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This week, Central American migrants seek asylum in Mexico in record numbers; tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to mount; UK Prime Minister Theresa May calls for an early general election; and more.
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Americas

The number of Central American migrants seeking asylum in Mexico has drastically increased since the U.S. presidential election in 2016, according to a new report. Mexico’s COMAR refugee agency received 5,421 applications for asylum between November 2016 and March 2017, 150 percent more than it did during the same time period the year prior. In addition, detentions at the southwestern U.S.-Mexico border dropped slightly, with about a 4 percent decrease over the same five-month period as 2016. Roughly 15,000 fewer Central Americans were detained by Mexican immigration agents in the first two months of 2017, a 27 percent drop in detentions from the same period in 2016.

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• Paraguay president will no longer seek re-election after his bid to change the constitution triggered rioting – BBC

Central & South Asia

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected calls to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office over corruption allegations regarding the 2015 "Panama Papers" leak. The leak revealed that Sharif and several of his relatives "owned offshore companies in tax havens dealing in millions of dollars in property transactions." As many as eight off-shore companies were found to have links with Sharif, his children, and his brother, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif. The prime minister denied any wrongdoing, but the Supreme Court agreed to investigate the allegations after opposition leader Imran Khan threatened protests.

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• The ‘silent crisis’ of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh – Rebecca Wright, CNN

China & East Asia

China this week said it is "seriously concerned" about increasingly tense relations between North Korea and the United States. Last week the U.S. military ordered a navy strike group to move toward the Korean Peninsula, although it was later reported that the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, and three other warships were sailing in the opposite direction. Days later, North Korea held a large military parade marking the 105th birthday of the nation’s founding president, Kim Il-sung, featuring a video showing missiles destroying the United States. In South Korea, Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea not to "test" President Trump, insisting that the "era of strategic patience is over" after a top North Korean official asserted the country would continue to test missiles weekly.

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• Taiwan return of China dissident seen as bid for better ties – Ralph Jennings, Washington Post

Europe & Russia

UK’s parliament on Wednesday voted to approve Prime Minister Theresa May’s call for an early general election on June 8, three years before the initially scheduled May 2020 election. Despite repeatedly saying she would not call for a snap election, May says the reason for calling one now has to do with Brexit. Polls indicate her Conservative Party leads the Labour Party by 20 points. Having just invoked Article 50 to begin the formal process of leaving the European Union last month, May is hoping to strengthen her parliamentary support and gain more credibility during what is set to be a tough two years of negotiations.

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• U.S. rejects Exxon Mobil bid for waiver on Russia sanctions – The New York Times

Middle East & North Africa

In a razor-thin referendum vote on Sunday, Turkey approved constitutional changes to increase President Tayyip Erdoğan’s executive power. Erdoğan’s "Yes" campaign won with just 51 percent of the vote, with "No" votes dominating Turkey’s three largest cities. If fully implemented, the referendum would abolish the country’s office of prime minister and shift away from a parliamentary democracy. President Erdoğan would control the judiciary and be allowed to "run for additional presidential terms that could extend his stay in power until 2029." The results from the referendum are highly contentious after suspicion that up to 2.5 million "Yes" votes could have been manipulated. Turkey’s High Electoral Board on Wednesday rejected appeals to annul the referendum.

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• Tillerson: Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal and U.S. will continue its ease of sanctions, but deal is under review – Evelyn Rupert, The Hill

Southeast Asia & Oceania

Citizens of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta on Wednesday voted for its next governor, with Muslim candidate Anies Baswedan defeating Christian incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. The race, which was described as "the dirtiest, most polarizing, and most divisive" campaign in the country’s history, was watched closely as a barometer for the 2019 presidential election. With 80 percent of the country’s population professing Islam, hard-line Muslim groups have taken on an increasingly central role in politics, putting the country’s religious tolerance into question. Purnama is set to resume a blasphemy trial following the election after allegations that he insulted Islam and the Koran.

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• Australia plans to raise more barriers to citizenship, including testing ‘values’ – Damien Cave, The New York Times

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Ugandan military on Wednesday stated it has begun withdrawing troops from the Central African Republic where it has long been pursuing rebel leader Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This statement comes almost two weeks after the U.S. Special Operations Forces announced it would be ending its search for the rebel leader. Uganda had been leading a U.S.-supported African Union regional task force tracking Kony and the LRA since 2012 and stated that the decision to pull out now came from "the realization that the mission to neutralize the LRA has now been successfully achieved." Although Kony has not yet been found, he is believed to have only about 100 fighters remaining, making the LRA largely "weak" and "ineffective." The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Kony’s arrest in 2005, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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• Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle inaugurates South Africa’s Zimbabwe moment – Vishwas Satgar, Mail & Guardian

Stay informed. We’ll see you here again next week.