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
MS-13 Threatens the Legitimacy of Salvadoran Government
In a recent poll, residents of El Salvador were asked, “Who runs your country?” Forty-two percent reported gangs, while only 12 percent said the government. These results reveal a huge problem for El Salvador: The public’s lack of trust in its government threatens to dismantle the country’s democracy and stability. MS-13 is a dominant force… -
news
Nikki Haley Defends Decision to Leave UN Human Rights Council, Calls It ‘Greatest Failure’ of UN
The United States’ withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council has nothing to do with its commitment to human rights, Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday in a fiery speech at The Heritage Foundation. “No one should make the mistake of equating membership in the Human Rights Council with support for human rights. To this… -
opinion
The First Casualty of Russia’s War Against Ukraine: The Truth
KYIV, Ukraine—In 2014, the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk was at the epicenter of the separatist insurgency, which, with financial and military backing from Moscow, spawned two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine. That April, combined Russian-separatist forces seized control of Sloviansk. According to accounts from civilians living in the city at the time, Russian special… -
news
Trump’s Russian Reset: He Says He Misspoke on Election Interference
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “it should have been obvious” what he meant during a press conference in Helsinki, asserting he believes the conclusion of U.S. intelligence officials that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. But the president again stressed that his campaign didn’t collude with Russians. During his joint press conference Monday with… -
news
Conservative Lawmakers Say Trump’s Actions, Not Words, Key in Dealings With Putin
Conservative lawmakers say President Donald Trump’s strong actions, rather than his ill-chosen words, should speak to his foreign policy strategy for Russia. “All of the comments this president has made, the press harps on that one comment, and like my other colleagues have said, it’s what he’s done,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said Tuesday of… -
opinion
Don’t Believe the UN’s Propaganda About ‘Extreme Poverty’ in the US
Philip Alston, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, recently reported that in the United States, “[a]bout 40 million live in poverty, 18.5 million in extreme poverty, and 5.3 million live in third-world conditions of absolute poverty.” He further argued before the U.N. Human Rights Commission that “one of the world’s… -
opinion
Podcast: Conservative Lawmakers Weigh in on Trump’s Meeting, Press Conference With Putin
Conservative House members sounded off on the President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting and press conference, and we feature their comments, made today in an event co-hosted by The Heritage Foundation, on the podcast. Plus: A group is asking Congress to stop airplanes from making seats any smaller. -
opinion
What’s Next for US-Russia Relationship
This is a transcript of an interview on the July 16 episode of The Daily Signal podcast. It was edited for length, style, and clarity. Katrina Trinko: Joining us today is Peter Brookes, senior fellow for national security affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Peter, there’s been a lot of outrage from both the left and the right about President… -
opinion
Trump Is Right. NATO Countries Need to Up Their Defense Spending.
President Donald Trump may have offended some of our allies last week when he delivered a stern message reminding them of their unmet defense spending promises, but it was not a message they haven’t heard before. “If we’ve got collective defense,” then-President Barack Obama said at a 2014 NATO press conference in Brussels, “it means… -
opinion
Podcast: Trump, Putin, and the US-Russia Relationship
The Heritage Foundation’s Peter Brookes joins us to discuss the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin and what should happen next. Plus: The University of Minnesota considers a policy that could lead to expulsion for students who don’t use others’ preferred gender pronouns. -
news
Trump Not Clear on Whether He Believes Putin or US Intelligence on Election Meddling
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Monday to allow special counsel Robert Mueller’s team to come to Russia to observe questioning of 12 Russian intelligence officials Mueller indicted for allegedly interfering in the election—with a condition. “I think that the United States has been foolish. I think that we’ve all been foolish. We should have had… -
news
Indictments of 12 Russians Hit Ahead of Trump-Putin Meeting
President Donald Trump, at a joint news conference Friday with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Britain, previewed his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hours later in Washington, the Justice Department announced the indictment of 12 Russians on charges of attempting to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But Deputy Attorney General… -
opinion
A Brief Look at Presidents Who Met the Queen
As part of his trip to the United Kingdom, President Donald Trump traveled to Windsor Castle on Friday to enjoy afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth II. Trump is the 11th U.S. president that Queen Elizabeth has met in her 66-year reign as the British monarch. She also met Presidents Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman prior… -
news
On Russian Gas and NATO Military Spending, Trump and Ukraine See Eye to Eye
KYIV, Ukraine—This week in Brussels, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed for NATO members to both boost their military spending and reduce their spending on Russian gas. Trump’s blunt message may have fallen flat among the leadership of some NATO allies, as well as the Western press corps. Yet, it was likely to resonate in Ukraine,… -
opinion
Before Judging Trump, NATO Allies Should Do Some Soul-Searching
President Donald Trump has no doubt caused a stir in Europe this week. Among other things, he has said Germany is a “captive” to Russia due to its recent oil and gas deals, and that he expects NATO countries to “immediately” increase defense spending to relieve some of the unfair burden on the U.S. I… -
news
Watch US-Led NATO Forces Prepare to Defend Eastern Europe From Russia
This summer, the U.S. military led two NATO exercises in the Baltics—Trojan Footprint and Saber Strike. Altogether, the two exercises marked a new era of conventional military threats, which the U.S. military and its NATO allies are preparing to combat after a generation focused on counterinsurgency operations. Above all, Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine hangs like a sword of… -
news
US Embassy to US Citizens in UK: ‘Keep a Low Profile’ During Trump Visit
The U.S. Embassy in London has issued an alert to U.S. citizens who will be in the United Kingdom’s capital city during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit on July 13. The embassy warned U.S. citizens “to keep a low profile” and “exercise caution” from July 12 to 14 in case crowds protesting Trump’s policies become violent. Protests… -
opinion
Podcast: Trump’s Approach to the NATO Summit
President Donald Trump is at the NATO summit, asking European countries to spend more on defense and berating Germany’s decision to rely more on Russia for energy. The Heritage Foundation’s Luke Coffey analyzes the effect of Trump’s comments. Plus: Liberals’ bizarre complaints about Brett Kavanaugh. -
opinion
What to Know Ahead of the Trump-Putin Summit
On July 16, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet for their first formal bilateral summit in Helsinki, Finland. Expectations should be kept at a minimum. The U.S. and Russia have conflicting interests when it comes to many of the major geopolitical issues of the day, and this is unlikely to change… -
news
Capital Gazette Employee: Fellow Reporter Who Charged Shooter With Trash Can ‘Saved My Life’
Capital Gazette employees reflected on a colleague Saturday who they said charged the shooter, buying others time with her sacrifice. Reporter Wendi Winters charged shooting suspect Jarrod Ramos with a recycling bin and trash can during the June 28 attack, The Capital Gazette reported. She had learned at an active shooter training hosted by her church…