 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines. Scores of protesters are injured in a police attack in Bangkok, U.S. announces true withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iran, Ethiopian federal government announces final offensive in Tigray region, Hurricane Ayurta hits Nicaragua, and Greek protesters mark 1973 Polytechnica pricing. In our first story, scores of protesters were injured early in the morning on Wednesday November 18th in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, when police used force to prevent them from marching to the country's parliament building. The parliament is debating proposed reforms to the constitution. The police used tear gas and water cannons at protesters on Tuesday when they tried to jump the razor wire and concrete barricades. Several of the protesters were reported to be injured with bullets on what is called the most violent day of the protests, which have been ongoing for weeks now. Pro-reformed protesters were also attacked by the right-wing pro-monarchy protesters who were dressed in yellow. The police have denied use of lime ammunition during the protests on Tuesday. They have also announced an inquiry to supposedly find out the source of the gunshots at the protesters. The anti-monarchy protests in Thailand are ongoing since July. Protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chanochha and deep constitutional reform to curb the powers of the king. Now next story, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, November 17th a significant reduction in the number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Acting Secretary of Defense Crick's Miller made the announcement, according to which by January 5th next year, around 2,000 troops from Afghanistan and around 500 from Iraq will be withdrawn. According to Miller, after the withdrawal the number of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will come down to 2,500 each. In Afghanistan, the US currently has around 4,500 troops. The number of US troops in Iraq is around 3,000. According to Miller, the move to bring back these soldiers as per President Trump's promise of ending the so-called forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The move to withdraw troops from Afghanistan has seen stiff opposition from various sections in the US. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell warned that such a move is undesirable at a time when there is no certainty of the Taliban's commitment to the deal. The ongoing talks between the Afghan government and Taliban has not seen much progress. The Trump administration had signed a deal with the Taliban in February this year, according to which it agreed to withdraw all its troops from the country within 14 months. In Iraq, the US has been forced to reduce the number of its troops due to popular pressure. The new government under Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadimi has been negotiating the gradual withdrawal of US troops from the country. This is following a resolution passed by the Iraqi Parliament in January, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country. We now moved to Nicaragua, where Hurricane Ayodhya struck the country's coast as a category 4 hurricane later November 16. It brought strong winds of 155 miles per hour and torrential rains in different parts of the country. These parts are still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Etta two weeks ago. The US National Hurricane Center, which is responsible for issuing forecasts for all tropical storms in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Basins on November 17, said that Ayodhya had weakened into a tropical storm and was moving inland northward towards Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The NHC warned that its heavy rains pose a threat of life, flooding, storm surge, catastrophic winds and mudslides across Central America in the coming days. In Nicaragua, more than 40,000 people were evacuated and are living in shelters. The extent of the damage caused is still unclear because much of the affected areas have been without electricity, phone calls and internet services since November 3 when Hurricane Etta made landfall. Nicaragua's neighboring country Honduras has begun to experience flooding, rain and heavy winds. The authorities have begun evacuating residents of low-lying, flood-prone areas as well as mountainous areas vulnerable to landslides. Ayodhya has a record 30th named storm of the year's unusually active hurricane season over the Atlantic Basin. It is also the ninth storm to rapidly intensify the season. A dangerous phenomenon that is happening due to climate change causing hurricanes to stay strong for longer, move further inland and cause more destruction. The hurricane season officially ends on November 30. On November 17, that is Tuesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abhi Ahmed declared a final and crucial military offensive in the coming days. This is to disarm and dislodge the Tigray people's liberation front from the regional government of Tigray in the country's north. The central target of the military operation is the Tigray Regional Capital, the city of McKellay, where forces loyal to the TPLF attacked and seized control of the heavily armed northern command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces on November 4. Areas in and around McKellay were subjected to airstrikes by the Ethiopian Air Force on Monday, according to military and diplomatic sources cited by Reuters. TPLF's head and the president of the Tigray's regional government, that's Deborah Tio and Gabri Michel, has claimed that these attacks injured several civilians and killed at least two. The federal government has refuted these claims. Reporters are unable to independently verify the contradictory claims because access to the Tigray region as well as internet and telecommunications there has been cut off in most parts. Amid this escalating war, around 27,000 people are estimated to have fled from the region across the western border into Sudan, mostly into the states of Gadareff and Kasala. The UN refugee agency in Sudan estimated that an average of 4,000 people have been arriving as refugees in Sudan daily since the conflict started. The conflict began on November 4th when Abiy Ahmed announced the offensive against the TPLF. The TPLF was the dominant force in Ethiopia till 2018 when Abiy Ahmed came to power. And finally, on Tuesday, progressive sections in Greece marched in the capital, Athens and other cities, marking the 47th anniversary of the polytechnic uprising of 1973. The mobilization was carried out despite massive deployment of police forces and defying the right-wing government's ban on demonstrations. In Athens, demonstrations were held in front of the US Embassy while adhering to COVID-19 safety protocol. The Communist Party of Greece, KKE and the Communist Youth of Greece, KNE led the mobilizations. Major demonstrations were also held in various other Greek cities such as Thessaloniki, Patras, Kvala and others. The Athens Polytechnic Uprising started as a massive demonstration against the right-wing US-backed military junta that ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974. On November 14th, 1973, a student strike in Athens Polytechnic escalated into an open anti-hunter revolt, ending in bloodshed in the early hours on November 17th. The student uprising is hailed as a valiant act of resistance against the military dictatorship and a symbol of resistance to tyranny. On Tuesday, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Greek Communist Party, Demetrius Kotsumbas, paid homage to the Martias of the Uprising. He also slammed the right-wing new democracy government's approach to ban demonstrations on November 17th under the pretext of COVID-19 restrictions. That's all we have time for today. We will be back tomorrow with more news from around the world. Until then, keep watching People's Dispatch.