Globe Trot: An alarming new rise in seagoing migrants to Europe

ITALY: An alarming number of migrants from North Africa are coming ashore in Europe—nearly 2,500 in the last three days. The UN reports nearly 13,000 sea arrivals in 2017—about one-third the number who arrived in all of 2016.

Two leading Swedish politicians say U.S. President Donald Trump has a point about open-door immigration (which is where Hillary Clinton likely would have headed as president, but it differs from current and historic U.S. policy).

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong Nam, half-brother to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed with a nerve agent banned as a chemical weapon, say Malaysian authorities.

NIGERIA: At least 26 civilians have been killed in Islamic-led violence in Kaduna this week, despite the presence nearby of beefed-up Nigerian military units. Two German archaeologists have been abducted in the area—all part of a “religious cleansing” campaign church leaders say the government is not taking steps to stop.

EGYPT: A terror group in Egypt affiliated with the Islamic State called Christians its “favorite prey” and warned them to prepare for more attacks like the suicide bombing of a Cairo Coptic church in December that killed nearly 30 people.

UNITED STATES: Awaiting a new Trump executive order on immigration and refugees, Notre Dame political science professor Daniel Philpott makes the case for protecting all who suffer religious persecution (and qualify for U.S. asylum).

I’M READING Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road by Rob Schmitz.