🛢 National gas prices expected to hit $6 per gallon by the end of the summer

California drivers are grappling with the most expensive gas in the nation, shelling out an average $6.06 per gallon as of Thursday. That could soon be the fate of drivers in the rest of the nation, according to a JPMorgan analyst, which predicts the national average per gallon price could reach $6.20 this summer.

That would represent a more than 30% increase from the current national average of $4.59 per gallon, already a record high. Consumers are already spending thousands more annually on gasoline due to the surge in prices at the pump, with the typical household now spending an annualized $4,800 on gas — a 70% jump from a year ago.

The reason for the drawdown in gas inventories is an increase in exports, mostly to Mexico and Latin America. Sanctions placed against Russia are another significant contributor to the global rise in oil prices.

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🏭 Apple is looking to expand production outside of China amid Beijing's zero-Covid policies

Analysts estimate that approximately 90% of Apple products are made by contract manufacturers in China, leaving the tech giant's success vulnerable to the whims of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple suppliers such as Foxconn have been forced to shut down due to rising cases. Earlier this month, Quanta Computer — which produces three-quarters of Apple's MacBook products — shut down despite maintaining a "closed-loop" campus designed to prevent the spread of the virus.

Now, Apple is telling suppliers that it wants to expand production in India and Southeast Asia.

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🇨🇦 Canada bans Huawei equipment from 5G networks, orders removal by 2024

Canada has banned the use of Huawei and fellow Chinese tech giant ZTE’s equipment in its 5G networks, its government has announced. In a statement, it cited national security concerns for the move.

The move makes Canada the latest member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance to have placed restrictions on the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in their communication networks. In December 2018, Canada arrested Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on suspicion of violating US sanctions.

Canada has taken around three years to come to its decision about the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment in its telecoms networks.

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Asked if he had any message to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un after kicking off his Asia trip, US President Joe Biden kept it brief as he responded with: “Hello. Period.”

✈️ US airlines like Delta and United are so desperate for pilots they are dropping some requirements

The Seattle-based carrier is just one example of airlines struggling to find enough pilots to handle the busy post-pandemic travel surge. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines have all cut regional flying in recent months due to the shortage, with United grounding 100 regional planes over the issue.

Because of the lack of pilots, carriers are considering changing long-standing requirements to get more pilots flying sooner, like nixing degree requirements, dropping the mandatory number of flight hours needed to be hired, and increasing the pilot retirement age.

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⚖️ A SpaceX flight attendant said Elon Musk exposed himself and propositioned her for sex, documents show. The company paid $250,000 for her silence.

The attendant worked as a member of the cabin crew on a contract basis for SpaceX's corporate jet fleet. She accused Musk of exposing his erect penis to her, rubbing her leg without consent, and offering to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage.

The incident, which took place in 2016, is alleged in a declaration signed by a friend of the attendant and prepared in support of her claim. It was during one such massage in a private cabin on Musk's Gulfstream G650ER, she told the friend, that Musk propositioned her.

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🇰🇷🇰🇵Joe Biden's visit to South Korea has come to an end, but before departing for Japan, he was asked by local reporters to deliver a message to North Korea's Kim Jong Un. The message was suprisingly laconic...

"Hello," Biden said. "Period."

How it happened: the surrender of the last group of Ukrainian Azov neo-Nazis trapped on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol (footage from the Russian MoD). During the withdrawal of Ukrainian neo-Nazis from the territory of the plant, Russian servicemen established their identities and asked them to show their tattoos with Nazi symbols

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📹Russian MoD video: Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter destroying military equipment and positions of Ukrainian military units

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📹High-precision long-range sea-based Caliber missiles have destroyed a large batch of weapons and military equipment delivered from the US and European countries for Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of the railway station Malin, Zhytomyr region (Russian MoD video)

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Russian MoD on the course of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪Russia's high-precision air-based missiles have destroyed three UKrainian command posts, 13 enemy manpower concentration areas;

▪11 Ukrainian drones have been destroyed by Russian air defence systems;

▪Russian aviation have destroyed three Ukrainian command posts, an ammunition depot and 26 enemy troop concentration areas, more than 210 Ukrainian neo-Nazis have been eliminated;

▪Missile forces and artillery hit 583 enemy troop and military equipment concentration areas, 41 command posts, 76 artillery and mortar units, including three Grad MLRS batteries, as well as a Ukrainian Bukovel electronic warfare station;

▪Since the beginning of the special military operation, Russian forces have destroyed 977 Ukrainian UAVs

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"Son, listen to me just two seconds": Mariupol resident's heartfelt story about Russian soldiers

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Russian servicemen have delivered medical equipment and medicine to one of the liberated settlements of the LPR

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The entrance to the very tunnel at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol where Azov neo-Nazis were hiding for several weeks (Sputnik's exclusive footage)

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"Are they on drugs or something?": Stories of people, who are, to put it mildly, disappointed by the Ukrainian authorities and the army

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