Pulse Briefing: US-Iran Strait Hormuz escalation, gasoline prices climbing toward, second US citizen infected - Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Oil prices hit one-month highs near $80 as US resumed naval blockade of Strait of Hormuz with attacks on tankers killing seafarers. Consumer prices rose 3.5% annually in June as energy temporarily eased before current Hormuz crisis. A second American citizen tested positive for Ebola in DR Congo and was transferred to Germany for treatment. The Pulse Briefing is a daily preparedness-intelligence briefing on the national and geopolitical developments that matter for prepared families: energy, supply chains, security, health, and the economy.