Portman’s complaint
The regional order that has prevailed in the Middle East since 1991 is said to be crumbling, if not finished. / Foreign Affairs
Israel bombs an airbase in Syria to stop Turkey from rebuilding it. Turkey, it would seem, decides not to feel attacked. / The Associated Press, Reuters
Related: Why did Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia team up? Because “the best defense alliance is not one that makes a state dependent on its allies forever, but one that makes it more capable of relying on itself.” / Middle East Eye
In China, Microsoft is pursuing what insiders call “a strategy of retreat,” while Google shifts its manufacturing to India. / Reuters, Nikkei Asia
Why plumbers in the United States are paid significantly more than plumbers in other countries—is perhaps “very interesting and not so obvious.” / Stream of Randomness
In the United Kingdom, despite a “summer rainfall problem,” new water reservoirs haven’t been built in decades. / By the Numbers
The second-largest reservoir in the US reaches a record low just days after Lake Mead breaks its own record. / CarbonBrief
Some parts of the Mediterranean are six degrees Celsius above average this week. / EU Space Policy
A new video game invites players to try surviving a heatwave in a French apartment without air conditioning. / Dezeen
See also: The highest-resolution image of the sun ever captured. / YouTube
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“I think that agents and editors are now being asked to essentially be police.” How artificial intelligence is upending book publishing. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Rachel Cusk’s new novel appears to be partly about Natalie Portman (“annoyingly”), though it’s unclear who’s who and what’s what. / Yahoo!, The New Yorker
Hillary Busis: The most notable thing about the novel is its dubious place in pop culture history: as the latest piece of evidence that we, as a society, are not capable of being normal about Natalie Portman. / Vanity Fair
Gen Zers are “ghost-posting” on Instagram, i.e., using the archive feature as a way to avoid detection. / Dazed
Why do young people like Shania Twain? “People want to celebrate who they are, and what they are, and they don’t want to be criticized for just being themselves.” / The New York Times Magazine [$]