The European Union has raised the alarm about an abandoned Russian tanker filled with fuel and gas.

At least nine EU countries have written a letter to the EU Commission about the potential hazards of fuel and gas leakage from the tanker currently floating in waters between Malta and Italy in the Mediterranean.

One Italian official described the tanker as an “environmental bomb” that could “explode at any moment.”

The letter states that the wounded cargo tanker poses imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster in the heart of the EU waters.

The damaged vessel was part of Russia’s Shadow Fleet which intended to find a way around the EU against Russia in the wake of its attack on Ukraine in 2022.

The vessel sailed from the Russian port of Murmansk in February and it was carrying 700 metric tons of different types of fuel, including a substantial amount of natural gas.

The ship was allegedly attacked and caught fire in March; however, Ukraine did not take responsibility for any attack. There was a 30-member crew aboard the tanker, who remained safe.

Russia condemned the incident, describing it as an act of “international terrorism and maritime piracy.”

It alleged that the ship was attacked near Malta in international waters with Ukrainian drones launched from the Libyan coast.

Val Kilmer is returning to the screen almost a year after his death, with the late actor set to appear in an upcoming indie film using generative AI to recreate his image, likeness and voice.

Kilmer, who died in April 2025 after being diagnosed with pneumonia, had been cast in As Deep as the Grave before his passing but was never able to film his scenes due to illness. 

Writer and director Coerte Voorhees has now revealed that rather than recast the role, the production used state-of-the-art AI technology to bring Kilmer’s performance to life, with the full blessing of his estate and family.

“He was the actor I wanted to play this role,” Voorhees told Variety. 

“It was very much designed around him. It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest.” 

Kilmer had been set to play Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, a role the director said fitted him uniquely. 

With the shoot wrapped and no budget for reshoots, recasting simply wasn’t an option. 

“Normally, we would just recast an actor,” Voorhees explained. “But we can’t roll camera again. We don’t have the budget… So we had to think of innovative ways to do it. And we realized the technology is there for us.”

The production secured permission from Kilmer’s estate and compensated it in line with SAG guidelines. 

Voorhees was clear that the family’s support was what ultimately gave him the confidence to proceed. 

“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” he said. 

“He really thought it was [an] important story that he wanted his name on. It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’ Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”

Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes, 34, echoed that sentiment, describing her father as “a deeply spiritual man” who connected deeply with the film’s themes of discovery and enlightenment set against the American Southwest. 

“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” she told Variety. 

“This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”

As Deep as the Grave also stars Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton, Wes Studi and Abigail Breslin.

Spotify has introduced a new feature titled “Exclusive Mode for Windows PCs.”

The feature gives audiophiles the ability to achieve a bit-perfect playback by taking sole control of their computer’s audio device.

Rolled out on March 18, the feature bypasses Windows’ system mixer, which typically resamples audio and mixes system sounds, to deliver music exactly as it was mastered.

When enabled, Exclusive Mode prevents the operating system from altering sample rates, adding notification sounds, or adjusting volume level before audio reaches an external DAC or audio interface.

In an announcement, Spotify explained: “Without Exclusive Mode turned on, your computer may alter audio before it reaches your DAC by resampling it, mixing other system sounds in, and changing the volume.”

To try the feature, users need to get a premium account. Once subscribed to the premium tier, search for output in the playback menu in settings.

Select their external audio device and toggle “exclusive mode” on.

Users are also urged to disable Automix, Crossfade, Equaliser, and Normalise Volume for optimal results.

The mode is not available for music videos or podcasts. Additionally, when it is active, other applications are not able to play sound through the selected device until the user turns off the feature.

It is important to note that the exclusive feature only enhances the audio but doesn’t improve the audio quality, which remains at 320 kbps Ogg for desktop streaming.