Marcus Leroux
@marcusleroux.bsky.social
Reporter at SourceMaterial (www.source-material.org), a small investigative journalism organisation that cannot be held accountable for anything I write here.
Coal-fired data centres at least sound a bit steampunk. Wood-fired data centres just sound deranged. finance.yahoo.com/news/drax-sh...
Drax Shares Surge on Data Center Hopes
Drax Group Plc shares surged to their highest level in over three years as investors bet that UK utilities could become major beneficiaries of the country’s rapidly expanding data center industry.
finance.yahoo.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Coal-fired data centres at least sound a bit steampunk. Wood-fired data centres just sound deranged. finance.yahoo.com/news/drax-sh...
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
Can't recommend today's SourceMaterial offering enough, by @marcusleroux.bsky.social.
It's the story of the son of a lorry driver from Calabria who has often struggled to distance himself from the Italian mafia and is now poised to buy 11 North Sea gasfields
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
It's the story of the son of a lorry driver from Calabria who has often struggled to distance himself from the Italian mafia and is now poised to buy 11 North Sea gasfields
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
North Sea Storm – SourceMaterial
Poised to take control of ‘the backbone of the UK’s energy production’, Franceso Mazzagatti is defending allegations bribery, forgery and fraud
www.source-material.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Can't recommend today's SourceMaterial offering enough, by @marcusleroux.bsky.social.
It's the story of the son of a lorry driver from Calabria who has often struggled to distance himself from the Italian mafia and is now poised to buy 11 North Sea gasfields
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
It's the story of the son of a lorry driver from Calabria who has often struggled to distance himself from the Italian mafia and is now poised to buy 11 North Sea gasfields
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
Francesco Mazzagatti is awaiting approval to buy a terminal that provides a fifth of Britain's gas.
We took a close look at episodes in his career that experts say ought to be of interest to the regulator in charge of stewarding the UK's oil and gas.
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
We took a close look at episodes in his career that experts say ought to be of interest to the regulator in charge of stewarding the UK's oil and gas.
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
North Sea Storm – SourceMaterial
Poised to take control of ‘the backbone of the UK’s energy production’, Franceso Mazzagatti is defending allegations bribery, forgery and fraud
www.source-material.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Francesco Mazzagatti is awaiting approval to buy a terminal that provides a fifth of Britain's gas.
We took a close look at episodes in his career that experts say ought to be of interest to the regulator in charge of stewarding the UK's oil and gas.
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
We took a close look at episodes in his career that experts say ought to be of interest to the regulator in charge of stewarding the UK's oil and gas.
www.source-material.org/mazzagatti-v...
"Transparency is a one-way door". A leaked Amazon document reveals its anxiety over disclosing how much water their data centres use.
Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document obtained by SourceMaterial reveals →
www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-...
www.source-material.org/amazon-leak-...
Leak reveals Amazon plan to keep water use of data centres secret
Amazon strategised about ways to keep the public in the dark over the true extent of its data centres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.
www.source-material.org
October 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
"Transparency is a one-way door". A leaked Amazon document reveals its anxiety over disclosing how much water their data centres use.
this is a dizzying yarn with a drunk Australian getting hit by a car in Paris at its centre and threads leading to the dictator of Congo-Brazzaville and a prominent Irish family via Monaco and Dubai. villagemagazine.ie/dubai-heir-c...
Dubai Heir, Congo Air - Village Magazine
When Paris police picked up a drunk Australian carrying €195,000 in cash, they uncovered an alleged money-laundering scheme led by a Dubai-based Irish horseracing heir linked to British royals.
villagemagazine.ie
October 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM
this is a dizzying yarn with a drunk Australian getting hit by a car in Paris at its centre and threads leading to the dictator of Congo-Brazzaville and a prominent Irish family via Monaco and Dubai. villagemagazine.ie/dubai-heir-c...
I'd love to have attended the meeting where this came up.
September 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I'd love to have attended the meeting where this came up.
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
At dawn in Accra, Ghana, Lydia Bamfo (51) sets out to collect plastic waste. For 25 years she’s battled the tide of rubbish overwhelming her city. Now she says the World Bank’s “solution” has done nothing to help workers like her. 🧵
August 21, 2025 at 12:40 PM
At dawn in Accra, Ghana, Lydia Bamfo (51) sets out to collect plastic waste. For 25 years she’s battled the tide of rubbish overwhelming her city. Now she says the World Bank’s “solution” has done nothing to help workers like her. 🧵
William of Ockham: we're gonna need a bigger blade.
July 16, 2025 at 9:16 AM
William of Ockham: we're gonna need a bigger blade.
Some heartwarming football content from earlier in the week. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Irish League and German clubs to fulfil European Cup tie, 65 years later
Glenavon's 1960-61 European Cup tie against East German champions Wismut failed to go ahead due to the Cold War.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 11, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Some heartwarming football content from earlier in the week. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
On the Kneecap website you can buy a £25 “RUC not welcome tee”, in reference to a police force that was reformed and renamed before Mo Chara was in primary school.
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/the-real-t...
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/the-real-t...
The real trouble with Kneecap
The perils of the single transferable victim
marcusleroux.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM
On the Kneecap website you can buy a £25 “RUC not welcome tee”, in reference to a police force that was reformed and renamed before Mo Chara was in primary school.
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/the-real-t...
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/the-real-t...
A lie can be half way around the world before a preliminary crisis analysis has its trousers on.
June 19, 2025 at 9:19 AM
A lie can be half way around the world before a preliminary crisis analysis has its trousers on.
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
Fresnillo, one of the UK’s largest mining groups, has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents obtained by SourceMaterial →
www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...
www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...
Fresnillo faces $630m demand to restore 'illegally-mined' gold – SourceMaterial
The goldmining giant lost access to a Mexican mine in 2013 — now a court-appointed review says it must return $630m of gold it mined there.
www.source-material.org
May 29, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Fresnillo, one of the UK’s largest mining groups, has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents obtained by SourceMaterial →
www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...
www.source-material.org/fresnillo-so...
I wonder if this cross-examination is building up to the 1976 Republican News column where Adams wrote, cryptically: "I'm an IRA volunteer". www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...
Gerry Adams denies under oath that he was the senior IRA figure released for talks in 1970s
Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has denied under oath that he was the senior officer of the Provisional IRA released from internment as a precondition for talks with British officials about a ceas...
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
May 7, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I wonder if this cross-examination is building up to the 1976 Republican News column where Adams wrote, cryptically: "I'm an IRA volunteer". www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/...
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
Isobel Oakeshott is a Reform cheerleader - but in 2018 she said the Kremlin “struck gold” with Arron Banks, who Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate. The article is still online.
New from @marcusleroux.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/does-isabe...
New from @marcusleroux.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/does-isabe...
Does Isabel Oakeshott still believe Arron Banks was “used by the Russians”?
Oakeshott is a Reform cheerleader but in 2018 she said the Kremlin “struck gold” with the party’s West of England mayoral candidate. The article is still online.
democracyforsale.substack.com
May 1, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Isobel Oakeshott is a Reform cheerleader - but in 2018 she said the Kremlin “struck gold” with Arron Banks, who Reform’s West of England mayoral candidate. The article is still online.
New from @marcusleroux.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/does-isabe...
New from @marcusleroux.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/does-isabe...
this is why I take AI results with a pinch of bitumen.
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
April 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
this is why I take AI results with a pinch of bitumen.
When the White House and the Kremlin announced the Black Sea ceasefire deal, it was noted that the Kremlin statement had set specific conditions.
Condition No.1: That Russia's state agricultural bank be removed from sanctions lists and reconnected to the global banking communication system. 🧵
Condition No.1: That Russia's state agricultural bank be removed from sanctions lists and reconnected to the global banking communication system. 🧵
March 28, 2025 at 10:45 AM
When the White House and the Kremlin announced the Black Sea ceasefire deal, it was noted that the Kremlin statement had set specific conditions.
Condition No.1: That Russia's state agricultural bank be removed from sanctions lists and reconnected to the global banking communication system. 🧵
Condition No.1: That Russia's state agricultural bank be removed from sanctions lists and reconnected to the global banking communication system. 🧵
If eclectic cricketing yarns is what you need to get through present madness, then the latest edition of The Nightwatchman is, as ever, packed with fascinating stuff - and includes something by me on the surprisingly deep roots of cricket in Porto.
www.thenightwatchman.net/wp-content/u...
www.thenightwatchman.net/wp-content/u...
www.thenightwatchman.net
March 4, 2025 at 11:51 AM
If eclectic cricketing yarns is what you need to get through present madness, then the latest edition of The Nightwatchman is, as ever, packed with fascinating stuff - and includes something by me on the surprisingly deep roots of cricket in Porto.
www.thenightwatchman.net/wp-content/u...
www.thenightwatchman.net/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
"A system that ploughs ahead in wilful ignorance of human-caused mass extinction and climate change is only a solution in a particularly nihilistic sense of the word."
Good piece on Starmer's aim to make it even harder for green groups to challenge bad infrastructure projects.
Good piece on Starmer's aim to make it even harder for green groups to challenge bad infrastructure projects.
February 21, 2025 at 9:05 AM
"A system that ploughs ahead in wilful ignorance of human-caused mass extinction and climate change is only a solution in a particularly nihilistic sense of the word."
Good piece on Starmer's aim to make it even harder for green groups to challenge bad infrastructure projects.
Good piece on Starmer's aim to make it even harder for green groups to challenge bad infrastructure projects.
Keir Starmer's unintentionally revealing choice of ecovillain.
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/keir-starm...
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/keir-starm...
Keir Starmer has chosen the wrong hippy to bash
The PM picked a fight with one of the "virtue-signalling zealots" hobbling British growth. There's one small problem.
marcusleroux.substack.com
February 14, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Keir Starmer's unintentionally revealing choice of ecovillain.
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/keir-starm...
marcusleroux.substack.com/p/keir-starm...
Compelling work by my tenacious colleague Costanza Gambarini with Poline Tchoubar and @asiaballuffier.bsky.social of @lemonde.fr (French with English subtitles available). www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ct360
Au Mozambique, des civils séquestrés par des soldats financés par TotalEnergie
Dailymotion video by Le Monde
www.dailymotion.com
January 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Compelling work by my tenacious colleague Costanza Gambarini with Poline Tchoubar and @asiaballuffier.bsky.social of @lemonde.fr (French with English subtitles available). www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ct360
We’re looking for an investigative journalist to join us. Details below.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
SourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593
SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk
January 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
We’re looking for an investigative journalist to join us. Details below.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
We're hiring! If you're an investigative journalist with a nose for a story and a taste for collaborative working, we'd love to hear from you.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
SourceMaterial, Senior Investigative Journalist - London (Central), London (Greater) job with SourceMaterial | 111593
SourceMaterial is looking for a senior investigative journalist.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk
January 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
We're hiring! If you're an investigative journalist with a nose for a story and a taste for collaborative working, we'd love to hear from you.
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
www.cisionjobs.co.uk/job/111593/s...
Reposted by Marcus Leroux
Tomorrow starts the AFD party conference.
They will decide on a final election programme. So let’s have a look at what the proposal says on security and defence policy.
They will decide on a final election programme. So let’s have a look at what the proposal says on security and defence policy.
January 10, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Tomorrow starts the AFD party conference.
They will decide on a final election programme. So let’s have a look at what the proposal says on security and defence policy.
They will decide on a final election programme. So let’s have a look at what the proposal says on security and defence policy.
Reminded of JK Galbraith's description of "private affluence, public squalor" in The Affluent Society.
"The city of Los Angeles, in modern times, was the near-classic study in the problem of social balance."
bsky.app/profile/pale...
"The city of Los Angeles, in modern times, was the near-classic study in the problem of social balance."
bsky.app/profile/pale...
“Will pay any amount.”
Feels like one of those futile pleas we’re going to hear from wealthy people more and more in the era of climate change.
Feels like one of those futile pleas we’re going to hear from wealthy people more and more in the era of climate change.
January 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reminded of JK Galbraith's description of "private affluence, public squalor" in The Affluent Society.
"The city of Los Angeles, in modern times, was the near-classic study in the problem of social balance."
bsky.app/profile/pale...
"The city of Los Angeles, in modern times, was the near-classic study in the problem of social balance."
bsky.app/profile/pale...
Successive posters on window at a closed Blackwell’s bookshop suggest Waterstones never quite won hearts and minds on the shopfloor.
January 6, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Successive posters on window at a closed Blackwell’s bookshop suggest Waterstones never quite won hearts and minds on the shopfloor.