Politics

Submitted by Elijah Magnier, Middle East based chief international war correspondent for Al Rai Media

With the Republicans Obamacare repeal effort having died no less than three times over the few days, on Tuesday afternoon Republicans announced the Senate would not vote on Republicans' last-ditch bill to repeal Obamacare, putting an end to their seven-year push for now. According to Politico, the decision was reached at a party lunch Tuesday after it became clear the plan would fail. Three Senate Republicans had already said they would vote against the measure, and the GOP could only afford two defections.

In what may be the most bizarre development of the day, the WaPo reports that in their ongoing feud with President Trump, the North Korean government has quietly sought the help of an unlikely counterparty: Republicans.

As tensions between North Korea and the U.S. continue to escalate with every Trump tweet and subsequent response by Kim Jong-Un, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said that the U.S. has prepared "four or five different scenarios" for how the crisis with North Korea will be resolved, adding ominously that “some are uglier than others." 

North Korea appears to be following through with its threat to shoot down US fighter jets and bombers that travel near its airspace, as US jets and bombers did on Saturday, according to a Yonhap report - the latest sign that North Korea intends to follow through with threats made by Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho during a speech outside the UN on Monday.