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Tag: Shell

  • One Caribbean Leader Is Going All-Out for Trump Against Venezuela

    PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago—No leader in the Caribbean has embraced the Trump administration’s forceful new military presence in the region like the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

    Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who took office in May, has been unwavering in her support for President Trump, cheering airstrikes against alleged drug boats, allowing U.S. military operations in her country’s waters and permitting an American warship to dock at the capital’s main port. On drug smugglers, she has said the U.S. should “kill them all violently.”

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

    Kejal Vyas

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  • Ghost in the Shell Returns With a New Anime in 2026

    Ghost in the Shell Returns With a New Anime in 2026

    Image: Production IG/Bandai

    Ghost in the Shell is making a comeback, courtesy of a brand-new anime by Scott Pilgrim Takes Off studio Science SARU and longtime franchise studio Production I.G (Kaiju No. 8).

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    Revealed on Saturday morning, the series—currently titled The Ghost in the Shell–will mark the newest anime installment for the franchise since Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 in 2020. Much of the franchise has revolved around the 2002 series Stand Alone Complex through movie and TV sequels and video game spinoffs. Save for a short teaser and poster, no further details on the anime were given, but it’s scheduled to release sometime in 2026.

    TVアニメ『攻殻機動隊（仮）』特報｜2026年放送｜THE GHOST IN THE SHELL

    Created by Masamune Shirow, the original 1989 Ghost in the Shell manga is one of the biggest and most influential Japanese cyberpunk stories around. The majority of the franchise revolves around an anti-crime and counterterrorism group dubbed Public Security Section 9, and more specifically its cyborg field commander Motoko Kusanagi. Beyond Stand Alone Complex, folks likely glommed onto Shell thanks to the 1995 film, which garnered a huge cult following on home video and is now considered one of the best sci-fi films ever. And if they didn’t see either of those, they probably know of the 2017 live-action movie, which…exists.

    Still, even if you haven’t seen anything from Ghost in the Shell, you’ve seen stuff that was influenced by it, like the Matrix films, Cyberpunk 2077, Avatar, and plenty more. The franchise has been in a weird place for a few years now, but maybe SARU and I.G can revitalize it with whatever their plans are with this upcoming anime.

    Image for article titled Ghost in the Shell Returns With a New Anime in 2026

    Image: Science SARU/Production I.G/Bandai

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Justin Carter

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  • Long-Lost Bombs From the World Wars Are Increasingly Likely to Blow Up, Scientists Say

    Long-Lost Bombs From the World Wars Are Increasingly Likely to Blow Up, Scientists Say

    Live ordnance from both the First and Second World Wars are more likely to detonate as they age, according to a new study published in Royal Society Open Science.

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    “The munitions are continuously deteriorating, resulting in the release of hazardous materials into the environment, potentially posing environmental and societal risks,” the researchers wrote. “Moreover, as the explosives deteriorate over time, often resulting from inferior storage conditions or the presence of undesired factors such as moisture and certain metals, the munitions may become increasingly sensitive to external stimuli and susceptible to accidental detonation.”

    The team studied Amatols, explosive combinations of TNT and ammonium nitrate, extracted from historical ordnance in Norway. Amatols were first cooked up in 1915, when the United Kingdom found itself short on artillery shells during the First World War. For several decades—through the Second World War—Amatols were used as a convenient substitute for pure TNT in explosives.

    The ordnance recovered in Norway was live—i.e., set to explode—and was found during explosive ordnance disposal operations designed to avoid that very thing. All the ordnance studied by the team was produced before May 1945 and German-made.

    To test the sensitivity of the bombs, the team used a device called a fallhammer apparatus. The contraption is basically what it sounds like: masses are dropped on an explosive substance to determine the amount of force that is required to catalyze a reaction.

    Surprisingly, the ordnance was wholesale more sensitive to detonation today than it would have been when it was dropped. In the case of one explosive combination (dubbed “substance B” in the research), the explosive was four times more sensitive than expected.

    The team couldn’t determine what made the munitions more sensitive some 80 years after they were dropped. It may be the formation of salts that sensitize the mixture, they posited, or the contamination of the Amatol with metals the substances come into contact with in the ground. It may simple be the bombs losing structural integrity as they’ve sat in the ground over the decades.

    Increasingly sensitive bombs in the ground are a problem all over Europe and, frankly, wherever bombs have been dropped. In Germany, over 2,000 tons of munitions are found annually, and in the UK, thousands of explosive objects are found and safely dealt with each year. In Italy, about 60,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance are found each year, according to Atlas Obscura. And in Belgium, excavating explosive relics of the First World War remains a daily struggle. Overall, there are millions of tons of long-forgotten explosive ordnance, the team estimated.

    Furthermore, even undisturbed ordnance leaches toxic compounds into the ground as it deteriorates, the team wrote, posing a unique, vexing ecological problem.

    The team stressed the importance of getting the historical ordnance out of the ground, and taking even more care than is typical to do so. After all, no one wants to be on the receiving end of a particularly sensitive bombshell.

    More: Who Planted a Bomb That Killed Two People at the 1940 New York World’s Fair?

    Isaac Schultz

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  • [CA, NV] Save Mart / Lucky Supermarkets: Buy $100 In Select Giftcards & Get 1,500 Bonus Points (Airbnb, Disney, Southwest, Starbucks & More) – Doctor Of Credit

    [CA, NV] Save Mart / Lucky Supermarkets: Buy $100 In Select Giftcards & Get 1,500 Bonus Points (Airbnb, Disney, Southwest, Starbucks & More) – Doctor Of Credit

    The Offer

    Save Mart | Lucky

    • Save Mart and Lucky Supermarkets are offering 1,500 bonus points when you buy $100 in select gift card brands:
      • Airbnb
      • Disney
      • Southwest
      • Shell
      • Starbucks
      • Uber

    The Fine Print

    • Expires February 27, 2024
    • Limit $300 in gift card purchases

    Our Verdict

    1,500 store bonus points gets you $15 off future grocery purchases. These are some top brands with can be the equivalent of a 15% discount.

    Hat tip to GC Galore

    William Charles

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  • Shell Earnings Beat Forecasts on Strong Gas Trading; Launches $3.5 Bln Buyback — Update

    Shell Earnings Beat Forecasts on Strong Gas Trading; Launches $3.5 Bln Buyback — Update


    By Christian Moess Laursen

    Shell’s annual profits fell last year, although by less than the market had expected, as the European energy sector grapples with lower oil and gas prices and weaker refining margins.
    

    Still, the London-based energy giant said Thursday that it would buy back $3.5 billion in shares this quarter and hiked its fourth-quarter dividend by 20% to 34.40 cents a share, in line with its promise of lofty shareholder returns despite slipping commodity prices.
    

    

    The oil-and-gas major posted $20.28 billion in full-year profit measured on a net current-cost-of-supplies basis–a metric similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report. This compares with $41.56 billion in 2022 when oil and gas prices soared after Russian invaded Ukraine.
    

    For the fourth quarter, Shell’s profit on a net current-cost-of-supplies basis dropped to $1.38 billion from $6.15 billion in the preceding three-month period, reflecting lower refining margins, margins from crude and oil products trading, and higher operating expenses.
    

    However, adjusted fourth-quarter earnings–which strip out certain commodity-price adjustments and one-time charges–rose to $7.31 billion from $6.22 billion in the third quarter, beating a consensus forecast of $6.04 billion, based on a poll of 24 analysts compiled by Vara Research. The increase was driven by higher trading gains from liquefied natural gas, favorable tax movements, and higher production, Shell said.
    

    Market watchers had expected a dip in quarterly earnings, forecasting results across the integrated energy sector to have been hit by lower oil prices and refining margins.
    

    But despite the weaker market environment, Shell’s key integrated-gas unit, which includes its leading LNG business, posted adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $3.96 billion, up from $2.53 billion in the preceding three months.
    

    “As we enter 2024 we are continuing to simplify our organization with a focus on delivering more value with less emissions,” Chief Executive Wael Sawan said.
    

    The company, the second-biggest by market cap on the FTSE 100 index, also booked a $3.9 billion impairment charge, dragging quarterly net profits, which fell to $474 million from $7.04 billion. This was flagged by the company in January.
    

    Cash flow from operations–a measure of the cash a company generates from normal business operations–rose to $12.575 billion in the quarter, topping a consensus forecast of $11.59 billion, from $12.33 billion in the third quarter.
    

    During the fourth quarter, Shell–Europe’s biggest integrated oil company–produced 901,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day, in line with its targeted range, and 7.1 million metric tons of LNG, likewise in line with its guidance.
    

    Upstream production–the extraction of crude oil and natural gas–also met the targeted range at 1.87 million BOE a day.
    

    For the current quarter, Shell expects an output between 930,000 and 990,000 BOE a day of integrated gas, 7.0 million-7.6 million tons of LNG and an upstream production of 1.73 million-1.93 million BOE a day.
    

    Write to Christian Moess Laursen at christian.moess@wsj.com
    

    

    


    

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    Big Oil’s Using Fortnite, TikTok, And Twitch In Effort To Convince Kids Fossil Fuels Are Cool
    
			
    Big Oil’s Using Fortnite, TikTok, And Twitch In Effort To Convince Kids Fossil Fuels Are Cool
    
			
    

    

    Kids today only care about online free-to-play shooter Fortnite. They don’t even talk about how great gasoline is! Luckily for us, one large oil company wants to change that using Fortnite, TikTok stars, and Twitch streamers. Welcome to Hell. 
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    Dead By Daylight Devs’ New Game Is Fortnite Meets Doom
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    Climate change is bad. I think we can all agree on that. But for kids, who have long lives and futures ahead of them, the prospect of the planet turning into a nightmare sphere of extreme weather and chaos is particularly scary. But don’t worry about all that, kids. Instead, Shell—a massive oil company and one of the many entities directly responsible for destroying our planet—wants you all to know just how rad its fossil fuel products are, and even made a whole Fortnite world for you to enjoy! But to truly enjoy it, you’ll need to use Shell’s V-Power® NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline, of course.
    

    As reported by Media Matters earlier this week, Shell has partnered with map creators to develop “Shell Ultimate Road Trips”, a Fortnite world featuring six different areas to explore in the car of your choice. In the middle of these worlds, players will find a lonely, sad-looking Shell gas station acting as the map’s hub.
    

    The campaign—part of Shell’s pivot back to focusing on gasoline over cleaner energy sources— is designed to promote the company’s “new and improved” premium gasoline. The idea is that in the map, players will need to occasionally fill up at the central Shell gas station and use its new V-Power NiTRO+ fuel to successfully navigate obstacles and courses.
    

    Content creators are being enlisted to create big oil propaganda
    

    To help promote this terrible collaboration, Shell has enlisted various TikTok creators and Twitch streamers in an effort to connect with their large audiences made up of mostly younger individuals.
    

    Media Matters reportedly identified at least a half dozen streamers—including folks like Punisher, NateHill, Chica, and brookeab—with a combined Twitch following of over 5.5 million subscribers—who helped promote Shell’s Fortnite map and fossil fuel products during sponsored streams that racked up over a million views. Some of these creators also promoted the sponsored streams on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to their millions of followers. Media Matters also identified three content creators who advertised the ShellxFortnite map in several videos posted on the gas company’s official YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram accounts.
    

    

    The creators directly promoting Shell’s gasoline propaganda have a combined audience of 8.5 million TikTok followers, 1.5 million Instagram followers, and over 11 million YouTube subscribers. 
    

    In August, Shell even paid out for a sponsored post on IGN as well as a three-part series featuring IGN staff playing Fortnite and exploring the Shell-sponsored map. The videos are covered in Shell logos and featured on a fancy IGN-hosted website dedicated to the oil company’s Fortnite map.
    

    Kids aren’t buying this crap
    

    So how’s all this money and effort paying off? As far as I can tell, not great. For example, looking at that IGN article, it’s got only two comments and both are negative. On YouTube, the IGN videos have mostly received negative comments from viewers, with many calling out the outlet for sponsoring an oil company. Elsewhere, the official trailers put out by Shell for their Fortnite creation are similarly receiving negative comments.
    

    “Drop in this season and complete the objective: ‘Do irreparable damage to the environment with Shell!” is the top-rated comment on this trailer for the map.
    

    This is all part of an ongoing campaign by big oil companies, like Shell, to connect with younger people via online influencers and content creators. In 2021, Earther reported that Shell and Phillips 66 had started campaigns with Instagram influencers. These sponsored deals and ads aren’t just about promoting oil companies and their products. These large corporations know that as climate change gets worse, it’s getting harder to convince young people to keep buying gas-powered cars and supporting the fossil fuel industry.
    

    As Media Matters pointed out, in a 2021 survey of young people between the ages of 16-25, about 75% said the future is frightening because of climate change. It’s hard to sell gasoline and diesel to teens who know it’s destroying the planet and their futures. And it doesn’t look like some Instagram models and Fortnite videos on IGN promoting Shell are going to be enough to change their minds. 
    

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     Zack Zwiezen
    

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    Weaker Energy Prices Temper Shell’s Profit, but Not Cash Payouts for Investors
    
			
    Weaker Energy Prices Temper Shell’s Profit, but Not Cash Payouts for Investors
    
			
    

    Weaker Energy Prices Temper Shell’s Profit, but Not Cash Payouts for Investors
    


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    Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson & Kaia Gerber To Star In Beauty-Centred Thriller ‘Shell’ From Director Max Minghella
    
			
    Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson & Kaia Gerber To Star In Beauty-Centred Thriller ‘Shell’ From Director Max Minghella
    
			
    

    
	By Melissa Romualdi.
    
	Published: 
	
    

    
	
    

    Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber have been tapped to star in the sexy, psychological thriller “Shell”.
    

    The film, directed by Max Minghella, is “set in a near future when humanity’s cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes,” as per the official logline.
    

    Black Bear International will be introducing the project to international buyers in Cannes and will distribute directly in the U.K. and Ireland.
    

    
		
    
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    The synopsis for the upcoming thriller reads: “Struggling actress Samantha (Elisabeth Moss) is given an opportunity to get a free trial at Shell, a pioneering health and beauty company which promises to keep its clients looking young forever. Samantha’s life and career is transformed by the treatment, and she develops a burgeoning friendship with Shell’s CEO, the ultra-glamorous Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson). When a string of former Shell patients go missing under mysterious circumstances, including popular social media star Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber), Samantha starts to fear she may be in danger herself.”
    

    “Shell” is being produced by Automatik’s Fred Berger (“La La Land”, “The Autopsy of Jane Doe”) and Brian Kavanaugh Jones (“Insidious”, “Sinister”), alongside Emmy-nominee Max Minghella for Blank Tape (“Teen Spirit”), Elisabeth Moss and Lindsey McManus for Love & Squalor Pictures (“Shining Girls”) and Alicia Van Couvering (“Cop Car”). The project, which Jamie Bell will executive produce, derives from a script penned by Jack Stanley (“Lou”).
    

    
		
    
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    Minghella, who has established himself with his prolific talent both behind and in front of the camera, made his directorial debut with “Teen Spirit” starring Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric and Rebecca Hall in 2018. The drama premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and SXSW before releasing in theatres in April 2019.
    

    Speaking about the upcoming project, Minghella said: “’Shell’ packs a wildly entertaining genre movie with iconic characters and universal themes that are bound to have people talking long after they leave the theatre.”
    

    Meanwhile, Moss teased that “this is one of the most unique, entertaining and special scripts I’ve ever read and I am so honoured to be a part of it as an actor and flattered that Max [Minghella] came to me with this character, who’s unlike anyone I’ve ever played before.”
    

    
		
    
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    “Having worked with Max for years on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, I’m so thrilled to now be directed by him as I’m a huge fan of his as a filmmaker,” the Emmy-winning actress continued. “We at Love & Squalor are also excited to be working alongside Automatik and Black Bear, two companies we very much admire.”
    

    Moss is currently in production on the Steven Knight/FX limited series, “The Veil”, before she begins production on the sixth and final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” later this year. She’s also set to star opposite Michael Fassbender in the Taika Waititi film “Next Goal Wins”.
    

    Gerber, who recently appeared in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon”, also has a few upcoming projects, including Emma Seligman’s SXSW breakout, “Bottoms”, and the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale” alongside Kristen Wiig and Laura Dern.
    

    Black Bear International’s 2023 Cannes slate includes romantic epic “On Swift Horses” starring Daisy Edgar Jones, Jacob Elordi and Will Poulter, and Timur Bekmambetov’s “Motor City”.
    

    With less than two weeks to go, the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 16.
    

    
				
    

    

    							
    

    								
    

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    Casting Call: Stars Nab A New Role
    


    
							
    
					
    

    				
    
			
    

    	
    

    
	
    

    

    


     Melissa Romualdi
    

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    Russia Wipes Out Exxon’s Stake in Sakhalin Oil-and-Gas Project
    
			
    Russia Wipes Out Exxon’s Stake in Sakhalin Oil-and-Gas Project
    
			
    

    Russia Wipes Out Exxon’s Stake in Sakhalin Oil-and-Gas Project
    


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