End of an Era in Israel | Wasabi Wins Westminster

Israel’s longest-ruling leader, and one of its most divisive, is gone. Parliament on Sunday night ousted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years in power, voting in a new coalition government led by right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett. The coalition was approved by a narrow 60 votes to 59 and is a mismatched alliance of left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties with no common agenda except, seemingly, unseating Netanyahu, who failed to form a government after March elections. The 71-year-old is currently on trial for corruption. Palestinian analysts say they expect Bennett to pursue the same agenda as Netanyahu.

Sources: Al Jazeera, NYT, AFP

2. Biden Heads to NATO Summit After Successful G-7

There was both cohesion and division as the G-7 summit in England wrapped up yesterday. The leaders of the world’s richest democracies agreed to take a stronger stance against China’s might, as U.S. President Joe Biden warned of the rise of autocratic governments worldwide. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson found himself under pressure from EU leaders to fully implement the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The group also promised to donate 1 billion vaccines to the developing world, though they were criticized for not doing enough. Today Biden heads to the NATO summit in Brussels seeking to repair Trump-era damage to the alliance.

Sources: Washington Post, Politico, The Guardian

3. Suu Kyi’s Trial Starts Four Months After Myanmar Coup

Love her or loathe her, when Myanmar’s deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi goes on trial today, it’s widely acknowledged that it will be on trumped-up charges. Four months after the military coup, the 75-year-old will be tried in a Naypyitaw court for, among other crimes, the illegal possession of walkie-talkies. Despite becoming tarnished in recent years for her response to the Rohingya crisis, Suu Kyi remains hugely popular as an icon of the country’s democracy. If convicted in what is widely expected to be a show trial, the Nobel Peace Prize-laureate could spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Sources: Al Jazeera, AFP

4. Musk Tweet Sees Bitcoin Bounce

If you’ve invested in cryptocurrency, be it Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin, you’d better hope Elon Musk has something nice to say about it. The Tesla CEO’s regular tweets on the topic have the ability to send cryptocurrency prices soaring or plunging. Yesterday Bitcoin rose sharply after the South African-born billionaire tweeted: “When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions.” Bitcoin crashed in May after Musk criticized its heavy environmental footprint. Shares jumped around 10% following Musk’s latest tweet.

Sources: Forbes, CNBC

5. Also Important …

Apple turned over data on former President Trump’s White House Counsel Don McGahn in 2018, only informing him of it last month. Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen is recovering after suffering a cardiac arrest during his team’s opening Euro 2020 match. And a Delta flight to Atlanta was forced to land on Friday after a passenger assaulted two flight attendants.

Coronavirus Update: Free donuts are being used to woo the vaccine hesitant in the U.S., as is a free apartment for those in Hong Kong, and in the Philippine town of San Luis, the municipal government will raffle a cow every month to those who got their shots. England is today expected to delay its June 21 reopening for another four weeks.

Skimm Money: At OZY, we know a good newsletter when we see one. Meet Skimm Money. Every Friday, theSkimm breaks down the top money headlines of the week and delivers the “need to know” on how things impact your wallet and what options you have to take action to help you live your best financial life. Check it out.

Today on The Carlos Watson Show, Carlos is joined by model and activist Christy Turlington Burns. Tune in to hear how she broke through with kindness and learn about the eye-opening personal experience that caused her to become the pioneering maternal health advocate she is today.

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Wasabi, son of Sushi, won the canine equivalent of Miss World this weekend, taking top honors at the Westminster dog show. The silky Pekingese beat a whippet and sheepdog to take the title of best in show, with judge Patricia Craige Trotter describing him as a tiny dog “that feels like he’s 10 feet tall” and is “like a lion.” Wasabi comes from a long line of champions; His great-grandfather Malachy won the same award back in 2012. Despite his name, there’ll be no raw fish for Wasabi’s celebratory meal, instead he’ll be getting a filet mignon, according to his trainer.

Sources: NYT, USA Today

What do you think? Does your pooch have what it takes to be OZY’s best in show? Send a picture of your pet to [email protected] and we’ll publish some of the best!

2. Billionaire Space Race: Bidder Pays $28 M to Fly With Bezos

An anonymous bidder paid $28 million at auction this weekend to join Amazon’s Jeff Bezos on a trip to space. The first crewed flight of his Blue Origin company is set to launch on July 20, for the roughly 10-minute trip. The bidder beat 20 rivals in the charity auction on Saturday with proceeds going to the company’s foundation, which aims to encourage young people to pursue careers in STEM. Bezos is among several of the world’s richest men racing towards space, with Virgin’s Richard Branson and Tesla’s Elon Musk also vying for a place in the commercial space travel industry.

Sources: AFP, The Guardian

3. Bug Pizza: Hope You Don’t Get Cic … ada

Forget the long-running and divisive debate about pineapple on pizza, how would you like your margherita topped with bugs? Not just any bugs, but the ones that have been plaguing America this summer: cicadas. A restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, held a Facebook live tasting this weekend, bringing in a panel including a food scientist and a beer pairing expert to sample their “Spicy Thai Cicada Pie.” The Pizza Bandit’s creation was topped with sautéed, locally foraged cicadas and a crunchy cicada-wing crust. As it’s not being added to the menu however, you’ll just have to try it at home.

Sources: WHIO, CNN

4. Joe Meets Liz: Biden Takes Tea, Talks Politics With the Queen

She wore her trademark hat and gloves, he donned his famous aviators. President Biden met Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle Sunday, where they observed a royal honor guard and had afternoon tea. Former President Donald Trump was granted the same honor in 2018 but British press were horrified when, against etiquette, he walked in front of the monarch. Things went more smoothly with Biden, who said the queen was “very gracious” and reminded him of his mother — although at 78 the U.S. leader is only 17 years her junior. The two reportedly spoke about Russia and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Sources: BBC, The Mirror

5. Djokovic Gives Racket to Boy Who ‘Encouraged’ Him

World tennis number one Novak Djokovic claimed his 19th Grand Slam title at the French Open Sunday, then gave a young courtside fan his winning racket. The Serb beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, becoming the first man in 52 years to win all four majors twice. Djokovic said he’d handed his racket to reward the boy who “was in my ear the entire match basically, especially when I was two sets to love down. He was encouraging me. He was actually giving me tactics, as well.” The 34-year-old now says he hopes to win Olympic gold in Tokyo.

Sources: AFP, SuperSport

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