Today's Headlines and Commentary

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s embattled president, refused to step down after his own party removed him as its leader, according to Reuters. Mugabe rejected a 24-hour ultimatum from his ZANU-PF party to resign, instead pledging to continue on as Zimbabwe’s leader. A military coup put Mugabe under house arrest four days ago and prompted the ZANU-PF to push for his removal.

Coalition talks in Germany failed, opening the possibility that Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to step down, the New York Times reported. The four-party negotiations ended when the Free Democrats party walked out, casting uncertainty over the future of Germany’s government. New elections could be called, but German lawmakers warned that another vote could strengthen the far-right party whose popularity rose sharply in the Sept. 24 election.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team requested a swath of documents from the Department of Justice about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and about the firing of then-FBI Director James Comey, ABC News reported. The Justice Department received the inquiry during the past month. It also targets any communications between the Justice Department and the White House on these matters. According to ABC News, the requests could indicate that Mueller is still looking into whether the administration attempted to obstruct the Russia investigation.

China proposed a ceasefire plan to address the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, Reuters reported. Speaking from Naypyidaw, the Chinese foreign minister put forth a three-stage plan for a ceasefire, bilateral dialogue between Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh, and negotiations for a long-term solution. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh said they would support the proposal.

Hundreds protested in front of the Libyan embassy in Paris after CNN reported about African migrants sold as slaves near Tripoli, the Times reported. The chairman of the African Union said the events reported in Libya were “despicable” and called for an investigation. The number of migrants in Libya is estimated to be between 700,000 to 1 million.

Saad Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon, said he would travel to Egypt from France and then return to Lebanon by Wednesday, Reuters reported. After speaking with France’s president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Hariri said he would meet Egypt’s president on his visit, which starts Tuesday. Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, has said he will not accept Hariri’s resignation until Hariri delivers it in person.

The U.S. conducted an intense series of airstrikes in Somalia after a car bombing devastated Mogadishu, the Times reported. In a five-day period starting Nov. 9, the U.S. carried out six strikes against al-Shabab and Islamic State militants—twenty-five percent of the strikes that the U.S. conducted in Somalia this year. About 500 U.S. troops are deployed there training local forces and conducting secret kill-or-capture raids.

An Israeli cabinet minister said Israel has a secret communications channel to Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters. The minister said Israel has many covert communications lines to Arab countries that it keeps secret. Last week, Israel’s military chief said Israel was prepared to share intelligence with Riyadh.

The Justice Department is preparing to announce charges next month against Iranian hackers in several cases, including this summer’s breach of HBO, the Washington Post reported. Law enforcement officers expressed concern privately that making the charges public could impede future investigative work. The push to announce the investigations comes as the administration strikes a hard line on Iran after President Donald Trump decertified Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal last month.

The State Department will recommend that President Trump agree to a plan to provide anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, ABC News reported. The National Security Council already gave the go-ahead for a plan to give Ukraine’s government a $47 million grant for defense equipment that include Javelin anti-tank arms. The decision would be a major shift in U.S. policy that could heighten tensions with Russia in eastern Europe.

Kenya’s high Court upheld President Uhuru Kenyatta’s disputed electoral victory after clashes between opposition protesters and the police, according to the Times. The court dismissed two appeals against Kenyatta’s victory in an Oct. 26 election where Raila Odinga, his leading opponent, dropped out weeks before the vote. Odinga left Kenya on Sunday, saying he would not accept the election’s outcome.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, condemned the U.S. threat to close the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington, the Post reported. The State Department said that it had decided not to recertify the PLO’s office because Palestinian leaders called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel. In its appropriations for the State Department, Congress has mandated the closure of the PLO’s office if it supports an investigation into Israel at the ICC.

An attorney that U.S. Marshals arrested and forced to testify in the USS Cole Guantanamo Bay military commissions case is suing the Department of Defense for damages, the Daily Beast reported. A military judge called Stephen Gill, formerly an attorney in the Pentagon’s legal office, to testify last year in a case related to misconduct by Defense Department lawyers. Gill is demanding $1.375 million in compensation for what he called an illegal arrest by the marshals to compel him to testify.

Jenna McLaughlin detailed in Foreign Policy how the New York Observer, a newspaper owned by Jared Kushner, gave WikiLeaks a prominent platform for its leaked material.

Ashley Parker and Carol Leonnig wrote in the Post about how White House aides are divided over the threats from the special counsel investigation.

ICYMI: This weekend on Lawfare

Vanessa Sauter shared the Lawfare Podcast, featuring an discussion between Benjamin Wittes and Naunihal Singh on the coup in Zimbabwe.

In the Foreign Policy Essay, Candace Rondeaux applied lessons from the “Art of the Deal” to the administration’s strategy for negotiations with the Taliban.

Richard Betts and Matthew Waxman outlined a proposal for constraining the president’s authority to launch a first-use nuclear attack.

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