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Article snippet: (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • The U.S. military provided the fullest explanation so far from the Trump administration about a deadly ambush in Niger this month that killed four American and four Nigerien soldiers. It is still unclear why the soldiers waited one hour before they called for help. President Trump took to Twitter to reject criticism by the widow of one of those killed in the ambush. She said that Mr. Trump had blundered through his condolence call to her, struggling to remember her husband’s name. We collected reactions on the controversy from the American left and right. Separately on Twitter, Mr. Trump effectively halted a plan that Republicans were considering to help pay for a $1.5 trillion tax cut. _____ • In Syria, an apparent mass killing of dozens of civilians is the latest example of the brutal reprisals that have taken place when territory changes hands in the country’s multisided war. The carnage also showed how the Islamic State could still spread havoc. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, above, slipped into Iraq on Monday night after having spent the morning at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. The competing interests awaiting him in Baghdad have turned the trip into a diplomatic minefield. Meanwhile the Philippines declared an end to months of warfare against Islamic State-inspired militants in the city of Marawi, but fears linger that remaining groups of milita... Link to the full article to read more