MANILA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Philippines has approached neighbours such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss a separate code of conduct regarding the South China Sea, its president said on Monday, citing limited progress towards striking a broader regional pact with China.

Relations between the two have grown more tense under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has increasingly complained about China's "aggressive" behaviour while rekindling strong ties with the Philippines' sole treaty ally, the United States.

TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Monday reiterated that the resistance groups in the region "are not directed by Iran and do not take orders from Iran."

He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran while commenting on the military operations by the regional resistance groups against the U.S. bases in Iraq.

LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific advisor said Monday.

In keenly awaited testimony to the country’s public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, raising Palestinian fears of another painful standoff and evacuation of a medical facility.

BUDAPEST, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling party unveiled billboards vilifying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Monday, the first time it has made her a personal target in a campaign similar to one against her predecessor that angered Brussels.

The billboards, erected overnight to launch a campaign for next June's European parliamentary election, depict Von der Leyen alongside Alex Soros, the son of liberal Hungarian-born financier George Soros, a perennial target of hostility from Orban's Fidesz Party.

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Israel, the United States and Hamas have reached a tentative agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the deal.

As part of the detailed, six-page agreement, all parties would freeze combat operations for at least five days while "an initial 50 or more hostages are released in smaller groups every 24 hours", the Post reported. Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct. 7 rampage inside Israel that killed 1,200 people.

KYIV, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine sacked two senior cyber defence officials on Monday, a government official said, as prosecutors announced a probe into alleged embezzlement in the government's cyber security agency.

Yurii Shchyhol, head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, were dismissed by the government, senior cabinet official Taras Melnychuk wrote on Telegram.

JERUSALEM, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Israel stepped up accusations of Hamas abuses at the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital on Sunday, saying a captive soldier had been executed and two foreign hostages held at a site that has been a focus of its devastating six-week-old offensive.

At one point a shelter for tens of thousands of Palestinian war refugees, Al Shifa Hospital has been evacuating patients and staff since Israeli troops swept in last week on what they called a mission to root out hidden Hamas facilities.

MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Moscow urged Britain to stop its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, local media reported on Monday.

"The British leadership continues to demonstrate its focus on comprehensive support for Ukraine. The British have a thesis about the need to inflict 'defeat on the battlefield' on Russia," said Sergei Belyaev, director of the Second European Department at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/: The current situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was the focus of telephone talks between the Russian and Iranian foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

HELSINKI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Finland's President Sauli Niinisto said on Monday it had become impossible to return asylum seekers who did not meet the criteria for protection, and that this had to be taken into account when policies are set.

Over 500 asylum seekers, mostly from Yemen, Somalia, Syria and Iraq, arrived in Finland via Russia during the past two weeks, leading Helsinki to shut half its border crossings and accuse Moscow of funnelling migrants to its border.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Heavy rain and flooding are expected in Peninsula Malaysia’s east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, in the coming days, with authorities yesterday, warning those at risk, to take precautions.

Those in high-risk areas have also been asked to comply with instructions from the authorities, as federal disaster relief agencies take steps to prepare for severe continuous rains, Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a statement.