The cancellation of the official House delegation to the annual Munich Security Conference has drawn pushback from Democrats who still plan to attend, even as it’s upended a decades-long tradition of robust bipartisan participation in the high-profile global policy forum.
A House leadership aide told The Hill that cancelling congressional delegations (CODEL) is standard operating procedure during the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
But House Democrats have sharply criticized Republicans for the cancellation, arguing that attending the conference is critical to restoring the United States’ standing with allies amid the Trump administration’s aggressive foreign policy approach.
“Because of the Republican shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, because Republicans refuse to make any compromises or any changes to ICE after the deadly murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, we have a shutdown, and therefore, we cannot go on official CODELS. I’ve decided, along with a number of my Democratic colleagues, to go anyway,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) said in a video statement on Thursday.




Former President Barack Obama said in a Feb. 14 interview that a video President Donald Trump posted that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, decried by many as racist, was part of a shameless "clown show."
Israeli fire kills one and wounds several in Gaza: One Palestinian was killed and at least ten others were wounded by Israeli forces on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera. Mohammed Dabbash was killed by Israeli army fire in Al-Zarqa area northeast of Gaza City. Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers advanced near the Kuwait roundabout east of Gaza City, opening heavy fire and injuring at least ten Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, where Palestine Red Crescent Society crews evacuated three wounded under gunfire.
President Donald Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Two federal immigration agents involved in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis last month appear to have lied about the details of the incident, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
A passerby jumped into a frigid Florida pond to save a pregnant woman from her sinking car recently – giving her the opportunity to safely birth her baby hours later, according to authorities and those at the center of the riveting rescue story.
A bitter dispute between Europe and the US over the future of Gaza has broken out into the open, with the EU’s head of foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, warning that Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” was a personal vehicle for the US president that removed any accountability to Palestinians or the United Nations.





























