are, or have recently been, co-owners of several companies together.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Alzaabi and Al Humairi have a close business relationship. Al Humairi currently owns 75% of an IT firm, Securetech, while Alzaabi owns 12.5%. Until 2023, Al Humairi also owned 75% of large security guard firm, Securiguard Middle East, while Alzaabi owned 12.5%.

5/
Chart (in English) showing that Al Humairi and Alzaabi are, or have recently been, co-owners of several companies together.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
The Presidential Court supports the UAE's leader, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ), and is chaired by Vice President, MBZ's brother, Sheikh Mansour. The NYT reports that Sheikh Mansour plays "a central role" in arming the RSF.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/w...

4/
The Sheikh Who Conquered Soccer and Coddles Warlords
www.nytimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
The Sentry (@thesentryorg.bsky.social ) can reveal Alzaabi is the business partner of Ahmed Mohamed Al Humairi, the longstanding secretary-general of the UAE's Presidential Court (formerly the Ministry of Presidential Affairs or Diwan).

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Ahmed Mohamed Al Humairi, secretary general in the UAE's Presidential Court.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Nick Donovan
nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Colombian mercenaries are reportedly deployed by UAE-based Global Security Services Group, 100% owned by Mohamed Hamdan Alzaabi. Leaked contracts show GSSG making Colombian recruits sign non-disclosure agreements.

Credit to Santiago Rodríguez Álvarez who broke the story for La Silla Vacía.

2/
Mohamed Hamdan Alzaabi Non Disclosure Agreement from Global Security Services Group given to Colombian recruits, obtained by Colombian media outlet La Silla Vacia. UAE VAT tax certificate listing Mohamed Hamdan Alzaabi as the sole proprietor of Global Security Services Group.
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM