Florida Doc Behind Haiti Assassination?

British billionaire Richard Branson blasted off in a Virgin Galactic spacecraft to the edge of space on Sunday before returning safely — a pathbreaking trip that could usher in the age of commercial space tourism. “The whole thing, it was just magical,” Branson said. Read more about what’s next for space in OZY’s latest Sunday Magazine. (Sources: CNN, WaPo, Bloomberg)

2. Haiti Breakthrough

Haitian police have arrested a Florida-based doctor who they’ve accused of masterminding the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last Wednesday. They’ve alleged that Christian Emmanuel Sanon had hired the killers who shot Moïse dead at his residence, claiming he wanted to be president himself. But key questions remain unanswered, including how the attackers managed to enter Moïse’s residence. (Sources: NYT, BBC)

3. Cuba Calls for Change

Thousands of Cubans hit the streets Sunday in the socialist nation’s largest protests in decades, agitating against food shortages, rising prices and the COVID-19 crisis while calling for “freedom.” Is Cuba going to be the next Venezuela? Vote here or on Twitter. (Sources: AP, Reuters)

4. Soccer Relief … and Tears

Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi won his first major national trophy as his country beat Brazil to triumph in the Copa America championships. But it was heartbreak for England fans on Sunday as the country lost to Italy in a penalty shootout in the final of the Euro 2020 competition. It was England’s first major final since the 1966 World Cup win. (Sources: NPR, Guardian) 

They could be the saviors the world’s been waiting for. Israeli scientists have shown that genetically modified E.coli bacteria glow when they come near a chemical associated with land mines hidden in the ground, often for decades, from earlier wars.

After Chad’s longtime President Idriss Déby was killed in April on the front line of a battle against a militant rebel group, his 37-year-old son Mahamat took charge of an 18-month transitional military government. Chad’s fierce military is a key Western ally in combating terrorist groups in the Sahel. Mahamat, a battle-hardened soldier himself, will look to continue that tradition. But his authoritarian father was also notorious for human rights abuses during a 31-year rule that the West silently backed. Chad’s opposition forces worry that Mahamat will build on that legacy too.

2. Irfaan Ali

South America’s first Muslim president is an unlikely but vital new ally for Washington in the region. The 41-year-old leader of Guyana had to overturn a fraudulent election to come to power last year. Since then he’s overcome his party’s historic suspicion of the U.S. to partner with it on positions ranging from trade to China. His influence will only grow. Since the 2016 discovery of giant oil fields off its coast, Guyana has emerged as a potential future energy king. But could becoming the world’s fastest-growing economy cost the country its reputation as a major carbon sink?

3. Sanna Marin

The world’s youngest head of government when she took Finland’s top job in 2019, Marin, now 35, has led one of the planet’s most successful fights against COVID-19. Unlike neighbors Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Marin’s government imposed tough lockdown measures early, introduced an app to track cases and has now led an effective vaccination campaign, resulting in far fewer deaths per capita. She’s currently facing allegations that she is wrongly using $350 of public money every month to buy her family breakfast. But she has also set aside 10,000 times that much — $3.56 million — for youth crime prevention.

After meatless meat, get ready for coffee without actual beans. Seattle food-tech startup Atomo Coffee has developed a technique to chemically treat sunflower seed husks and watermelon seeds to create molecules that taste like real coffee, contain caffeine and can be brewed the same way. At a time climate change is disrupting coffee production globally, could the answer lie in a lab?

2. Blockchain Beans

Almost all of Ethiopia’s famed coffee is produced on small farms, susceptible to middlemen who rob farmers of what they could earn while denying global consumers transparency on the source of the beans they’re purchasing. Now the Ethiopian government is working with Hong Kong–based blockchain firm IOHK to use the technology to track every step of the coffee supply chain in a bid to end industry corruption. Read more on OZY.

3. Smart Sip

The weather changes every day, as does our mood. Why should our coffee stay the same? A Hong Kong-based coffee firm is using artificial intelligence to brew beans with flavor that varies depending on the temperature, time of day, how you’re feeling and even what’s in the news. For instance, it gently reduces the caffeine level as it gets later in the evening so your sleep isn’t impacted.

You know him from The Book of Mormon on Broadway, as the voice of Olaf in Frozen and for his new Apple TV show Central Park. Screen and stage actor Josh Gad joins Carlos to discuss the power of his fame, lessons he learned from Dame Judy Dench and why he wants to have Chinese food with Jesus. Watch later today.

1. Chocolate

Dark and bitter. No, we’re not speaking of your favorite flavors. That’s the uncomfortable truth behind the comforting taste most of us crave. Each bar takes 264 gallons of water to produce and the chocolate industry in Britain alone has an annual carbon footprint as big as that of El Paso, Texas. Luckily, the world’s first zero-waste chocolate is now here. Read more on OZY.

2. The Little Guys

Half of America’s top emitters of methane gas are minor gas and oil companies that pump far less than giants like Exxon or Shell and go relatively unnoticed — with little incentive to change their ways. Methane is a major contributor to climate change as a particularly nasty greenhouse gas.

3. Dirty Glass

Pardon this metaphor massacre, but those who use glass bottles shouldn’t throw stones at plastic users. Not unless they recycle their bottles. That’s because glass manufacturers often don’t turn their furnaces off, leaving them burning 24/7 at extraordinarily high temperatures, releasing CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Glass bottles are also heavier, which means transporting them creates more emissions.

This moth is all kinds of Dr. Seuss meets marshmallow Peeps cuteness. Native to North America, it prefers to play around at night, which is a bummer because it’s far cuter by the light of day, when its pink and light yellow colors are on full display.

2. Damselfly

Is there anything cuter than a pair of comically large eyes? The answer is three extra eyes! Damselflies are the dragonfly’s lesser-known cousin. To top things off, they hold hands with each other.

3. Peacock Spiders

This Australian spider is the size of a grain of rice. But the males pack a ton of color punch into such a tiny body. They have an elaborate mating dance, which features a little panel on their butts that they lift, like a peacock showing its feathers. But don’t get too attached: The females eat potential suitors if they aren’t impressed by their dancing antics.