Vox Sentences - Hot hot hot

A severe heat wave could bring danger to the Southwest; Israel's new prime minister faces a divided coalition.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

Potentially deadly heat wave threatens Southwest

Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

• A heat wave affecting Utah, as well as Arizona, Nevada and parts of California has already brought 120 degree temperatures as wildfire concerns mount, with a national agency declaring significant fire potential in six states. [The Guardian / Gabrielle Canon]
• The National Weather Service has placed over 48 million people under a heat advisory warning, mostly in areas that are already experiencing drought conditions. [The Hill / Jenna Romaine]
• After a series of recent devastating wildfire seasons, the heat wave is bringing concerns about large-scale tinderbox fires. Arizona and California are already experiencing fires. [Axios]
• In Utah, conditions have not been this dry since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Five active wildfires burned last week, bringing concerns about sustainability. [The Salt Lake Tribune / Jordan Miller]
• Experts are also worried about heat-related illnesses and access to air conditioning, particularly given the high nighttime temperatures in Phoenix and Las Vegas. [The Washington Post / Matthew Cappucci]
• Record high temperatures are threatening to emerge in at least 150 locations as the heat wave begins in the Rockies and moves west. The extreme heat is a result of climate change, with some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth expected. [CBS News / Jeff Berrardelli]

After 12 years, Netanyahu is out

• For the first time since 2009, Israel will have a prime minister other than Benjamin “King Bibi” Netanyahu, who was finally dethroned by one vote in Israel’s parliament by a coalition whose sole unifying factor is their desire for a new prime minister. [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]
• Right-wing party leader Naftali Bennett was officially sworn this week as the leader of a diverse governing coalition of eight parties that includes members of an Arab party and the influential centrist party, which controls 17 of the 60 seats in the coalition and whose leader Yair Lapid will get veto power. [CNN / Oren Liebermann]
• Netanyahu did not go quietly, promising to use his significant remaining political influence as opposition leader to undermine the fragile governing coalition, though he will also contend with his looming corruption trial. [Axios / Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler]
• Bennett’s government of strange bedfellows will have to handle numerous lingering problems that political instability over the last two years in Israel have deepened, including passing the country’s first budget in three years, a high cost of living, and, of course, regional conflicts with Palestinians. [Intelligencer / Chas Danner]
• The change in leadership provides an opportunity for a reset in American-Israeli relations. Lapid said he wants to repair the Israeli’s government broken relationship with the Democratic Party in the US, including with President Biden. [The New York Times / Michael Crowley]

The United States has officially reached 600,000 deaths from Covid-19. [Buzzfeed News / Clarissa-Jan Lim]

• Antitrust expert and Amazon critic Lina Khan, 32, was appointed to the Federal Trade Commission, becoming its youngest ever member. [Recode / Rebecca Heilweil]
• California lifted most of its mask rules today for fully vaccinated people and is now allowing businesses to operate at full capacity. [The Los Angeles Times / Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money]
• Three NBA playoff series are tied at two games apiece, making for an exciting week of basketball. [The Ringer / Zach Kram]

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“Twice in history, we have lost our national home precisely because the leaders of the generation were not able to sit with one and another and compromise. ... I am proud of the ability to sit together with people with very different views from my own."

[New Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, on the coalition government he formed with political opponents]

The last time we saw such a frenzy in the housing market, about 15 years ago, it ended in a crash. [Spotify / Jerusalem Demsas]

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