International News
Coverage of international events and global policy shifts. The Daily Signal offers news reporting with opinion and commentary on world affairs.
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opinion
Venezuela Is Still Carrying Out Chavez’s Strategy to Poison America. But Trump Can Stop It.
Venezuela continues to go down the drain. As the world wonders how thuggish Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro manages to cling to power, we received a fresh reminder that the problems plaguing Venezuelans started long before him. It was Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s predecessor and mentor, who set Venezuela on the road to ruin almost two decades ago. We have… -
news
Justin Trudeau Wore Brownface at 2001 Party
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wore brownface makeup at a 2001 party when he was a teacher, Time reported Wednesday. The incident occurred while Trudeau, then 29, was attending an “Arabian Nights” themed private school party. He was a teacher at West Point Grey Academy, and the photo appears in the school’s 2000-2001 yearbook, according to Time…. -
news
Trump Hints at New Iran Sanctions, Prefers to Avoid ‘Ultimate Option’ of War
President Donald Trump says he will announce new actions by Friday regarding Iran’s suspected role in attacking oil fields in Saudi Arabia. “We’ll be adding some very significant sanctions onto Iran,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in Los Angeles. “We’ll be announcing it over the next 48 hours.” Trump said he has “many options” and that… -
opinion
What You Need to Know About the Attack on Saudi Arabia
A major attack on Saudi oil production is stoking tensions in the Middle East. Heritage Foundation expert Peter Brookes discusses what happened, and what it means for the region and the United States. Read the lightly edited interview, pasted below, or listen on the podcast: We also cover these stories: President Trump is defending Justice… -
news
NYC Public Schools to Excuse Students Who Participate in ‘Climate Strike’
New York’s public school officials announced Thursday afternoon that they will excuse students who plan on attending various "climate strikes" throughout the city. “@NYCschools will excuse absences of students participating in the #ClimateStrike on Friday 9/20,” the New York City Public Schools' Twitter account notes. “Students will need parental consent. Younger students can only leave… -
news
Jay-Z’s Un-PC Remarks on Broken Homes, Crime Belatedly Trigger Tweetstorm
Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z is drawing belated condemnation on Twitter for attributing “adverse feeling for authority” to fatherless households during a panel discussion on social justice earlier this year. Videos of the rapper—whose given name is Shawn—discussing single-parent households on a race-relations panel recently surfaced and went viral. In the clip from the January discussion, Jay-Z,… -
opinion
Britain’s Moment of Truth
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is desperate to translate the British public’s June 2016 vote to leave the European Union into a concrete Brexit. But the real issue is far older and more important than whether 52% of Britain finally became understandably aggrieved by the increasingly anti-democratic and German-controlled European Union. England is an island…. -
opinion
US Should Do More to Counter Chinese Trade Inroads in Africa
China is well-known to be America’s largest trading partner—and now, a continued adversary in the trade war. However, more under the radar is China’s growing influence in Africa. In recent years, China has made key inroads on the African continent with aggressive economic investment, trade, open extraction of energy and mineral resources, and a slow… -
news
Ukraine-Russia Prisoner Swap Renews Hopes for Peace Deal
KYIV, Ukraine—A prisoner exchange Saturday between Ukraine and Russia marked a key step toward renewed peace talks between the two nations, which have been locked in a low intensity conflict for five years. In all, 70 prisoners changed hands, 35 from each camp. The move, which the Red Cross oversaw, was among the most significant… -
opinion
Our National Interest and the South China Sea
It’s difficult to explain how a country goes about defining its national interests. Sure, we know the policy processes. We know the considerations. Interests in borders, war, and peace are easy to understand. But why are other, more abstract interests, such as American concern for the freedom of navigation in a far-flung place like the… -
opinion
US Must Contain Chinese Influence Rising in the United Nations
Chinese influence is on the rise within the United Nations system. Qu Dongyu became director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization this month, raising the number of Chinese nationals leading a U.N. specialized agency to four. This trend is concerning, because China is not a benign force internationally. It is seeking to shift the values, programs, and policies of the U.N. in… -
opinion
Why US Governors Should Beware of Russians Bearing Gifts
Under the misleading guise of being a British company, a firm connected to a Russian oligarch is seeking to expand its investments and business dealings across the United States. Only a few months after Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s companies were scandalously removed from U.S. sanctions, they have wasted no time trying to enter the U.S…. -
opinion
China’s Forced Sterilization of Uighur Women Is Cultural Genocide
Unknown pills and forced injections. Those are not fictional horrors from scary movies, but the reality many Uighurs in mass arbitrary internment are faced with today in China. In Xinjiang, human rights abuses against Uighur women and children abound. Uighurs, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic minority in Xinjiang, are being seriously repressed by the Chinese government…. -
news
Academia Today ‘Not for Faint-Hearted,’ Says Professor Who Lost His Job for Talking About Gender
Academia today “is not for the faint-hearted,” says a veteran professor who was head of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Louisville School of Medicine until he was demoted and then let go for making public comments on gender identity. “You know, I really was an academic physician, not a politician. I wasn’t… -
news
Trump ‘Orders’ American Businesses to Find Alternative to China
President Donald Trump told U.S. companies Friday to “start looking for an alternative” to China for business, after that country announced a 25% tariff on all U.S. automobiles and a 5% to 10% tariff on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods. Trump tweeted that bringing companies back home would be a “GREAT opportunity” for the… -
news
Under Shadow of War With Russia, Ukraine Celebrates Independence
KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine’s celebration Saturday of its Independence Day marks 28 years since the country split from the Soviet Union. But freedom hasn’t come easy for Ukraine. And the country’s freedom struggle isn’t over. For more than five years, Ukrainian troops have been bogged down in a war in the country’s eastern Donbas region, where they… -
news
Trump Backs Down on Rescinding $4 Billion in Foreign Aid
President Donald Trump has opted against a cost-cutting measure to cancel more than $4 billion in budgeted foreign assistance, much of which he previously deemed as wasteful. Days earlier, the administration had cited U.S. taxpayer dollars going to projects such as border security in Asia, crop diversity in Bangladesh, solar panels in Central Asia, and… -
opinion
UK Eco-Extremists Show Why US Needs a Counter-Drone Strategy
Climate change activists from a group called Extinction Rebellion are threatening to fly drones over London’s Heathrow Airport with the goal of deliberately stopping all flights for a week. If their efforts were to succeed, the group could shut down the United Kingdom’s busiest airport and upward of a million travelers could be affected. There… -
news
Solar Panels in Asia, Border Security for El Salvador: Trump Tries to Rein in Wasted Tax Dollars Abroad
Amid contentious debate in Washington on how much to devote to securing the southern border, what might surprise some is that tax dollars are going to finance border security for countries in the Pacific and in East, South, and Central Asia. That’s not all, because the United States is paying for border security for a… -
opinion
The Rise of ‘Hate Speech’ Policing in Europe
Free speech is increasingly under attack on college campuses — but if you think it’s bad here, look across the pond to Europe. Authorities over there are increasingly cracking down on so-called “hate speech” — a label that’s been applied to speech critical of Islam, homosexuality, and more. Paul Coleman, a British attorney who’s had…