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Oil Prices Are Spiking — Here's What It Means for Your Gas Tank and Grocery Bill

  Published July 17, 2026 Crude oil is trading near one-month highs this week, and if you've filled up your tank recently, you've probably already felt it. The culprit: an escalating conflict in the Middle East that's disrupting one of the world's most important oil shipping routes — and it's starting to show up at Canadian pumps and, eventually, on grocery store shelves. What's happening with oil prices West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the North American benchmark, has been trading around the $79–$80 per barrel range this week — up roughly 5% over the past month. Brent crude, the global benchmark that matters more for what Canadians pay at the pump, has been hovering near $85 per barrel, also near a one-month high. The spike traces back to renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and has intensified strikes, while Iran has responded with attacks on U.S. bases and threats to disrupt regional energy shipments further. ...

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Revised Account Emerges in Gaza Aid Worker Tragedy

 

The Israeli military has revised its initial account of the tragic killing of 15 emergency workers near Rafah in southern Gaza on March 23. Initially, the military claimed that soldiers fired on vehicles approaching their position "suspiciously" in the dark, without lights or markings, and identified the victims as militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. However, newly surfaced video footage from one of the victims' mobile phones, released by the Palestinian Red Crescent, contradicts this narrative.

The video shows emergency workers in uniforms, operating clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks with their lights on, being fired upon by soldiers. Munther Abed, the sole survivor and a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, corroborated this, stating that soldiers targeted clearly marked emergency vehicles.

An Israeli military official acknowledged that the initial report from the field was mistaken and attributed the error to the person providing the account. Investigations are ongoing, with conclusions expected to be presented to army commanders. The United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent have called for an independent inquiry into the incident, which has drawn international attention and condemnation.

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