Today In International News: November 20, 2017

Courtesy of CNN

• President Donald Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, allowing the United States to impose additional sanctions and penalties against Pyongyang as it continues to pursue nuclear weapons programs.

• China called for a ceasefire in Myanmar’s Rakhine State so that Rohingya Muslim refugees can return from Bangladesh, proposing a three-stage approach to the crisis as diplomats from 51 mostly Asian and European countries gathered in Myanmar.

• North Korea may conduct additional missile tests this year to polish up its long-range missile technology and ramp up the threat against the United States.

• Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike to protest against European policies they say have turned it into a “prison” for migrants and refugees.

• Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF will discuss the impeachment of President Robert Mugabe, its chief whip said, after a noon deadline expired for the 93-year-old to resign and bring the curtain down on nearly four decades in power.

• Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court ruled a Sept. 25 Kurdish independence referendum was unconstitutional and the results void, strengthening Baghdad’s hand in a stand-off with the Kurdish region watched closely by neighboring Turkey and Iran.

• The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said he believes he could help Afghan forces drive back the Taliban enough to control at least 80 percent of the country within 2 years, compared with about two-thirds today.

• The top nuclear commander in the U.S. said he would refuse an order to conduct a nuclear strike from President Trump if he thought the launch was illegal.

• After a breakdown in coalition talks plunged the country into political crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she would prefer new elections to leading a minority government.

• An investigation is ongoing after a leak in the major Keystone XL energy pipeline spilled nearly 795,000 litres of oil onto farmland in the US state of South Dakota.

• A regulator in the US state of Nebraska has granted a final permit to build the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline that has faced staunch opposition for years in both Canada and the US.  

• Robert Mueller is looking for information related to Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the entire Russia inquiry.