World News Summary: Hong Kong bars activist Joshua Wong from district poll

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Hong Kong bars activist Joshua Wong from district poll

Hong Kong authorities disqualified prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong on Tuesday from standing in upcoming district elections, a move likely to sow discord among anti-government demonstrators as an illegal Halloween march looms. Wong, who was 17 when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement, has not been a leading figure in the latest five-month spate of largely leaderless protests in the Chinese-ruled city. Argentina's Grossi secures votes to head U.N. nuclear watchdog

Argentina's Rafael Grossi has secured the backing of enough countries on the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board to become the head of the agency, succeeding Yukiya Amano after he died in office, diplomats who followed the vote on Tuesday said. Grossi, 58, is currently Argentina's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency and a veteran of nuclear diplomacy. He was in a close-fought race against Romania's Cornel Feruta, formerly Amano's right-hand man and currently the IAEA's acting director-general. Israel's Netanyahu plans to move funds from civilian to military spending

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to shift funds designated for civilian purposes to military spending to meet any threats from Iran, a government official said on Tuesday. Netanyahu, in a speech on Monday, did not specify the amount of the funds but said they needed to be moved "now". Iraqi security forces open fire on protesters, kill 14

Iraqi security forces killed at least 14 people in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala overnight after opening fire on protesters, medical and security sources said, in a return to tactics denounced by the government's own internal inquiry. At least 865 people were wounded, the sources said. Three protesters died in the southern city of Nassiriya from wounds sustained in earlier protests. Turkey says Kurdish YPG still in Syria border area as deadline looms

Kurdish YPG forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave, Turkey's defense minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying, hours before a deadline for their removal expires. Under an accord reached a week ago between the presidents of Turkey and Russia, Syrian border guards and Russian military police are meant to remove all YPG forces and their weapons from a 30 km (19 mile) band of territory south of the Turkish-Syrian border by 6 pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday. Vietnam says trying to speed up identification of UK truck dead

Vietnam is trying to speed up the identification of its citizens who are suspected to have been among the people found dead in the back of a truck near London last week, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong told Reuters on Tuesday. A UK court heard on Monday that a global ring had been involved in smuggling the group. The truck's driver is facing charges of manslaughter and people trafficking. Lebanese PM Hariri likely to resign amid protests: sources

Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is likely to resign, two official sources said on Tuesday, amid unprecedented protests against a ruling elite many accuse of corruption and leading Lebanon toward economic collapse unseen since the 1975-90 civil war. There was no immediate comment from Hariri's office. He will deliver an address at 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), an official Twitter account said. Brexit election? Johnson makes fresh bid to break the deadlock

Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a fresh bid for an election to break the Brexit deadlock on Tuesday after nearly three-and-a-half years of wrangling in parliament has left Britain's exit from the European Union in turmoil. As the European Union finalizes a third delay to the divorce that was originally supposed to take place on March 29, the United Kingdom, its parliament and its voters remain divided on how or indeed if to go ahead with Brexit. Cambodian police question 20 over missing British woman; no arrests

Cambodian police said they had questioned at least 20 people but made no arrests as they continued the search for a 21-year-old British woman who went missing last week, as her brother urged renewed efforts to try to find her. Divers, land-based teams and police drones have been enlisted in the search for Amelia Bambridge, who was last seen on Thursday leaving for a beach party on the island of Koh Rong, which is popular with backpackers. Russia guarded over Baghdadi killing, world leaders say fight goes on

Russia offered guarded praise on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but world leaders warned that the fight against the militant group was not over yet. Trump said on Sunday that Baghdadi had died "whimpering and crying" in a raid by U.S. special forces in Syria, fulfilling his top national security goal.

Also Read: FACTBOX-Five facts about next U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi