LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Last year, Yahya Sinwar told a rally in Gaza that Hamas would deploy fighters and rockets in a fierce strike on Israel, the nation that imprisoned him for 23 years before he was freed and rose to a leadership role in the militant group.

The speech by Hamas' leader in Gaza to thousands of cheering supporters bore the hallmarks of crowd-pleasing hyperbole. Less than a year later, Israel discovered it was no idle threat, when Hamas fighters broke through Gaza's fence, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage.

TEL AVIV, December 1. /TASS/: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continues to advance in the Gaza Strip and will use all its power to accomplish its goals in the fight against the Palestinian movement Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Our forces are advancing. We will keep on fighting with all our might until all our goals are accomplished," his office reported, publishing the prime minister’s statement.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Alec Baldwin didn’t have to pay anything to resolve a $25 million lawsuit filed by family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan after the actor chastised them on social media over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Baldwin’s attorney said.

MANILA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines has built a new coast guard station on the contested island of Thitu in the South China Sea, boosting its ability to monitor movements of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy disputed waterway.

As tension mounts over territorial claims in the area, the Philippine coast guard had early this year spotted a Chinese navy ship and dozens of militia vessels around the island, one of nine features Manila occupies in the Spratly archipelago.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group attacked several Israeli army posts along the two countries’ border and Israel shelled a village in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing two civilians, officials said.

It was the first time Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli troops along the Lebanon-Israel border since the start of a seven-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah. That cease-fire collapsed on Friday, plunging the Israel-Hamas conflict back into open combat.

MOSCOW, Dec 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Russia and Cuba plan to connect the city of St. Petersburg with Cayo Coco every ten days by late December, Cuban Ambassador to Russia Julio Garmendia told reporters.

“In late December, Aeroflot plans to resume flights, run by Rossiya Airlines, between the capitals of both countries, in addition to one from St. Petersburg to Cayo Coco every ten days,” the diplomat said.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The day he was arrested, Luis was in a government office trying to get a document attesting to his clean criminal history so he could apply for a call center job.

“What I wanted at that time was something better for my life,” said the 23-year-old, who was working as a baker.

VIENNA, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Major oil producer Brazil has been invited to join OPEC+ from next year, officials announced, following a meeting of the cartel to further slash production.

Brazil is among the world’s top 10 producers and has been the largest oil producer in Latin America since 2016.

Its crude production hit a record 3.7 million barrels per day in September, a near 17 percent increase from the same month last year and a 6.1 percent hike from August, according to pricing agency Argus Media.

THE HAGUE/CARACAS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Judges at the World Court on Friday ordered Venezuela to refrain from taking any action that would alter the situation on the ground in a potentially oil-rich territory that is the subject of a border dispute with Guyana, which controls the area.

The court did not expressly forbid Venezuela from going ahead with a referendum on Sunday over its rights to the region around the Esequibo river, as Guyana has requested.

DUBAI, Dec 01 (APP): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday met Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte wherein he invited the Dutch firms to invest in agriculture, horticulture, water management and renewable energy sectors of Pakistan.

In the meeting held on the sidelines of COP 28, they appreciated the celebrations held in Islamabad and The Hague to mark 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

SKOPJE, December 1. /TASS/: Russia does not advocate the dismantling of the European Union (EU), but has noted that the level of rigid regimentation and lockstep discipline in the economic bloc now exceeds even that of its military twin, NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following a meeting of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Skopje.

TAIPEI, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Beijing has sponsored cut-price trips to China for hundreds of Taiwanese politicians ahead of key elections on the island, according to Taiwan sources and documents, unnerving officials with a broad campaign that one called "election interference".

President Tsai Ing-wen and other Taiwan officials have warned that China might try to sway voters toward candidates seeking closer ties with Beijing in the elections, which could define the island's relations with China. But the scale of the Chinese activity has not previously been reported.