Thursday's Headlines: GOP health-care bill hangs in balance as conservatives demand changes

Chairman's unproven claim of data-gathering on Trump angers others on House Intelligence Committee; Paul Manafort is gone, but his business associate remains a key part of Trump's operation; Britain police say attacker acted alone; 7 arrested in sweeps ; Suspects in Maryland high school rape case came to U.S. last year to join relatives;   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories GOP health-care bill hangs in balance as conservatives demand changes After insisting for weeks that the changes sought by hard-right members would render the bill unable to pass the Senate, White House officials and GOP House leaders appeared to shift their thinking — and opponents agreed to keep working on a deal with the goal of holding a floor vote in the House tonight. By Mike DeBonis, Juliet Eilperin and David Weigel  •  Read more » Chairman's unproven claim of data-gathering on Trump angers others on House Intelligence Committee Republican Rep. Devin Nunes accused U.S. spy agencies of abusing their surveillance powers by gathering and sharing information about the president and his transition team. His unproven charge was quickly embraced by the White House, but it angered Democrats and threatened to derail the panel's probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. By Greg Miller, Karoun Demirjian and Devlin Barrett  •  Read more »   Paul Manafort is gone, but his business associate remains a key part of Trump's operation President Trump's former campaign chairman and his protege, Rick Gates, worked with oligarchs tied to Vladi­mir Putin over the past decade. By Tom Hamburger  •  Read more »   Britain police say attacker acted alone; 7 arrested in sweeps Authorities said they believed the assailant was "inspired by international terrorism." The attacker, who was shot and killed by police, fatally stabbed an officer at the gates to London's Parliament compound after plowing a vehicle through terrified pedestrians. Two other people were killed and dozens were injured . By Karla Adam, Rick Noack and Griff Witte  •  Read more »   Suspects in Maryland high school rape case came to U.S. last year to join relatives The teenagers accused of raping a ninth-grade girl at Rockville High School last week were among tens of thousands of young people who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2016. They were caught at the border, then began to put down roots while awaiting their turn in court. By Maria Sacchetti, Dan Morse and Arelis R. Hernández  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Opinions   Elizabeth Warren and Joe Donnelly: Trump's SEC chairman must look out for American families, not big corporations By Elizabeth Warren and Joe Donnelly  •  Read more »   Lincoln was a Republican, slavery is bad and more discoveries by President Obvious By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   Gorsuch's big fat lie By E.J. Dionne Jr.  •  Read more »   Mike Huckabee: A conservative plea for the National Endowment of the Arts By Mike Huckabee  •  Read more »   Judges shouldn't ignore what we all know Trump's travel ban is really about By David Cole  •  Read more »   Democrats should make a deal on Gorsuch By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   A 'sea of despair': Early death among the white working class might be tied to poor job prospects, research says Princeton economists studying this group's mortality spike say career struggles can compound over time through family dysfunction, social isolation, addiction and obesity. By Joel Achenbach and Dan Keating  •  Read more » Democrats continue to press Gorsuch, but Republicans' confidence of confirmation grows On the third day of his confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch faced more questions on abortion rights, money in politics and a Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that reversed a decision of his appeals court. By Ed O'Keefe, Elise Viebeck and Robert Barnes  •  Read more » Supreme Court sets higher bar for education of students with disabilities The opinion, rejecting a lower standard used in a case by President Trump's nominee to the high court, Neil Gorsuch, said that "every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives." By Emma Brown and Ann E. Marimow  •  Read more » Taliban forces seize strategic district in embattled Helmand province British and U.S. forces battled for years to keep the Sangin district out of Taliban hands, with high casualties on all sides. The victory gives the Taliban a stronger foothold in a province where they already control several large districts. By Pamela Constable  •  Read more » White man traveled to New York to kill black men and ‘make a statement,’ police say Authorities said the Baltimore man attacked a 66-year-old black man he encountered on the street, fatally stabbing him with a 26-inch sword. By Mark Berman  •  Read more » Shepard Smith, the Fox News anchorman who drives the Fox News faithful crazy Often off script on President Trump, Smith's persistent fact-mongering has made him a man conservatives love to hate and fueled a social-media storm of demands for his firing. By Paul Farhi  •  Read more » A sports agent took in a 360-pound 13-year-old. He became the Big Ten player of the year. Purdue star Caleb Swanigan and his legal guardian Roosevelt Barnes speak as if unaware that they might be the most remarkable story in the NCAA tournament. By Chuck Culpepper  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you are signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. 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