ISRAEL - Israel has warned Hamas it will step up its offensive in the Gaza Strip in 36 hours if they do not cease rocket fire. Israel's Finance Minister told IDF radio the time left before Israel escalates its attacks can be measured in "hours, not days." "We are at a junction," said Minister Yuval Steinitz. "Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including a possible move to achieve complete military decision." Israel has demanded that Hamas cease firing rockets into Israel for a period of "several years" and that they stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. The conditions are part of a six-part proposal put forward by the Israeli government at negotiations with Hamas in Cairo.

ISRAEL - Israel's latest campaign in Gaza, which began on Wednesday with the killing of Hamas' military commander, Ahmed Jabari, and air strikes on the group's long-range rocket launchers, is a gamble - and one that Israel might lose. Its goal is to compel Hamas to stop shooting rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip and to crack down on other groups who are also doing so. Hamas, however, will find it hard to bend to Israeli pressure. In turn, it will be up to outside states, particularly Egypt, to foster a deal to end the fighting.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Hamas militants have launched a rocket on Jerusalem - the first time the holy city has been targeted in decades - and the first such attack from Gaza. The missile was aimed at the Israeli parliament but landed outside the city and there were no casualties. Israel has suggested it will intensify its strikes against Gaza targets, with more than 75,000 reservists reportedly put on stand-by. An Israeli military spokesman said 550 missiles had been fired into Israel since Wednesday - 184 had been intercepted by its radar-protective system, Iron Dome.

RUSSIA - Investment arm of Russia’s second largest bank – VTB Capital – will start issuing bonds tied to gold price. The new instrument enters Russia just when global downturn makes gold increasingly attractive. The new so–called ‘gold bonds’ provide for 3 fixed coupons – 0.1% each – with the yield to maturity depending on the gold price dynamics, Vedomosti daily reports. The gold price on November 26 – the day when the placement is set to kick off – will be taken as the base to calculate gold growth. Overall, the new bonds can create up to annualized 21.3% yield for investors.

FRANCE - More than 100,000 people rallied across France on Saturday to protest a government bill that would grant marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. Police used tear gas against activists who tried to stage a counter-protest. Paris protesters marched to the Invalides monument – the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte. The French leader created the country’s civil code, which states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. The demonstrators held banners which read, “One child (equals) one father + one mother” and called the bill a “major and dangerous upheaval.”

UK - More than one in 10 shops are empty, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the highest since it began collecting data on occupancy levels of High Street premises. The BRC said the town centre vacancy rate of 11.3% was the worst figure since its nationwide survey began in July 2011. The figures come as the failed retailer Comet prepares to close stores. The BRC's director general, Stephen Robertson, said the new figures would set "alarm bells ringing".

UK - Britain is "sleepwalking" into leaving the EU, which would undermine the UK's economy and leave it "voiceless and powerless," Ed Miliband will say. The Labour leader will also tell business leaders pro-Europeans can no longer turn a "blind eye" to the EU's failings. A new approach should be based on "building alliances for change," he will tell the CBI conference. Prime Minister David Cameron is due to take part in EU budget talks this week. Tory MP David Davis will make a speech later calling for a referendum that would allow the government to forge a new, looser relationship with Brussels.

USA - When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast, it highlighted the sorry state of the nation’s infrastructure. Experts say President Obama needs to push through a grand plan to rebuild America’s bridges, roads and water facilities.

USA - In jewelry stores on 47th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the important trust between merchants has been violated. A 10-ounce gold bar costing nearly $18,000 turned out to be a counterfeit. The bar was filled with tungsten, which weighs nearly the same as gold but costs just over a dollar an ounce.

ISRAEL - Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza have sparked global protests condemning the attack. Thousands of people across the Middle East, the West, and Europe have come out to show their disdain. Yet, some countries remain convinced of Israel’s right to attack. Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense – which began Wednesday and has taken the lives of 39 Palestinians and three Israelis so far, according to Palestinian local media – has divided the international world.

ISRAEL - The Iron Dome intercepted two Iranian-made Fajr-5 missiles aimed at Tel Aviv on Saturday. The missiles marked the third attack on the heavily populated central city in as many days, after Palestinian terrorists from Gaza fired four missiles toward the financial capital on Thursday and Friday, prompting red alert air raid sirens to sound in the city. In total, Palestinians fired 740 rockets toward the Jewish state since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, but only around 30 landed in built-up areas. Iron Dome intercepted 230 projectiles in total, maintaining a 90% intercept rate. Only 27 of the rockets, about 4 percent, ultimately landed in urban areas.

ISRAEL - Two major Israeli newspapers are reporting that rockets fired from Egypt have hit Israel. "Terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula launched rockets into Israel Friday night," reports the Jerusalem Post. "The rockets fell near an Israeli village on the southern border, causing some damage, but no injuries." This new front comes a day after a rocket landed near Tel Aviv and on the same day Israel's capital Jerusalem was the target of rocket fire. Those attacks were courtesy of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "After Tel Aviv metropolitan area, capital under fire too: An air raid siren was sounded in Jerusalem and surrounding communities early Friday evening."

UK - When Clarissa Dickson Wright embarked on a tour of the country, she was hoping to savour the culinary delights of every region. But her visit to one particular city, it would seem, left a bitter taste. The television chef has caused outrage by saying that her visit to a Muslim area of Leicester was “the most frightening experience of my life”, and claiming that it left her feeling like a “pariah” in her own country. Dickson Wright, 65, who reached fame as one half of the Two Fat Ladies, said visiting the city made her feel like a “complete outcast” and she described the area as a “ghetto”. She added that she has “never believed that political correctness was a reason not to say what I have experienced”.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - EU summit chair says rebate is being retained, but changes to way it is calculated mean cut of €1 billion a year, say UK officials. The rebate row multiplies David Cameron’s problems and isolation on the EU budget ahead of what is certain to be a very fraught summit.

BRUSSELS, EUROPE - Five leading EU countries, but not the UK, have said the Union needs a new military "structure" to manage overseas operations. The foreign and defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain issued the call in a joint communique after a meeting in Paris on Thursday (15 November).