USA - Gas prices hit an all-time high today at $4.374 per gallon of regular gasoline, just three weeks before Memorial Day weekend. While Americans will feel this pain each time they go to gas up their vehicles, the worst pain point may well be what’s happening with diesel and diesel prices.

NEW ZEALAND - A sexism row has erupted over concerns that not enough newly discovered species of parasitic worms are named after women. Concerns are being raised as to whether “gender bias” has played a role in naming the creatures after a team of scientists led by parasitologist Robert Poulin “scoured studies in eight journals published between 2000 and 2020,” reports Sky News. “Of the 596 species named after eminent scientists, only 111, or 19%, recognised women, according to the experts from New Zealand’s University of Otago.”

USA - The nation’s transmission network, plagued by outages and increasingly severe weather, needs a trillion-dollar overhaul to handle the Biden administration’s promised clean-energy revolution. No one is taking charge of that problem. After decades of struggle, the US clean-energy business is booming, with soaring electric-car sales and fast growth in wind and solar power. That’s raising hopes for the fight against climate change.

MOROCCO - In December 2020, in one of his final acts in office, US President Donald Trump signed a unilateral proclamation recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over a 100,000-square-mile territory that has been disputed for half a century: Western Sahara. The United States had long remained mostly neutral in the standoff between the Moroccan government, whose forces exercise de facto control over most of the territory, and the rebel group that seeks Western Sahara’s independence. But with the stroke of a pen, Trump reversed decades of US policy, endorsing Morocco’s territorial claim in exchange for its normalizing relations with Israel and joining Trump’s Abraham Accords. This tradeoff caused the collapse of a cease-fire agreement, leading to renewed fighting and growing tensions in the region. The United Nations is trying to relaunch a political process that would overcome the current impasse; Morocco has rejected implementing a UN-backed popular referendum that would determine Western Sahara’s status and has instead advanced its own proposal that would grant the territory a form of limited autonomy. The disagreement remains intractable.

UNITED NATIONS - Droughts have increased 29% in the space of a single generation, according to a paper the United Nations released on Wednesday, which observed that the problem is rapidly accelerating. Released to coincide with the 15th annual Conference of Parties held by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the “Drought in Numbers 2022” report reveals that droughts comprise just 15% of natural disasters but account for 45% of disaster-related deaths, along with an encyclopedia of other disturbing statistics. From 1998 to 2017, droughts cost the world $124 billion, the report found. They also took some 650,000 lives between 1970 and 2019, and the report warns that over 2.3 billion people are currently living in water-insecure conditions, including 160 million children. In the US alone, drought-related economic losses have amounted to $249 billion since 1980. Worsening drought conditions will put upwards of 700 million people at risk of becoming climate refugees by 2030.

UK - Campaigners, researchers and commentators demanding action on climate change have a tendency to err on the side of catastrophe when discussing what the world might look like in the future. Greta Thunberg’s famous statement, “I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic,” is an obvious example. Even that three-word mantra ‘save the planet’ is positively febrile, since there is nothing in any scientific literature to suggest the planet needs saving. Underpinning these scenarios is the view that smart people – like academic researchers – should be running society and this whole democracy business is downright dangerous. How dare people complain about high energy bills or want to drive, fly and eat meat? Society should be run by technocrats (hence the love for the EU) who will make life harder for us all for our own good. In that sense, this scenario-generating exercise is extremely useful. Whenever we see scare stories about the future – like the UK government’s latest climate-change assessment, published this week – we should remember these scenarios, remind ourselves what kind of people are doing this state-sponsored speculation, and be very, very sceptical about their claims.

UKRAINE - You read that right. Ukraine announced today that it is cutting off a third of the natural gas flow to Europe: Gas Transit Services of Ukraine (OGTSU) declared force majeure on Tuesday, saying that it was impossible to continue the transit of gas through a connection point and compressor station located in the Lugansk area. As OGTSU personnel “cannot carry out operational and technological control” over the Sokhranovka connector point and Novopskov compressor station, the company cannot continue to fulfill its contract obligations, it said. Gas from this connection will not be accepted into the transit system of Ukraine starting at 7 am on Wednesday, OGTSU said. The motive behind this move is irrelevant. The “why” does not matter. It is the negative effect it will have on an already shaky European economy.

USA - Inflation can occur when prices rise due to increases in production costs, such as raw materials and wages. A surge in demand for products and services can cause inflation as consumers are willing to pay more for the product. This current beast is different and more dangerous. First, there are increases in production costs, specifically labor, that is a consequence of the Covid shutdowns. Many employers are having to raise wages in order to entice workers to come back.

RUSSIA - Raging Vladimir Putin could retaliate against Finland for announcing its intention to join NATO by turning off their gas supplies as soon as tomorrow, politicians fear. Finnish MPs have been warned that Russian exports could be halted tomorrow in response to today's announcement, according to Iltalehti. This morning, president Sauli Niinisto and prime minister Sanna Marin said they want to join the security alliance 'without delay', with Sweden set to follow suit within days, drastically ramping up tensions between Russia and the West.

EUROPE - The prospect of an imminent suspension of EU gas imports from Russia has significantly grown prior to today's EU energy ministers’ meeting, because of Brussels' announcement that it will not accept the latest payment proposal. It stipulates that payment of supplied gas will only be considered as concluded, once the euros paid for the price of the purchase have been exchanged into rubles. This should ensure that Russia is not left holding euro or US dollar deposits that it cannot use due to the sanctions. The EU refuses to accept this because the Russian Central Bank – itself under EU sanctions – would be involved in the exchange process. According to a new study, Germany would have to reduce gas consumption by one-fifth, if Russian supplies were suspended – even under favorable conditions. In addition, Germany's gas traders are obliged to pay billions for years even if they do not accept the gas. Industry representatives demand that reductions not first be made by the industry but by private consumers.

USA - Will the US soon be involved in two major wars at the same time? The US House of Representatives just escalated the proxy war in Europe by approving a 40 billion dollar “aid package” for Ukraine... But first I want to talk about a major development in Asia. For a long time I have been warning that the Chinese will invade Taiwan, and now that day appears to be closer than ever. From Friday through Sunday, China conducted very alarming military exercises off the coast of Taiwan that one Chinese military analyst is referring to as a “rehearsal of possible real action”… With the US distracted by the conflict in Ukraine, this could be an ideal time for the Chinese to forcibly “reunite” with Taiwan. And I am entirely convinced that Chinese leaders want to take advantage of the “window of opportunity” that they have while Joe Biden is still in office. But if China does invade, our two nations will immediately be in a state of war no matter who is residing in the White House.

USA - Communism depends on the atomization of society. Nothing must stand between the state and the individual. The family unit must be destroyed. The individual must owe his or her only allegiance to the all-powerful state and the party which controls it. But, perhaps, most of all, Communists must destroy religion. The idea that individuals might place their fate in anything other than the all-powerful, omnipresent government is anathema. It cannot be tolerated. You must stand powerless and alone in the face of your oppressor who owns you body and soul.

USA - Power-grid operators across the US warn that power-generating capacity struggles to keep up with demand, a worrying sign ahead of summer where heatwaves could lead to rolling blackouts. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, operating in 15 states across the US Central region, said last month that capacity shortages this summer due to soaring summer demand might result in outages. Last Friday, California Independent System Operator, or California ISO, outlined energy shortfalls this summer because of heat and wildfires. Texas over the weekend saw triple-digit temperatures in some portions of the state, though grid stability was maintained despite several power plants being offline for maintenance.

UKRAINE - Food planting in Ukraine is down between 25-30 per cent as the country struggles to export already harvested produce. Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to cause havoc for the country’s vital agricultural sector, with crop sowing falling by 25-30 per cent thanks to the ongoing conflict. The war-torn country is also struggling to export crops that have already been harvested, an issue that has already prompted fears of famine across the world due to the nation traditionally being responsible for a major share of the world’s wheat trade. According to a report by Reuters, the country only managed to export around one million tons of grain in April, a small figure compared to the 4-5 million tons per month the country usually ships out. By contrast, 12 million tons of surplus grain remain in the country, with it now being feared that the stuck produce will leave no room in storage for when the next harvest comes.

USA - The Satanic Temple (TST) said its adherents should be permitted religious exceptions to perform religious abortion rituals in states that have put up barriers to the controversial procedure. Responding to a leaked Supreme Court opinion draft that would overturn Roe v Wade, TST said it was committed to protecting "religious abortion access" for its members. "In states that outlaw abortion but grant exceptions for instances of incest and rape," TST said in a statement, "members should be permitted a religious exception to perform TST’s religious abortion ritual." The religious organization introduced the "Satanic Abortion Ritual" to argue for a religious exception under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 federal law which made it illegal for states to interfere in anyone’s religion without demonstrating a compelling interest.