Why it matters: The U.S. has responded to standoffs with North Korea, Russia, Iran and Venezuela in unorthodox and unpredictable ways. Alliances are rupturing, authoritarians are rising, and China is steadily becoming the most powerful rival America has ever faced.
A family is rescued from a property in Nantgarw, Wales, on Sunday. The storm comes a week after the U.K. was battered by storm Ciara, which killed two people, per the BBC. Photo: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
Storm Dennis continued to pummel parts of England, Wales and Ireland over Sunday night with heavy rain after battering Northern Ireland and Scotland, per the official British weather agency the Met Office.
Why it matters: It's the second-strongest nontropical storm ever recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean, with its hurricane-force winds and heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across the U.K., the Washington Post notes. Police in Wales confirmed Sunday they found the body of a man who fell into a river as the storm lashed Ystradgynlais.
Nancy Pelosi, Feb. 16. Photo: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday cautioned U.S. allies against allowing Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to develop their 5G networks, arguing at the Munich Security Conference that doing so is akin to “choosing autocracy over democracy," CNBC reports.
Why it matters: Pelosi's hawkish stance marks a rare area of agreement with the Trump administration, which believes Huawei is a national security threat because the Chinese government may be capable of accessing its equipment for espionage.
Protesters try to set fire to the outside fence of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Dec. 31. Photo: Khalil Dawood/Xinhua/Bai Ping via Getty Images
"Small rockets" hit the Iraqi base hosting American and other troops in Baghdad's Green Zone early Sunday, a U.S. military spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
Details: The attack at the base hosting International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve troops occurred just before 3:30 a.m., said Col. Myles B. Caggins III. There were no casualties and an investigation has been opened into the incident, he added.