diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-10-17-14-46-16.bpo-42060.du-IYq.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-10-17-14-46-16.bpo-42060.du-IYq.rst
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+Replace `asserts` on HTTPResponse and HTTPConnection with `if...raises` so that the conditional checks work while running with the optimization flag switched on
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