On May 14 and 15, China hosted a global summit to promote its One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative. Europe, for the first time, is starting to push back at this dramatic bid to replace the United States as global economic leader and global superpower. Speaking of the U.S., a May 15 report by the Hoover Institute revealed that America’s debt is worse than what state and local governments have previously disclosed.

Here are the five most important news stories this week, as well as relevant links to the full articles and videos here on theTrumpet.com.

Europe and China compete for economic leadership

China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative will inaugurate a new era of trade that would “add splendor to human civilization,” according to President Xi Jinping. He called it “the project of the century.”

If China follows through with One Belt, One Road, it will become the most expensive development plan in history—it will be several times larger than the United States’ Marshall Plan, which sent an inflation-adjusted $130 billion in aid from America to Western Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Europe, despite sharing a common goal with China to unseat the U.S. as a global leader in trade, has not been keen to participate in the Chinese initiative. In fact, it wants to compete against it.

U.S. state and local governments hiding $3.8 trillion in debt

In early May, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy, the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the American public bond market.

Puerto Rico defaulted on $123 billion, and its public pension plans are set to run out of money this year.

To ordinary Americans, Puerto Rico’s problems may feel as distant as the island is to the mainland, but all 50 states share the same problems, if not worse.

The Hoover Institute reported on May 15 that “unfunded liabilities of U.S. state and local pension systems are at least $3.8 trillion, or 2.8 times more than the value reflected in government disclosures.”

America’s dying aluminum industry

Aluminum is a vital resource which is used to produce advanced military equipment and critical next generation technology.

Unfortunately, America’s chief geopolitical rivals, Russia and China, hold a monopoly on aluminum smelting.

If Russia and China decided to stop selling aluminum to the United States over tariffs and protectionism, it could be disastrous.

Will South Korea’s Moon bring back ‘sunshine’?

South Korean liberal reformer Moon Jae-in was sworn in for a five-year presidential term on May 10, following a landslide victory in a historic snap election. Moon replaces the impeached former President Park Geun-hye, and his leadership brings an end to almost 10 years of conservative leadership in Seoul.

Analysts expect Moon’s election to have international consequences, including a warming of Seoul’s relationship with North Korea, and a cooling in the ties between the U.S. and South Korea.

Somali pirates are back!

The head of the United States Africa Command, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, confirmed during a press conference in Djibouti on April 23 that there has been a “sudden uptick” in piracy off the coast of Somalia in recent weeks.

In the late 2000s, Somali pirate attacks in the region surged to alarming levels and prompted an international intervention through initiatives such as EU navfor Somalia, America’s Combined Task Force 151 and nato’s Operation Ocean Shield.

General Waldhauser attributed the recent pirate attacks to a diminishing international security presence in the region and encouraged more involvement.

Where could this lead?

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