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July 16, 2026

The New York Times The Epicenter of Drug Deaths in America Is Shifting West Nationally, overdose deaths are falling. But not in Arizona. By Josh Katz

Sophie Park for The New York Times Platner Was Toxic. But Democrats Could Learn From His Politics. His progressive, populist message was able to occupy a kind of middle ground in the party’s primary electorate. By Nate Cohn

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WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FROM UPSHOT FRIENDS

The New York Times Maps: Tracking Air Quality and Smoke From Wildfires in Canada and the U.S. See maps of where smoke is traveling and how harmful the air has become. By Madison Dong, Bea Malsky, Lazaro Gamio, Matthew Bloch, Scott Reinhard, Leanne Abraham, Martín González Gómez, Judson Jones, John-Michael Murphy and Marco Hernandez

Lindsey Graham’s Death Renews Debate Over Aging Congress The sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham has renewed criticism of an increasingly aging Congress and the norms that reward seniority and tenure. By Elena Shao

Marco Hernandez Trump Is Building a White House Helipad. He Sought No Approvals. The president has bypassed a review or approval process in his swift effort to build a granite helipad on the South Lawn. By Luke Broadwater and Marco Hernandez

POLLING AROUND THE NATION

Jamie Lee Taete for The New York Times Who Will Win the Midterms? 6 Pollsters and Pundits Make Educated Guesses. If the election were held today, which party would win a majority in the House and Senate? By New York Times Opinion Contributors

The New York Times President Trump’s Approval Rating: Latest Polls Track the latest approval rating and polls on Americans’ approval of President Trump. By Annie Daniel, Jon Huang, Ruth Igielnik, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Jonah Smith, Caroline Soler, Albert Sun and Rumsey Taylor

Kerry Trasker/Reuters; Michael A. McCoy, Travis Dove and Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times What Is Driving Support for These Senate Candidates A New York Times/Siena poll of battleground states showed a mix of voter motivations, with the strongest candidates proving more popular than their parties. By Caroline Soler, Ruth Igielnik and Christine Zhang

Midterm Test

This question comes from a recent Times article. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.)

It’s rare to have a Senate nominee (like Graham Platner) be replaced. Which of these three men beat a Senate replacement on the way to a prominent career?

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