More than 35,000 demonstrators poured into the harbourside city of Wellington, shutting down busy streets as their spirited procession inched its way towards parliament

The United States will make clear to the government of Turkey that there can be no more business as usual with Hamas, the State Department said on Monday (November 18), when asked about reports that some Hamas leadership that had been in Qatar had moved to Turkey.State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who did not confirm the reports but said he was not in a position to dispute them, added that a number of Hamas leaders are under U.S. indictment and Washington believes they should be turned over to the U.S.

In a big step forward in India-China ties, the two countries have discussed resuming direct flights between the countries as well restarting the Kailash Mansarovar yatra.

The two key issues were discussed when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Rio de Janeiro, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. 

The meeting was the first high-level engagement between the two countries since the completion of the disengagement process in the two contentious areas of Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh and the ministers noted that this had contributed to the maintenance of peace and tranquility.

Direct flights between India and China were suspended because of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and have not resumed since then despite the restrictions being lifted. The stand-off in Ladakh began in May that year and a clash took place in Ladakh’s Galwan the next month in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action and the Chinese side also suffered losses, with the exact number remaining unconfirmed. A troop buildup followed on both sides and military-level talks began taking place to resolve the stand-off.