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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news
Police Officer Pockets $6,000 From People Who Had Their Cars Taken Through Forfeiture
A Tennessee police officer was indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft after he pocketed $6,000 from property owners who had their cars taken through civil asset forfeiture. An investigation from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s office released last week found that Sgt. Michael Hurt, a 15-year veteran of the Morristown, Tenn.,… -
opinion
Forget Iran: North Korea May Be More Immediate Threat
While the White House winds up its deal on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, angst abounds in U.S. national security circles. Contributing to the anxiety over how the Tehran regime will act in the future is knowledge of how the Pyongyang regime has acted in the past. For years, the North Korean government dabbled… -
news
Judge Who Declines to Do Same-Sex Marriages Says Civil Rights Struggle Inspired His Career
A Toledo judge who declined to officiate at the wedding of two women Monday has apologized to the couple for a 45-minute delay, explaining that his “personal and Christian beliefs” compelled him to ask that another judge step in. Judge C. Allen McConnell said he was awaiting guidance from the Ohio Supreme Court on whether… -
opinion
Why I’d Never Invest in the Chinese Stock Market (And It’s Not Just Because of the New Decline)
From the summer of 2009 through 2012, I was an American economist living in Beijing. Although an avid stock investor, I have never once owned a Chinese listed company. Let me tell you why. Traditionally, Chinese households have had (basically) two places to put their savings: the banking system and residential real estate. With housing… -
news
Japanese and South Korean Ambassadors Identify Strategies to Combat North Korea’s Growing Power
Through its continuous work to build, deploy and sell nuclear weapons and its general belligerence toward the rest of the region, North Korea is putting pressure on nearby democracies. Those democracies should put the pressure right back on the hermit kingdom by opposing its missile development and sales and exposing its appalling human rights record…. -
news
A Tale of Two Cities: Ukraine Wins One Back, But War Remains Close
MARIUPOL, Ukraine—A thunderstorm loomed over Mariupol on the afternoon of July 6. To the north, the sky turned dark and a cool pre-storm breeze kicked up as the sounds of distant thunder began to roll in. A waitress at the Natalka coffee shop on Prospekt Lenina smiled and said, “It’s only a storm. Not artillery.”… -
opinion
How U.S. Plans Respond to Russia Breaking Yet Another Arms Treaty
In a turn of events that surprises no one, Russia continues to act in a belligerent fashion on the world stage. While testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on June 25, Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work spoke strongly against Russia’s “provocations,” calling them “irresponsible” and an attempt to “intimidate our allies and us.”… -
opinion
Cuban Dissident Who Warned Obama Engagement With Castro Would Fail Injured By Castro’s Thugs
When President Obama confidently asserted “this is what change looks like” during his Cuba embassy announcement last week, he couldn’t possibly have had in mind the picture of a bloodied and bandaged Antonio Rodiles. And yet, the dissident leader warned Obama that very day in a tweet that appeasement meant more repression of dissidents. Rodiles… -
opinion
This Could Be the Beginning of the End for the European Union
Its failure to make a €1.73 billion euro payment to the International Monetary Fund by June 30 makes Greece the first developed country in history to default to the IMF. It could also mark the beginning of the end for the European Union as the world has known it. Brinkmanship by Greece’s hard-left Syriza government—rejecting… -
news
State Silences Bakers Who Refused to Make Cake for Lesbian Couple, Fines Them $135K
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized a preliminary ruling today ordering Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service. "This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage," Avakian wrote. "It is about… -
news
Meet the Former Addict Who Now Cuts Homeless People’s Hair for Free
Nasir Sobhani knows first-hand the toll addiction and homelessness can take. Which is why these days the recovering cocaine addict and barbershop owner spends his time helping others in need in an effort to pay his good fortune forward. “I love it so much, it’s like my new way of getting high … It’s like… -
news
In Ukraine, War and Peace Live Side By Side
KYIV, Ukraine—Konstantin Bernatovich’s hands began to tremble. He leaned forward, breathing quickly. He tried to say something, but his English failed him and he pulled out his smartphone to type a Russian message into Google Translate: “Seeing you makes me feel very nervous. I have to go smoke a cigarette for a moment to calm… -
opinion
A Space War With China or Russia Is a Real Threat
A war in space sounds like a great plot for a summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, a conflict in space isn’t just a Hollywood movie script anymore, but a threat in the real world. Both Russia and China have developed, or are developing, the ability to shoot satellites out of space. In addition to this, a number… -
opinion
The Flash, the Boom, and the Dark: 8 Days on the Front Line of the Ukraine War
PISKY, Ukraine—There are a lot of ways to die in Pisky, and they all come down to seconds and inches. Snipers, artillery, mortars, booby-traps. That’s the worst part of this war. You just never know when it’s going to happen. Seconds and inches. Fifty more years and the long road ahead, or the flash and… -
opinion
Chinese Say They’re Just Watching the Weather From Islands in South China Sea
Having antagonized much of the region with its island building in the South China Sea, as demonstrated by the loud chorus of concern heard at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore several weeks ago, Beijing is now claiming that the islands are intended for weather observation. “The construction of infrastructure for observation and communication is the… -
opinion
African Growth and Opportunity Act and Generalized System of Preferences Renewal Delayed by Fast-Track Debate
After much delay, Congress has acted on two much anticipated trade preference programs: the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). But, unfortunately, the preference bills have been caught up in the controversies surrounding President Obama’s trade agenda. At the last minute, House leaders attached language to the renewal… -
opinion
What America Can Learn From Europe’s Attempts to Stem Growth of Islamist Ideology
Watching Europeans grapple with multiculturalism as they attempt to stem the growth of Islamist ideology at home can be instructive. It may even convince U.S. leaders of the wisdom of once again assimilating immigrants to a unique American culture and set of national principles. In Germany, one of the most controversial aspects of multiculturalism, granting… -
news
This Is What the Ukraine War Looks Like: 8 Days on the Front Line
PISKY, Ukraine—The notion that the Ukraine cease-fire is still largely holding, or even being followed at all, is fiction. In the eastern Ukrainian village of Pisky, only six kilometers from the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, and two kilometers from the ruined Donetsk airport, the Ukrainian army 93rd Mechanized Brigade is engaged in sustained combat with… -
news
The Issue That May Determine Who Wins Iowa
With the race to the White House in full swing and the Iowa Caucus less than eight months away, one issue hits Iowans closer to home than most: renewable fuels. At a briefing in Washington this week, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association emphasized that exceedingly local issues like ethanol and biodiesel will play big in… -
opinion
Hong Kong Rejects Communist China’s Bogus Election Plan
The people of Hong Kong have once again given the world a lesson in democracy and liberty, this time by rejecting a bogus election plan hatched by communists in the People’s Republic of China. This is the gist of confusing events that took place Thursday in the former British colony. Lawmakers in the mini-legislature, the…