World News Summary: Masked university students rally at graduation ceremony in Hong Kong

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Masked university students rally at a graduation ceremony in Hong Kong

About 1,000 students, many wearing black masks, attended a graduation ceremony at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Thursday, with some holding up banners urging "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now". The students defied a ban on masks that the government imposed last month in a bid to curb unrest that has rocked the Chinese-ruled city for more than five months. Erdogan says the U.S. not fulfilling Syria deal ahead of Trump talks

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday the United States was not fulfilling its pledge to remove a Kurdish militia from a Syrian border region and he will raise the issue when he meets President Donald Trump next week. A month ago, Turkey launched a cross-border offensive with Syrian rebels against Kurdish YPG fighters. After seizing control of a 120-km (75-mile) swathe of territory, it reached a deal with the United States to keep them out of that area. Lebanon a 'beautiful idea' in need of a reboot, say protesters

From a narrow-angle, Beirut looks a picture of elegance and success, its French boutiques, luxury hotels and imported cars blending into Mediterranean skies. Widen the lens, as three weeks of popular anti-government protests, have sought to do, and the view that emerges is of a nation struggling against extreme inequality, failing basic services, high unemployment, and hardened frustration. The U.S. accuses two former Twitter employees of spying for Saudi Arabia

Two former employees of Twitter and the third man from Saudi Arabia face U.S. charges of spying for the kingdom by digging up private user data and giving it to Saudi officials in exchange for payment, a complaint from the Department of Justice shows. Ali Alzabarah and Ahmad Abouammo, who used to work for Twitter, and Ahmed Almutairi, who then worked for the Saudi royal family, face charges of working for Saudi Arabia without registering as foreign agents, according to the complaint filed against them on Wednesday. Iraqi forces shoot at protesters killing four in Baghdad

Iraqi security forces shot dead at least four protesters in central Baghdad on Thursday, police and medical sources said, as weeks of deadly unrest showed no signs of abating. Another 35 people were wounded in the clashes near Shuhada Bridge, they said, as mass demonstrations continued for a 13th straight day with thousands thronging central areas of the capital. Iran holding IAEA inspector was 'outrageous provocation': U.S.

The European Union and the United States expressed concern on Thursday over Iran's holding of an inspector from the U.N. nuclear watchdog last week, with the U.S. envoy to the agency calling it an "outrageous provocation" that must have consequences. Reuters first reported on Wednesday that Iran had briefly held the inspector and seized her travel documents in what appears to be the first incident of its kind since Iran's nuclear deal with major powers was struck in 2015. Smaller pro-EU parties unveil electoral pact for UK election

Britain's smaller pro-European parties have announced a "remain" alliance for next month's general election in which they will step aside for each other in 60 constituencies, covering about 10% of the seats in parliament. The aim is to deny a majority to Prime Minister Boris Johnson who plans to take Britain out of the EU if he wins the vote on Dec. 12. Under armed escort, mourner convoys reach Mexican village for U.S. family funerals

Convoys of vehicles carrying relatives of a group of American women and children slain by unknown gunmen snaked through the dark from as far away as the United States into a remote Mexican region ahead of funerals for the victims to be held on Friday. Members of breakaway Mormon communities that settled in Mexico decades ago, the three dual-nationality women and six children were ambushed in Sonora state on Monday, leading to U.S. President Donald Trump urging Mexico and the United States to "wage war' together on the drug cartels. Many still missing after the deadly attack near Canadian-run mine in Burkina Faso

Dozens of people were feared still missing on Thursday after an ambush on workers near a Canadian-owned mine in Burkina Faso killed at least 37 and wounded 60 in the worst such attack in the West African nation for years. Quebec-based gold miner Semafo said five of its buses with a military escort came under fire on the road leading to its Boungou mine in the eastern region of Est, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Boungou, on Wednesday. In a joint case with the U.S., China jails nine fentanyl smugglers

A Chinese court on Thursday imprisoned nine people, one who got a suspended death sentence, on charges of smuggling fentanyl into the United States, in the first such case the two countries had worked on together. China has faced U.S. criticism for not doing enough to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the United States, and the issue has become another irritant in their ties, already strained by a bruising trade war the two are now working to end.

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