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Oil giant Shell makes huge €8.7B profit in first quarter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

Oil and gas company Shell earned €8.66 billion ($9.6 billion) in profits in the first quarter of 2023, the company said Thursday in a press release.By disrupting energy supply chains in Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine has driven up prices across the Continent, giving a major boost to energy companies’ earnings, riling Kyiv and putting pressure on European governments to raise their tax rate. Last week, British oil company BP announced it had made €4.54 billion (£4 billion) profits over the same period.Both companies made record profits last year: Shell earned €36 billion ($40 billion) and BP €25 billion ($27.7 billion).Ukraine isn’t happy — and wants oil companies to use their bumper profits to help it out.In an interview with POLITICO in March, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko urged major energy companies to donate windfall profits due to the war, which he estimated at “more than $200 billion” (€180 billion), to help his country ...

A poisoned chalice awaits Turkey’s election winner: The economy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

Don’t envy whoever wins Turkey’s election this month. The victor could immediately be blown off course by strong economic headwinds. In the first decade of his 20-year rule, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rode an economic boom — driven in part by manufacturers and exporters from conservative Anatolian heartlands that supported his ruling AK Party — turning Turkey into one of the buzzing emerging markets to watch. Robust growth — averaging more than 7 percent annually between 2002 and 2007 — was once Erdoğan’s proudest boast.Over the second decade of his rule, the story was exactly the opposite, as the president took absolute control over monetary policy and insisted on his unorthodox theory that high interest rates cause inflation. Prices raged out of control and debates over the cost of staples, from onions to cucumbers, have figured prominently in the run-up to the May 14 election.The data paint a grim picture of turbulence. According to the Turkish Sta...

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected to visit Int’l Criminal Court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Netherlands on Thursday for a surprise visit to the city that is home to the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy’s visit to The Hague, which hosts the ICC and the United Nations’ top judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, came a day after he denied that Ukrainian forces were responsible for what the Kremlin called an attempt to assassinate Putin in a drone attack.On a visit to Helsinki on Wednesday, Zelenskyy told reporters: “We didn’t attack Putin. We leave it to (the) tribunal.”While Zelenskyy’s visit to the ICC was not officially confirmed, the court’s staff on Thursday raised a Ukrainian flag next to its own flag outside the building.Ukraine’s Air Force Command said early Thursday that Russian forces attacked multiple Ukrainian regions overnight with Iranian-made drones. Air ...

Israeli forces kill 3 wanted Palestinians in West Bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops on Thursday killed three Palestinians wanted in connection with a deadly attack against Israelis, the Israeli military said, the latest bloodshed in a relentless wave of violence.Forces entered the heart of the flashpoint city of Nablus in the early morning hours and raided an apartment where the men were located, according to a statement from the military. Troops and the suspects exchanged fire and the three men were killed.The military accuses the men of being behind an attack last month on a car near a Jewish West Bank settlement that killed a British-Israeli mother and two of her daughters. It said two of the men, identified as Hassan Katnani, Maed Mitsri, were members of the Hamas militant group. It described the third man killed, Ibrahim Hura, as a senior operative who had assisted the other suspects.The Palestinian Health Ministry said three people were killed in the fighting but did not immediately identify them. The violence in Nablus...

Fuel depot ablaze near key Crimea bridge in Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

A fuel depot caught fire early Wednesday morning (3 May) near a bridge connecting Russia's mainland to Crimea, a Russian government official reported. Days earlier, Moscow had blamed Ukraine for a fire that broke out in an oil depot at Sevastopol.In videos posted to Russian social media, flames and black smoke billowed from what appeared as large tanks emblazoned in red with the warning "Flammable".VeniaminKondratyev said that the fire was classified as having the highest level of difficulty on Telegram, noting that no one had been injured.Kondratyev confirmed that the fire broke out in Volna village. The village is located near the Crimean Bridge over the Kerch Strait. This bridge connects the mainland with the Crimean Peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.This incident occurred just days after a Russian fuel depot in Sevastopol, Crimea was set on fire by a drone attack in what Moscow deemed a Ukrainian strike.Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the Sevastopol attacks...

Israelis block roads in protest against Netanyahu legal plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israelis blocked roads and demonstrated on Thursday against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary, hoping to ramp up pressure on lawmakers after parliament reconvened this week following a month-long recess.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paused the overhaul in March after intense pressure and the opposing sides are trying to reach a compromise agreement. But in a sign of the mistrust of his intentions, tens of thousands have continued to protest every Saturday night since.Thursday’s midweek protest was expected to be smaller, but demonstrators are hoping to remind legislators of their presence and their ability to disrupt the country over their opposition to the overhaul.Major roads and intersections in seaside Tel Aviv and elsewhere were choked off by dozens of protesters waving Israeli flags. Demonstrations took place outside the homes of Israel’s ceremonial president and of the country’s National Security Minister Ita...

Marseille, Lens in pivotal game for Champions League spots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

Lens has been almost invincible at home this season. Marseille has been flourishing on the road.The two meet this weekend in the former coal mining town for a showdown likely to decide who ends up runner-up in the French league. And — who knows? — in light of leader PSG’ current troubles, the game in Lens could perhaps produce a credible last-minute challenger for the French title.With five rounds left to play, second-place Marseille has closed the gap to just five points after Lorient inflicted a sixth defeat of the season on PSG with a 3-1 win at the Parc des Princes last weekend.“The title? We are still hoping for it,” said Marseille defender Jonathan Clauss, who will be returning to his former club on Saturday. PSG travels to Troyes on Sunday without Lionel Messi, who has been suspended for taking a trip to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission.Under the guidance of coach Igor Tudor, Marseille has been building its quest for a first French league title since 2010 away from ...

¿Por qué se celebra el Día de Star Wars el 4 de mayo?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

(CNN Español) — “No. Yo soy tu padre”. ¿En qué pensaste al leer esa frase? No es necesario que hayas pensado en un personaje en específico. Pero estamos casi seguros que lo primero que llegó a tu mente fue Star Wars.Si eres de las personas que pensó primero en Darth Vader y luego en Star Wars, seguramente eres un geek de “La guerra de las galaxias” o simplemente un conocedor de la cultura pop. No importa. Para todos ellos, llega una fecha muy especial: el Día de Star Wars (o Star Wars Day).Este día ha ido ganando popularidad con el paso de los años, al punto de que se llevan a cabo eventos en varias partes del mundo para celebrar el mundo creado por George Lucas.Estas son las mejores 5 películas del universo de Star Wars¿Cómo nació el Día de Star Wars?No había mejor día que el 4 de mayo para el festejo, pues el eslogan de la conmemoración es un juego de palabras que une tanto la fecha como una de las frases clásicas de Star Wars:“May the force be ...

No se vislumbra el final de la huelga de guionistas: se rompen las negociaciones y ambas partes se preparan para un largo enfrentamiento

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

(CNN) — Es un guión sin final. Desde que el Sindicato de Guionistas de Estados Unidos (WGA, por sus siglas en inglés) se declaró en huelga el martes, al no llegar a un acuerdo con los grandes estudios, todos ellos representados por la Alianza de Productores Cinematográficos y Televisivos, las dos partes se encuentran en un punto muerto absoluto.Me han dicho que no prosiguieron las negociaciones desde que empezó la huelga y que actualmente no hay sesiones de negociación previstas. Cuando este miércoles por la noche pregunté a un ejecutivo de un estudio cuándo esperan que se reanuden las conversaciones, la persona respondió: “Ni idea, ni idea”.“No hay forma de saberlo”, añadió el ejecutivo.Ambas partes han clavado sus talones en la arena sobre un pequeño número de cuestiones significativas, y ninguna de las partes está dispuesta a ceder por el momento. Después de todo, es imposible llegar a un acuerdo hasta que una condición no negociable para una de las ...

Police outnumber fans as Donald Trump lands in Ireland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:25:40 GMT

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrived Wednesday night in Ireland for a brief visit to his golf resort in Doonbeg, County Clare, on the western Atlantic coast.Fewer than a dozen fans greeted him as his motorcade arrived in the village. The smattering of U.S. flags and MAGA hats among people standing by the roadside were greatly outnumbered by Secret Service and Irish police.Trump did, however, receive a typically warm welcome inside the resort, the largest employer in the village with a staff of 300, including a performance by traditional Irish dancers. He traveled to Ireland with his second son, Eric. Reporters at the hotel asked Trump what he thought of Joe Biden’s four-day visit last month to Ireland, when tens of thousands cheered the current U.S. president at walkabouts and rallies. “I didn’t see too much of his visit. I don’t know what he did here,” Trump said.Trump, a vocal backer of Brexit, was also asked for his take on arguments over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern...