Nick Donovan
@nickpdonovan.bsky.social
Corruption, conflict finance, investigative journalist. Winner of Fetisov journalism prize.
Pinned
Nick Donovan
@nickpdonovan.bsky.social
· Jul 14
Got an enemy? Hire a killer
In South Africa, contract murders are spreading from gangland into wider society
www.economist.com
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.
1/
www.economist.com/middle-east-...
1/
www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Good use of titanic here
Donald Trump is backing away, at least for now, from a titanic confrontation. But by even briefly pursuing the notion of seizing territory from an ally, he has done huge damage to America’s credibility and thus to its security: econ.st/45lkknc
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
January 23, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Good use of titanic here
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Now, I'm no clairvoyant. But I sense a Fitch downgrade of Afreximbank might be in the offing:
“PRESS STATEMENT
Cairo, Egypt… Friday, 23 January 2026: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has today officially terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.”
“PRESS STATEMENT
Cairo, Egypt… Friday, 23 January 2026: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has today officially terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.”
January 23, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Now, I'm no clairvoyant. But I sense a Fitch downgrade of Afreximbank might be in the offing:
“PRESS STATEMENT
Cairo, Egypt… Friday, 23 January 2026: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has today officially terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.”
“PRESS STATEMENT
Cairo, Egypt… Friday, 23 January 2026: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has today officially terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.”
We could take this fellow to a cricket game and keep him busy for three to five days, keep him out of everybody’s hair ?
January 22, 2026 at 10:34 PM
We could take this fellow to a cricket game and keep him busy for three to five days, keep him out of everybody’s hair ?
Worth a read to the end.
/thread/
There is an ongoing debate about the current size of the Russian AFV fleet, losses it has taken, new production level storage+reactivation, etc.
Here is my take on the topic
There is an ongoing debate about the current size of the Russian AFV fleet, losses it has taken, new production level storage+reactivation, etc.
Here is my take on the topic
January 22, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Worth a read to the end.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Abdelraouf (1st pic) celebrated his wedding just a few days ago
January 21, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Abdelraouf (1st pic) celebrated his wedding just a few days ago
Reposted by Nick Donovan
In case you forgot about Israel massacring journalists amongst all the noise
January 21, 2026 at 5:01 PM
In case you forgot about Israel massacring journalists amongst all the noise
Reposted by Nick Donovan
For 9 months he worked 18hr days signing visas and arguing with the Gestapo.
"After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed. I returned to my desk and stayed there" /15
"After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed. I returned to my desk and stayed there" /15
January 21, 2026 at 12:52 PM
For 9 months he worked 18hr days signing visas and arguing with the Gestapo.
"After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed. I returned to my desk and stayed there" /15
"After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed. I returned to my desk and stayed there" /15
I get why everyone is saying the old order is never coming back, and I don’t mean to sound complacent, but aren’t we just one blood clot away from a pretty radical change in US domestic and foreign policy?
January 20, 2026 at 4:23 PM
I get why everyone is saying the old order is never coming back, and I don’t mean to sound complacent, but aren’t we just one blood clot away from a pretty radical change in US domestic and foreign policy?
Trump to impose tariffs on foreign think tank exports.
“Foreign exporters absorbed only 4% of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%.
“Rather than acting as a tax on foreign producers, the tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans.”
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
“Rather than acting as a tax on foreign producers, the tariffs functioned as a consumption tax on Americans.”
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
Americans Are the Ones Paying for Tariffs, Study Finds
New research contradicts President Trump’s claim that foreigners are footing the bill.
www.wsj.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Trump to impose tariffs on foreign think tank exports.
“There is no suggestion” is the UK media lawyer jargon inserted when you might libel someone; which opens up the possibility of getting a Carter Ruck letter “on behalf of our client, Veronika”
also this story contains the sentence "There is no suggestion that Veronika’s skills are evidence of the evolution of an ominous new species of super-cow," surely an early front-runner for sentence of the year
people are makin cow tools jokes about this and why not, but as a longtime believer in the sentience of non-human animals and great lover of cows in particular, I hope people will check out the story in full
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
January 20, 2026 at 4:29 AM
“There is no suggestion” is the UK media lawyer jargon inserted when you might libel someone; which opens up the possibility of getting a Carter Ruck letter “on behalf of our client, Veronika”
Love this. Bubble breaks.
January 18, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Love this. Bubble breaks.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Thread. Clear that political, rather than state machinery, dysfunction to blame here.
Thought I’d do a mega hread on NPR, partly because I’ve seen some London based commentary that doesn’t really get the bigger picture quite right imho
January 15, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Thread. Clear that political, rather than state machinery, dysfunction to blame here.
Riboflavin baby.
Not enough of you read cereal boxes as a kid eating breakfast, and it shows.
January 13, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Riboflavin baby.
Riboflavin baby.
Not enough of you read cereal boxes as a kid eating breakfast, and it shows.
January 13, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Riboflavin baby.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
this is hugely important - not just for markets/finance but for everyone, given the Fed's importance in setting interest rates and central influence on global economy www.ft.com/content/a423...
US prosecutors launch criminal investigation into Federal Reserve’s Jay Powell
Central bank chair says grand jury subpoenas are retaliation for refusal to bow to demand to cut interest rates
www.ft.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:00 AM
this is hugely important - not just for markets/finance but for everyone, given the Fed's importance in setting interest rates and central influence on global economy www.ft.com/content/a423...
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Everyone knows babies heads are too big but nobody does anything about it
January 11, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Everyone knows babies heads are too big but nobody does anything about it
Last night I watched the documentary about Seymour Hersh (yes, I know) and what was striking were all the telegrams of support for William Calley, mass murderer at My Lai.
Good morning.
The top donor for a GoFundMe set up to benefit the ICE goon who murdered Renee Good in Minneapolis?
That would be Bill Ackman
The top donor for a GoFundMe set up to benefit the ICE goon who murdered Renee Good in Minneapolis?
That would be Bill Ackman
January 11, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Last night I watched the documentary about Seymour Hersh (yes, I know) and what was striking were all the telegrams of support for William Calley, mass murderer at My Lai.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
January's theme: Sculpture
IFE HEAD, 14th – early 15th century. British Museum, London, UK.
This striking brass head from Ife, Nigeria was made with the lost wax casting technique and attests to the sophistication of the Yoruba culture in West Africa.
#arthistory #art #Sculpture #Africa
IFE HEAD, 14th – early 15th century. British Museum, London, UK.
This striking brass head from Ife, Nigeria was made with the lost wax casting technique and attests to the sophistication of the Yoruba culture in West Africa.
#arthistory #art #Sculpture #Africa
January 8, 2026 at 4:39 PM
January's theme: Sculpture
IFE HEAD, 14th – early 15th century. British Museum, London, UK.
This striking brass head from Ife, Nigeria was made with the lost wax casting technique and attests to the sophistication of the Yoruba culture in West Africa.
#arthistory #art #Sculpture #Africa
IFE HEAD, 14th – early 15th century. British Museum, London, UK.
This striking brass head from Ife, Nigeria was made with the lost wax casting technique and attests to the sophistication of the Yoruba culture in West Africa.
#arthistory #art #Sculpture #Africa
It’d be cheaper to buy up every Mercator projection map in the world and burn them.
Not picking on Barry here but I see this sort of confused math a lot. There may be more than $50bn worth of minerals under Greenland; that does not mean it is profitable for America to pay current Greenlanders $50bn to agree to become American territory. Think about it: 1/4
Er zit wel wat meer dan 50miljard in de grond in Groenland…
January 9, 2026 at 6:52 PM
It’d be cheaper to buy up every Mercator projection map in the world and burn them.
I’m totally visiting his presidential library after he sadly passes. Genuinely funny to visit the football peace prize and this whiner peace prize and the ‘presidential walk of fame’ with little put downs of previous presidents and with two portraits of himself.
Trump tells Hannity he will accept Machado’s Nobel Prize when she gives it to him.
So embarrassing.
So embarrassing.
January 9, 2026 at 7:41 AM
I’m totally visiting his presidential library after he sadly passes. Genuinely funny to visit the football peace prize and this whiner peace prize and the ‘presidential walk of fame’ with little put downs of previous presidents and with two portraits of himself.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Anyone seen David ?
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
January 7, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Anyone seen David ?
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
I've been thinking a lot about this Carl Sandburg poem I first read years ago. Its meaning is more resonant at a moment of collective forgetfulness about the horrors we have caused and endured as humans.
March 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I've been thinking a lot about this Carl Sandburg poem I first read years ago. Its meaning is more resonant at a moment of collective forgetfulness about the horrors we have caused and endured as humans.
Anyone seen David ?
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
January 7, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Anyone seen David ?
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
A weirdly specific Soylent Green sub brand.
Reposted by Nick Donovan
Lord Salisbury, the Conservative leader, declared that the Irish were racially unfit for self-government.
"You would not confide free representative institutions to the Hottentots ... nor would you confide them to the Oriental natives in India".
Self-government was for "people of Teutonic race".
"You would not confide free representative institutions to the Hottentots ... nor would you confide them to the Oriental natives in India".
Self-government was for "people of Teutonic race".
January 7, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Lord Salisbury, the Conservative leader, declared that the Irish were racially unfit for self-government.
"You would not confide free representative institutions to the Hottentots ... nor would you confide them to the Oriental natives in India".
Self-government was for "people of Teutonic race".
"You would not confide free representative institutions to the Hottentots ... nor would you confide them to the Oriental natives in India".
Self-government was for "people of Teutonic race".