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1
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Your money
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Brent $93, three chokepoints at once
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Three oil routes just went dark at the same time
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Brent crude hit $93 on Wednesday after three oil chokepoints went offline simultaneously for the first time. The Strait of Hormuz is still under US naval blockade, Houthi rebels declared a full maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, and Russia's Black Sea crude pipeline shut down over what Moscow called a “technical fault.” Gas crossed $4 a gallon last week and hasn't looked back — diesel is at $5.13. Trucking companies price their routes off diesel, so everything that moves on a highway is now more expensive. If three shipping lanes can go dark in the same week, the price at the pump is the least of what changes.
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The other side: The US is a net oil exporter and has the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to buffer short-term spikes — $93 oil is painful but not a crisis for domestic supply.
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2
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Your health
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25+ dead, ER visits doubled in one week
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The heat wave is in its fifth week. The death toll is still climbing.
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The 2026 heat wave is now in its fifth week with no end in sight. At least 25 people died during the July Fourth heat dome alone, with New Jersey reporting 22 heat-related deaths in a single weekend. Emergency rooms across the mid-Atlantic saw heat-related visits more than double in one week, and Houston's heat-related ER visits are up 329% since 2019. Heat kills more Americans each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined — and this summer's wave isn't over.
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The other side: Air conditioning access is higher than ever, most heat deaths are preventable, and cooler temperatures are forecast for parts of the Northeast next week.
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3
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Your vote
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$37.5B spent, up 50% since April
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The Iran war just crossed $37.5 billion with no off-ramp
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The Iran conflict has now cost $37.5 billion since strikes resumed in February, up 50% since April alone, according to Pentagon figures cited in Defense Secretary Hegseth's congressional testimony this week. The pace is accelerating — daily air operations, naval blockade maintenance, and missile resupply are running roughly $250 million a day. Neither side is negotiating, and ceasefire proposals have stalled. That money comes from somewhere, and the midterm debate over war spending just got a price tag.
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The other side: The administration says the strikes are degrading Iran's military capacity and keeping the Persian Gulf open for global trade — the cost of inaction, they argue, would be higher.
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