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Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, June 7, 2022:
UKRAINE: BRITAIN TO SEND ADVANCED MISSILES
A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation if Western nations supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles, Britain announced it will follow the United States’ lead in providing advanced weapons to Ukraine to combat Russia’s attack in the east. On the ground, heavy fighting in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk carries on, particularly in the key battleground city of Severodonetsk with "the situation changing from hour to hour" amid street-by-street battles, according to a local government official. REUTERS
JOHNSON SURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a bruising vote of confidence and will remain in office — for now. Johnson won the support of 211 out of the 359 Conservative members of Parliament, showing a lack of confidence from 148; had 180 voted against Johnson’s leadership, he would have been ousted as prime minister. The vote was a result of Johnson facing intense scrutiny for revelations that he and his staff held boozy parties on government property when Covid restrictions locked down the rest of Britain. The outcome of the no-confidence vote was widely predicted, but experts say the fact that a vote took place at all represents his standing as a weakened leader whose days in office are likely numbered. AP
MIDTERM PRIMARIES CONTINUE
California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota are hosting primary elections today as voters choose their party nominees for U.S. Senate and House races in November. Though most incumbent governors and senators remain in the driver’s seat ahead of the November elections, one Senate race to keep an eye on is in Iowa. Seven Democratic candidates are battling for a nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Chuck Grassley, a Trump-endorsed senator on the front line of lawmaker pressure to act on gun violence after three people died in a shooting at a church in Ames, Iowa. Also making headlines is the race in a newly created district in Montana, where former Trump cabinet member Ryan Zinke is seeking the GOP nomination. AP
Congrats to the winners, whose prize is to run in another election. Politics!
MUSK THREATENS TO END TWITTER DEAL
Elon Musk is threatening to pull the plug on his $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter, accusing the social media company of hiding information about the number of spam accounts on the platform. Twitter says around 5% are fake accounts, but the Tesla CEO has called that into question on multiple occasions. In a letter to Twitter’s Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, Musk alleged that Twitter is “actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” and an attorney representing Musk said the billionaire reserves his right to terminate the merger agreement. Shares of Twitter were slightly down yesterday as the stock is trading well below Musk’s buyout offer of $54.20 per share, likely indicating investor skepticism about the deal closing. CHEDDAR
Elon Musk and Twitter are officially the “will-they-won’t-they” of the summer.
AMLO SNUBS SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will not attend this week’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The move comes in protest over President Joe Biden’s decision not to invite the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua due to their “lack of democratic space and human rights situations,” according to a Biden official. AMLO — Obrador is known by his initials — will send Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in his stead, though AMLO said he plans to meet with Biden at the White House next month. The Summit of the Americas will involve discussions about Covid relief, climate change and economic growth. NBC NEWS
BIDEN BOOSTS SOLAR PRODUCTION
In a move to expand renewable energy at home, President Joe Biden is providing a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels imported from four Asian nations. An ongoing investigation into whether Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are violating U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods has stalled solar projects in the United States; one energy consultant estimated that 64% of solar additions in 2022 were "in jeopardy" of not being completed. Additionally, Biden will invoke the Defense Production Act to boost domestic solar production, which has struggled to compete with cheap imports in the past. AXIOS
MAJOR APPLE UPDATES
At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced big changes during its keynote address. The update grabbing a lot of attention on social media is the new iMessage feature that allows users to edit or unsend messages. Apple also announced that iPhone users will now be able to add widgets on the lock screen to speed up access to information such as upcoming calendar events and the weather. With OS Ventura, Mac users will be able to share Safari tabs, hand off FaceTime calls to other devices and use an iPhone as a webcam. Tech reporter Mark Gurman noted that this year’s keynote focused on overdue problem solving, “introducing a bunch of small features to make our lives on Macs and iPhones and Watches just a bit easier.” CHEDDAR
So much will be left unsent.
JETBLUE SWEETENS SPIRIT OFFER
In other buyout news, JetBlue’s relentless bid to take over rival budget airline Spirit continues. JetBlue has upped its ante, now offering Spirit shareholders $31.50 per share in cash, including $30 once the deal closes in addition to a prepayment of $1.50 per share from a higher reverse breakup fee, should the deal fall through because of antitrust reasons. JetBlue raised that fee by $150 million to $350 million in another attempt to top Frontier’s offer to purchase Spirit, which includes $250 million in breakup fees. Frontier had initially agreed to buy Spirit for $3 billion. JetBlue made a $3.6 billion offer, which Spirit rejected due to the potential antitrust issues. Spirit shareholders will vote Friday on its deal with Frontier. FOX BUSINESS
‘TOP GUN’ SUED MID-FLIGHT
Since its release 11 days ago, Tom Cruise’s hit action film “Top Gun: Maverick” has hauled in roughly $550 million, maintaining an incredible momentum from a record-breaking opening weekend. However, a lawsuit filed yesterday is accusing “Maverick” maker Paramount of copyright infringement. The family of author Ehud Yonay says the studio failed to reacquire the rights to his 1983 article “Top Guns,” which inspired the original 1986 film “Top Gun.” Yonay’s family allegedly filed a notice in 2018 reclaiming the copyright to the story. They seek an injunction to block Paramount from further exploiting the sequel. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“You too, huh?” —Mariah Carey to Tom Cruise
LEFTOVERS: STRAWBERRY FROSTY
That’s right. Starting this week, Wendy’s is putting the Strawberry Frosty on the menu. For a limited time, the strawberry-flavored treat will be sold at restaurants across the U.S. after the dessert had a successful campaign at Wendy’s locations in Canada. While the iconic Chocolate Frosty will still be available, strawberry will replace vanilla and become just the second new flavor added in the U.S. in the past 16 years. In 2019, Wendy’s sold a Birthday Cake Frosty for the chain’s 50th birthday, while the Vanilla Frosty was introduced in 2006. CNN
A nice dessert option to try after a Mexican Pizza.
CHEDDAR EXPLAINS
The Real Reason Schools Give Kids Summers Off
Pop quiz: Why do kids have summers off from school? It’s because, back in the day, they had to help out on farms, right? This may be the most cited reason, but it doesn’t even make sense: Most crops are planted in the spring and harvested in the fall. The real reason for summer break has a lot more to do with urban families than rural kids. YOUTUBE
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