MAKING SENSE OF TUESDAY’S HEALTH CARE VOTES “Hours after opening debate on a Republican health care bill, the Senate roundly rejected the first of a series of GOP proposals late Tuesday night: the Obamacare repeal and replacement plan that Republicans had been working on for months.” Take a look at the nine GOP senators that voted no on the Better Care Reconciliation Act. However, the repeal is far from dead ― Here’s why Republicans are excited about a “skinny bill.” [HuffPost] [Tweet | Share on Facebook]

NORTH KOREA DEVELOPING NUCLEAR MISSILE FASTER THAN EXPECTED “American intelligence agencies have shortened their estimate — to one year — of how long it is likely to take North Korea to put the finishing touches on a missile that can reach the continental United States, according to several administration officials briefed on the new assessment.” [NYT]

HOUSE OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES NEW RUSSIA SANCTIONS Passing the bill 419 to 3. [Reuters]

WHEN YOU’RE RETURNING HOME TO A CITY WIRED TO KILL YOU “As people return home to Mosul and other areas of northern Iraq freed from Islamic State, homemade bombs and explosives laid on an industrial scale by the insurgents are claiming hundreds of victims and hampering efforts to bring life back to normal.” [Reuters]

AN IRANIAN SHIP CAME QUITE CLOSE TO A U.S. PATROL BOAT Resulting in machine-gun fire from the U.S. vessel. [WaPo]

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL APPEARED IN COURT OVER SEX ABUSE CHARGES Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic made his first court appearance over “multiple charges relating to historical sexual offenses.” [HuffPost]

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