🛢 Exxon Mobil will ban 'external position flags' like the LGBTQ from being flown outside its offices

The decision comes ahead of nationwide Pride Month celebrations in June, frustrating several employees at the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas. Members of Exxon's PRIDE group in Houston are refusing to represent the company in the 44th annual Houston LGBT+ Pride Celebration.

The company has developed a reputation for lagging behind on gay rights issues. In 1999, Exxon acquired Mobil and later eliminated Mobil's policies protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 

Exxon Mobil said "the updated flag protocol is intended to clarify the use of the ExxonMobil branded company flag and not intended to diminish our commitment to diversity and support for employee resource groups."

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

🏦 Twitter is reportedly reconsidering Elon Musk's bid to buy the social media company

Twitter officials are meeting on Sunday to re-examine Musk's offer, and may be more receptive to negotiating with the billionaire after initially trying to thwart his purchase.

The change of pace comes after the billionaire Tesla CEO confirmed $46.5 billion in financing, proving in a regulatory filing earlier this week that he's locked in funding agreements from banks and other entities. It also comes after Musk met with shareholders in a private meeting on Friday to continue to make his pitch for the bid and urge the importance of the board making a decision.

To prevent a takeover, Twitter filed for a shareholder rights plan — also called a "poison pill," which in effect dilutes a buyer's stake by flooding the market with discounted shares.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

🗣 Labor officials sue Starbucks to rehire employees

The National Labor Relations Board filed a petition in federal court for Starbucks to rehire three Arizona employees who say they were removed for unfair labor practices. The employees say they were either illegally discharged, forced out, or placed on unpaid leave for union involvement.

Starbucks locations across the country are increasingly participating in a nationwide unionizing effort across the coffee chain. In December, a Buffalo, New York location became the first company-owned Starbucks store in the US that voted to unionize. 

Several other locations across the country have voted to unionize since then, including stores in Virginia, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington. 

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

🚫 Jill Biden opposed picking Kamala Harris as her husband's VP

First Lady Jill Biden opposed her husband Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris to be his running mate after she "attacked" him during a Democratic presidential debate, a new book says.

The revelation was made in the upcoming book "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future" by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns.

The book notes that Harris attacked Biden more harshly than any other major candidate in the Democratic primaries, and that the Biden family had seen it "as a smear and a betrayal."

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

🚨 Sen. Ron Johnson accuses Biden admin of ‘throwing open’ US borders

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) accused President Biden on Sunday of creating a “disaster” by “throwing open” the country’s borders, and claimed the administration’s immigration policies are aiding human traffickers.

Johnson ripped the administration for the upcoming lifting of the Trump-era policy known as Title 42 — which allowed the summary expulsion of nearly 2 million migrants. The CBP commissioner predicted earlier this month that lifting Title 42 will “likely” cause an “increase in encounters” with immigrants along the southern border.

The policy, which went into effect in March 2020, allowed Customs and Border Protection officials to immediately expel people suspected of illegally entering the US without allowing them a chance to claim asylum.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

‼️ Russia switching to national currency payments with Azerbaijan, Armenia as part of measures to minimize risks from west’s actions, Foreign Ministry says

‼️ Russia Took Measures to Protect Itself From West’s 'Unscrupulous' Actions, Foreign Ministry Says

⚡️ Moscow sends note to US demanding an end to Ukrainian arms supplies, Russian Ambassador says

⚡️ Turkish Defence Ministry says no warships from non-regional countries in Black Sea

⚡️ US embassy in Kiev will be open within a couple of weeks, Blinken says

⚡️ Two Ukrainian armed forces' drones destroyed in Russia's Kursk region, no victims and damage, governor says

Russia’s MoD has published a video of an Iskander missile about to strike depots containing Ukrainian ammunition and weapons

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus

⚡️ DPR Head says some 400 foreign mercenaries remain at Azovstal in Mariupol

⚡️ US provided Ukraine, neighbouring states with aid worth billions of dollars, Blinken says

📌 The Russian Defence Ministry has briefed the press on the Ukraine operation:

▪️ Russian high-precision long-range air-launched weapons destroyed oil refinery facilities and storage facilities for oil products in Kremenchuk, Ukraine;

▪️ Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 58 Ukrainian military targets and destroyed up to 160 Ukrainian manpower;

▪️ Missile troops and artillery have carried out 19 strikes destroying four command posts, tree ammunition depots and more than 240 manpower;

▪️ "Pantsir" anti-aircraft missiles shot down one Ukrainian Tochka-U missile and 18 rockets of a multiple-launch rocket system over Chernobaeka;

▪️ Russian air defence shot down 13 Ukrainian drones near the Kharkov and Kherson regions;

▪️ Artillery units carried out 967 fire missions during the day;

▪️ In total, 141 warcraft and 110 helicopters, 566 drones, 265 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,526 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 283 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,096 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,362 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed during the operation

Subscribe to @sputniknewsus