| Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: Australia's record scorcher, Tony Blair's Brexit lament, and boosting the efficiency of chemotherapy.  ACA mandate ruled unconstitutional A federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health insurance is unconstitutional, but didn't pull the plug on the entire law. The 2-1 ruling was handed down by a three-judge panel who concluded the mandate "can no longer be read as a tax, and there is no other constitutional provision that justifies this exercise of congressional power." The panel did not rule on the severability of Obamacare and instead sent the case back to a Texas trial judge who ruled earlier the law was illegal. The decision means resolution on the law's fate likely won't come before the 2020 elections. $ignificant figures 40.9°C. Australia recorded its hottest day on record Tuesday with the average national temperature reaching 105.6° F, as the eastern seaboard grapples with smoke from devastating bushfires. 35.7%. The amount of U.S. high schooler seniors who've smoked pot in the past year, said a NIDA report, which found a "significant" rise in teens vaping nicotine and THC but a 14% drop in alcohol use from 5 years ago. 1 in 5. How many people live in poverty in Hong Kong, where months of protests pushed the city into a recession and raised the unemployment rate, making life even harder for the poor. Highly quotable "Gave us no choice." Nancy Pelosi said Trump used his office to obtain an "improper political benefit" and insisted Congress "would be derelict in our duty" if the House didn't act now on impeachment. "We let our country down." Ex-PM Tony Blair said the Labour Party's U.K. election loss was due to a "path of almost comic indecision" on Brexit and a "failure to take a clear position and stick to it." "Illusion and falsehood." Indian PM Narendra Modi accused critics of the controversial citizenship law of "spreading lies and rumors" as the Supreme Court postponed hearings on its constitutionality until Jan. 22. This is not normal Alarming trend. The Pacific Ocean off the U.S. West Coast is acidifying 2x faster than the rest of the world's oceans due to increasing oceanic uptake of CO2—and it's weakening marine species' bones, NOAA said.  The future is now Treating cancer better. In a world-first, U.K. doctors are testing targeted "acoustic cluster therapy" that uses ultrasound waves to pump more chemotherapy drugs into tumors without attacking nearby healthy cells.  What's good Growing representation. A hospital in the U.K. is believed to be the first to introduce disposable and sterile headscarves for religious staff, striking what Muslim doctor Farah Roslan called a middle ground between "dress code due to faith" and the "passion" of working in the operating room.  Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive the QuickTake newsletter five days a week, and follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Before you go: What even is a snow squall? The whiteout-causing weather event triggered a spike in Google searches as it swept the Northeast on Wednesday. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
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