After promising to create a series of “manufacturing institutes” to bring manufacturing jobs back to America almost exactly a year ago, President Obama is finally ready to open the first one. On a visit to North Carolina this week, Obama announced to a group of college students that the first of these institutes will soon open in their state thanks to a $70 million grant from the Department of Energy and a the contributions of a number of manufacturing firms.

American democracy suffers when we place the responsibility for defense on an increasingly narrow segment of the population. We need a more republican country, and a more democratic military.

The dangerous saboteurs that comrade Stalin warned us about are keeping baby formula off of Venezuela’s shelves. President Nicolas Maduro is here to stop them. In the mean time, add milk and sugar to the list of chronic shortages in the country with the world’s biggest oil reserves.

A number of Puerto Rico’s bondholders are meeting in New York this week to discuss the increasingly real possibility that they may not be paid back. Like Detroit before it, Puerto Rico has been spiraling toward default for years now, but unlike Detroit, Puerto Rico’s status as a territory will make it legally impossible for the island to enter bankruptcy. Instead, it’s beginning to look likely that that the island could issue a moratorium on its debt repayments until it figures its situation out. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico’s debt crisis is so bad, that it’s not clear what more the government can actually do to fix it, and the Supreme Court’s hesitation to allow pension reform isn’t helping.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has focused his national revival agenda on two main things: defense and the economy. There can be little doubt that he is moving the country away from its pacifist past, with a better organized defense leadership and a stronger military. The impact of “Abenomics,” his economic strategy, is less clear: many analysts and investors have been disappointed; others have celebrated renewed growth or suggested the reforms will make a big impact in the future. Government data released today suggest at least some of Abe’s economic reforms are having a positive effect.

Utah Senator Mike Lee has proposed a new bill which would attempt to break the federal monopoly on higher-ed accreditation. Current federal law forbids accreditation agencies from accrediting schools that do not grant formal degrees and forbids students at non-accredited schools from receiving federal aid, pushing students toward a four-year residential model that may not suit them. Lee’s bill would give more power to the states to accredit whatever courses they want, hopefully lowering costs in the process.

Something unusual is starting to happen in Vietnam. For the first time, Vietnamese authorities are encouraging public discussion and even celebration of a historic battle with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea. In state-run media, in public demonstrations, and in the daily activities of fishermen, Hanoi is encouraging Vietnamese citizens to confront China in a more aggressive and more prominent way than anything in recent memory.

Radio silence reigns among Israel’s critics as Palestinians suffer brutality at the hands of pro-Assad forces in Syria. In the cozy cocoon of the anti-Israel world, the suffering of Palestinians only becomes visible when Israelis do something to them. Otherwise they and their problems simply don’t exist.

Egypt’s new constitution is widely expected to pass in a referendum today. The measure enjoys unanimous support from the media, and opponents have been forbidden from campaigning on its behalf for fear of arrest. The military is still on top.

Officials from both Japan and China, including the Japanese prime minister, visited Africa recently. Is Africa becoming the latest battleground for east Asian diplomatic and economic competition?