A week of strikes

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A labor strike at East and Gulf coast ports and missile strikes in the Middle East are keeping Americans on tenterhooks.

When the clock struck midnight on Monday, 45,000 dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas walked out for the first time since 1977 . They're demanding a substantial pay raise over the next six years and protections against automation they say is erasing their jobs. Each day of the strike is estimated to cost the economy as much as $5 billion and affects everything from produce, seafood, clothing, autos and auto parts, wine and spirits, machinery parts, pharmaceuticals and some holiday goods. The longer the strike lasts, the more risk of having shortages and more inflation, economists warn.

Meanwhile, oil prices are spiking as Israel exchanges strikes with Lebanon and Iran , sparking fears of a disruption in oil supplies.

Hurricane Helene's aftermath

A week after Hurricane Helene, a million Americans remain without power and many are left scrambling without flood insurance .

The death toll is 181 and still rising . President Joe Biden traveled to the Carolinas to assure victims the nation would stand by them to help them back on their feet. He approved deployment of 1,000 soldiers to the area to help.

A GoFundMe page set up by former President Donald Trump has raised more than $2 million as of Tuesday to help victims of Hurricane Helene.

It's October, but it's still sweltering

About 39 million people in parts of the western United States were under heat alerts on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters say the sweltering late-season heat wave will bring moderate to extreme heat risks across portions of the Southwest through the week and into the weekend.

That's adding to already sky-high electricity bills from the scorching summer for most people.

?? More stories you shouldn't miss ??

• Hurricane Helene upended travel plans. How to file a claim and other tips .
• Amazon Prime Day is next week. Take a sneak peek .
• Some Chevrolet, GMC truck owners can claim money in $35 million settlement. Are you one of them?
• The pay gap between men and women widened for the first time in two decades.

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