Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Isolated band of protesters holds out on trashed Hong Kong campus

Inside the increasingly empty and trashed campus of a Hong Kong university only a handful of activists held out on Thursday as they desperately searched for ways to escape or hide while squads of police encircled the grounds. Much of Hong Kong's Polytechnic University, which teemed with 33,000 students, faculty and staff in the most recent school year, has become a deserted wasteland. At least four killed and 48 wounded in Baghdad protests: security sources

Four people were killed and 48 wounded early on Thursday when Iraqi security forces shot live fire and tear gas canisters at protesters near two key bridges in Baghdad, security and medical sources said. The cause of death was live fire and tear gas canisters aimed directly at the head, the sources said. 'Radical and ambitious': UK's Labour unveils socialist plan for Britain

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveiled his opposition party's election manifesto on Thursday, setting out his "radical" plans to transform Britain with public sector pay rises, higher taxes on companies and a sweeping nationalization of infrastructure. Voters faces a stark choice at the Dec. 12 election: Corbyn's plan for a socialist Britain, including widespread nationalization and free public services, or Prime Minister Boris Johnson's drive to deliver Brexit within months and build a "dynamic market economy". Lebanon parliament speaker calls session following cancellation

Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday scheduled a session of parliament next week to discuss draft legislation on banking secrecy and returning stolen state funds, state news agency NNA reported. Protests fuelled in part by anger over corruption forced parliament to postpone on Tuesday, delaying what would have been its first session in two months. Pentagon denies U.S. is considering pulling troops from South Korea

The Pentagon on Thursday denied a South Korean news report saying that the United States was considering a significant cut to its troop numbers in South Korea if Seoul does not contribute more to the costs of the deployment. "There is absolutely no truth to the Chosun Ilbo report that the U.S. Department of Defense is currently considering removing any troops from the Korean Peninsula," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement, referring to Secretary Mark Esper, who earlier on Thursday had said he was unaware of any such planning. In Thailand, Pope condemns exploitation of women, children for sex

Pope Francis condemned on Thursday the exploitation of women and children for prostitution in Thailand, which is notorious for its sex tourism, saying the violence, abuse and enslavement they suffer are evils that must be uprooted. Francis, on the first full day of his visit to mainly Buddhist Thailand, led a Mass in Bangkok's National Stadium for tens of thousands of exuberant Roman Catholics in a country where they make up less than one percent of the population. North Korea says 'pointless' for Kim to attend South Korea ASEAN summit

North Korea rejected an invitation for leader Kim Jong Un to attend a planned summit in South Korea next week with Southeast Asian nations, saying it would be "pointless" due to strained ties with Seoul, North Korean state media reported on Thursday. South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent a letter of invitation to Kim on Nov. 5, with an offer for an envoy to attend if he was unable to participate, the official KCNA news agency said. Senior Christian Democrats rally behind would-be successor to Germany's Merkel

Senior members of Germany's ruling party are rallying around their leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, before a weekend congress at which she hopes to show she is the right person to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is also defence minister, took over as head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) last December after Merkel stepped aside. Iran begins reconnecting internet after shutdown over protests

Iran on Thursday began restoring internet access in the capital Tehran and a number of provinces, local news agencies and residents said, after a days-long nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle unrest over fuel price hikes. The Revolutionary Guards said calm had returned across Iran, state TV reported, after protests in which Amnesty International said over 100 demonstrators had been killed by security forces, a figure rejected as "speculative" by the government. U.N. nuclear watchdog calls on Iran to clear up origin of uranium traces

The U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran will discuss the discovery of uranium traces at an undeclared site in Tehran next week, the agency's acting chief said on Thursday, adding that Iran had not provided any more information about the origin of the particles. Reuters first reported in September that the International Atomic Energy Agency found the uranium traces at the site that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew attention to in a speech last year, calling it a "secret atomic warehouse". Tehran has said the site is a carpet-cleaning facility.

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