Lat Pull: “The pandemic hit the economies of this region harder than almost anywhere else in the world, kicking 12 million people out of the middle class in a single year. Across the continent, voters have punished those in power for failing to lift them out of their misery. And the winner has been Latin America’s left, a diverse movement of leaders that could now take a leading role in the hemisphere.” Really interesting piece on the changing political winds. WaPo (Gift Article): As Latin America embraces a new left, the U.S. could take a back seat.

+ Summer of Soul Searching: “There was water everywhere, but not a single drop to drink.” We’re gonna be covering the weather a lot this summer. And more next summer. And so on. India floods destroy millions of homes and dreams. And from CNN: A 3,400-year-old city in Iraq emerges from underwater after an extreme drought.

+ Big Green Drops Big Red: Dartmouth “will no longer offer loans in its financial aid packages for undergrad students, and instead, replace them with more grants.”

+ Turn Out the Israelites, the Party’s Over: “Israel’s most diverse government in history, formed for the first time with an Arab political party, is disbanding over a disagreement about the future of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.” Think you’re sick of nonstop crazy politics? Israel is set to have its 5th round of elections in 3 years.

+ A Tex Upon Ye: The new Texas GOP platform: “President Biden is the ‘acting’ president because he didn’t win legally; Texans should vote on seceding; the Voting Rights Act of 1965 should be repealed; any gun control is a rights violation.” (Watch your back Florida. Texas is coming on strong.)

+ From Serving to Being Seafood: “The restaurant encountered “adverse conditions” on Saturday as it was passing the Xisha Islands, also known as the Paracel Islands, in the South China Sea, and water entered the vessel and it began to tip.” Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant capsizes at sea.