Bal Thackeray leaves behind a legacy of anti-migrant poison

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Maharashtra's militant flagbearer of Hindu nationalism and regional chauvinism who did not hesitate to resort to mob tactics to have his will enforced, died on Saturday. He was 86.

Thackeray passed away at 3.33pm, his doctor Jaleel Parker told a massive crowd outside his residence Matoshri, a Mumbai landmark.

The leader's body will be kept at Shivaji Park to enable party activists and Mumbaikars to pay their last respects from 7am on Sunday, party MP Sanjay Raut told reporters, even as he appealed to Shiv sainiks to "maintain calm and remain peaceful".

Thackeray's body would be consigned to flames Sunday evening at a crematorium beside Shivaji Park, a party official said.

Though there was no panic or uncivil reaction to the demise in Mumbai, shops and establishments, restaurants and tea stalls shutdown, cinemas cancelled shows and functions were called off or postponed.

Outside Matoshri, over 5,000 Shiv sainiks wept.

Mumbai, Thane and Raigad, considered Shiv sena bastions, ground to a halt as did the rest of Maharashtra.

The man who for decades lorded over one of the largest states in the country is survived by two sons - political heir and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and filmmaker Jaidev.

A widower, Thackeray's wife Meena and his eldest son Bindhumadhav passed away in 1996.

His nephew Raj Thackeray, once considered his political heir, broke away to form Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, competing with Shiv Sena in espousing rightwing views championing Marathi pride and exclusivism at the expense of other communities in India's richest and most industrialised state.

Bal Thackeray leaves behind a legacy of anti-migrant poison that has been the scourge of Mumbai, the country's financial and entertainment capital.

Bal Thackeray, who made no secret of his admiration for Hitler, started his career as a cartoonist with the Free Press Journal in the 1950s. In 1960, he started a cartoon weekly called Marmik, and used it to campaign for a unified separate Maharashtra state, and against Gujaratis and south Indian workers migrating to then Bombay.

However, despite allying with the BJP on the saffron plank, Bal Thackeray and his Sena could never reach out of Maharashtra.

However, Balasaheb - as he was also called - was instrumental in ending the Congress hegemony in Maharashtra when his party and the BJP allied and formed a government in 1994. Though the two parties shared power in New Delhi between 1998 and 2004, Thackeray never occupied any office.

Balasaheb later began sporting a stylish beard and wore twin bead necklaces in the manner of Hindu gurus and ran the Shiv Sena like a local militia.

Active till the end, Bal Thackeray, who never hesitated to practice his particular brand of street politics, had just days ago on Nov 5 asked party activists "not to permit" the forthcoming cricket matches between India and Pakistan.

In an appeal in party mouthpiece Saamna, he had lashed out at home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for his statement "to forget the past" and play cricket with Pakistan.

Thackeray was ailing for about two years and was under regular medical treatment at Matoshri. In the last week, his health deteriorated sharply.

According to party leaders, a virtual ICU had been recreated at Matoshri with all emergency equipment and medical and paramedical staff on duty round-the-clock.

Son Uddhav Thackeray was fielding scores of visitors, politicians and showbiz celebrities as this city remained on the edge for the last few days with heavy police deployment outside his residence and in trouble spots around the city.

The leader's influence extended not just over politics and society but also over the film industry, evident from the beeline celebrities made to Matoshri to enquire about his health. The list included Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek, Salim Khan and son Salman Khan to Rishi Kapoor and brother Randhir and Lata Mangeshkar.

Following his death, condolences poured in from President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP leaders L.K. Advani, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and others, cutting across political lines.

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

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GOP Mourning for Mitt? Not So Much

Republicans are over it.

And most of them aren't doing much mourning for Mitt Romney.

Just over a week since the two-time Republican presidential hopeful failed to deny President Obama a second term, instead of offering up condolences for a candidate who garnered 48 percent of the popular vote, GOP leaders seem to be keeping Romney at arm's length.

"I've never run for president -- I've lost elections but never for the presidency -- and I'm sure it stings terribly," New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview Friday morning with MSNBC, but added: "When you lose, you lost."

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, an early endorser and a frequent presence by Romney's side on the campaign trail, echoed Christie.

"The campaign is over," she said in an MSNBC interview on Thursday, "and what the voters are looking for us to do is to accept their votes and go forward."

A period of blame and soul-searching was inevitable for Republicans after Nov. 6, but Romney hastened it with his candid comments on a conference call with donors this week in which he attributed President Obama's win to the "gifts" he gave to key voting blocs.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Specifically, Romney told some of his top campaign contributors that he lost because, in his words, "what the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote, and that strategy worked."

According to Romney, some of the best "gifts" went to Hispanic voters, who overwhelmingly supported President Obama.

"One, he gave them a big gift on immigration with the Dream Act amnesty program, which was obviously very, very popular with Hispanic voters, and then No. 2 was Obamacare," Romney said on a conference call, audio of which was obtained by ABC News.

It took almost no time for GOP leaders to disavow Romney's assessment.

"I don't think that represents where we are as a party and where we're going as a party," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a potential 2016 GOP presidential contender, said at a press conference at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Las Vegas earlier this week. "If we're going to continue to be a competitive party and win elections on the national stage and continue to fight for our conservative principles, we need two messages to get out loudly and clearly: One, we are fighting for 100 percent of the votes, and second, our policies benefit every American who wants to pursue the American dream."

Ayotte also refused to give Romney any cover: "I don't agree with the comments."

Neither did former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, one of Romney's primary rivals who went on to become one of his most ardent surrogates.

"I don't think it's as simple as saying the president gave out gifts," he said in an interview with C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program that is set to air this weekend.

Pawlenty said that President Obama "just tactically did a better job getting out the vote in his campaign" and "at least at the margins, was better able to connect with people in this campaign."

His view is backed up by the national exit polls, which show that 53 percent of voters said that President Obama was "more in touch" with people like them compared with 43 percent who said the same of Romney.

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Israel hits Hamas government buildings, reservists mobilized

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists in preparation for a possible ground invasion.

Palestinian militants in Gaza kept up cross-border salvoes, firing a rocket at Israel's biggest city Tel Aviv for the third straight day. Police said it was destroyed in mid-air by an Iron Dome anti-missile battery deployed hours earlier, and no one was injured.

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said Israeli missiles wrecked the office building of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - where he had met on Friday with the Egyptian prime minister - and struck a police headquarters.

In the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod, a rocket ripped into several balconies. Police said five people were hurt.

With Israeli tanks and artillery positioned along the Gaza border and no end in sight to hostilities now in their fourth day, Tunisia's foreign minister travelled to the enclave in a show of Arab solidarity.

Officials in Gaza said 41 Palestinians, nearly half of them civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

In Cairo, a presidential source said Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi would hold four-way talks with the Qatari emir, the prime minister of Turkey and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the Egyptian capital on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis.

Egypt has been working to reinstate calm between Israel and Hamas after an informal ceasefire brokered by Cairo unraveled over the past few weeks. Meshaal, who lives in exile, has already held a round of talks with Egyptian security officials.

Israel uncorked its massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years. The salvoes recently intensified, and are now displaying greater range.

The operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defense, along with appeals to both sides to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas, shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, says its cross-border attacks have come in response to Israeli strikes against Palestinian fighters in Gaza.

"We have not limited ourselves in means or in time," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Israel's Channel One television. "We hope that it will end as soon as possible, but that will be only after all the objectives have been achieved."

Hamas says it is committed to continued confrontation with Israel and is eager not to seem any less resolute than smaller, more radical groups that have emerged in Gaza in recent years.

The Islamist movement has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel pulled settlers out of Gaza in 2005 but maintains a blockade of the tiny, densely populated coastal territory.

RESERVE TROOP QUOTA DOUBLED

At a late night session on Friday, Israel's cabinet decided to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000, political sources said.

The move did not necessarily mean all would be called up or that an invasion would follow. Tanks and self-propelled guns were seen near the sandy border zone on Saturday, and around 16,000 reservists have already been summoned to active duty.

The Gaza conflagration has stirred the pot of a Middle East already boiling from two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread beyond its borders.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Israel and Egypt next week to push for an end to the fighting in Gaza, U.N. diplomats said on Friday.

Hamas's armed wing claimed responsibility for Saturday's rocket attack on Tel Aviv, saying it had fired a longer-range, Iranian-designed Fajr-5 at the coastal metropolis, some 70 km (43 miles) north of the Gaza Strip.

After air raid sirens sounded, witnesses saw two white plumes rise into the sky over the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv and heard an explosion when the incoming rocket was hit.

The anti-missile battery had been due to take delivery of its fifth Iron Dome battery early next year but it was rushed into service near Tel Aviv after rockets were launched toward the city on Thursday and Friday. Those attacks caused no damage or casualties.

In Jerusalem, targeted by a Palestinian rocket on Friday for the first time in 42 years, there was little outward sign on the Jewish Sabbath that the attack had any impact on the usually placid pace of life in the holy city.

In Gaza, some families abandoned their homes - some of them damaged and others situated near potential Israeli targets - and packed into the houses of friends and relatives.

ISRAEL'S GAZA TARGETS

The Israeli army said it had zeroed in on a number of government buildings during the night, including Haniyeh's office, the Hamas Interior Ministry and a police compound.

Taher al-Nono, a spokesman for the Hamas government, held a news conference near the rubble of the prime minister's office and pledged: "We will declare victory from here."

A three-storey house belonging to Hamas official Abu Hassan Salah was also hit and totally destroyed early on Saturday. Rescuers said at least 30 people were pulled from the rubble.

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama commended Egypt's efforts to help defuse the Gaza violence in a call to Mursi on Friday, the White House said in a statement, and underscored his hope of restoring stability there.

On Friday, Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil paid a high-profile visit to Gaza, denouncing what he called Israeli aggression and saying Cairo was prepared to mediate a truce.

Egypt's Islamist government, freely elected after U.S.-backed autocrat Hosni Mubarak fell to a popular uprising last year, is allied with Hamas but Cairo is also party to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

In a call to Netanyahu, Obama discussed options for "de-escalating" the situation, the White House said, adding that the president "reiterated U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself, and expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives".

Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-09, killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died.

But few believe Israeli military action can snuff out militant rocket fire entirely without a reoccupation of Gaza, an option all but ruled out because it would risk major casualties and an international outcry.

While Hamas rejects the Jewish state's existence, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules in areas of the nearby West Bank not occupied by Israelis, does recognize Israel but peace talks between the two sides have been frozen since 2010.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell, Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Football: Southampton pile on misery for QPR boss Hughes

LONDON: Southampton piled the pressure on under-fire QPR manager Mark Hughes with a 3-1 victory over their relegation rivals at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Nigel Adkins' side pushed Hughes to the brink of the sack after goals from Rickie Lambert and Jason Puncheon put the visitors in control of a match dubbed 'El Sackico' with both bosses reportedly in danger of losing their jobs.

David Hoilett briefly gave QPR hope when he reduced the deficit in the second half, but an own goal from Anton Ferdinand condemned the west London club to a 12th Premier League match without a win this season.

With QPR remaining bottom of the table afer the club's Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes described the clash as a "must-win" fixture earlier in the week, it seems Hughes - who took over from Neil Warnock last season - is now in severe danger of being dismissed.

In contrast, although Southampton are still in the relegation zone, Adkins may be able to sleep a little easier after his team won for just the second time in the league this season and ended a run of five successive away defeats.

Saints reaped the rewards from an enterprising display, while QPR looked wracked with nerves from the moment Puncheon's cross clipped the far post and deflected wide early on.

Adel Taarabt forced Southampton goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga into a quick reaction save as the hosts threatened for the first time.

But Lambert opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when QPR failed to clear a corner. Gaston Ramirez pulled back for Jose Fonte, whose shot was prodded goalwards by Puncheon. That effort was cleared off the line but Lambert was on hand to bundle home.

There was little response from Hughes' rattled side and Southampton went further ahead on the stroke of half-time.

Puncheon started the move on the right and, when he collected the ball from Nathaniel Clyne, the winger turned past Alejandro Faurlin to score with a powerful strike.

QPR were booed off at half-time and Hughes tried to spark his side into life by replacing Faurlin with Jamie Mackie.

Initially the switch seemed to have worked as Taarabt floated in a cross that Hoilett headed home in the 49th minute.

But Southampton showed no signs of panicking and Puncheon, delivering a man of the match display, blasted in a low effort from an acute angle that was tipped wide by Julio Cesar.

And the visitors sealed a vital three points in the 83rd minute when Puncheon played a short corner to Morgan Schneiderlin and the French midfielder's cross deflected in off Ferdinand at the near post.

English Premier League results:

Arsenal 5 Tottenham 2
Liverpool 3 Wigan 0
Manchester City 5 Aston Villa 0
Newcastle 1 Swansea 2
QPR 1 Southampton 3
Reading 2 Everton 1
West Brom 2 Chelsea 1

- AFP/de

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Balasaheb's health improving: Raut

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's condition continued to show signs of improvement on Friday evening, leading to normalcy returning to the city and crowds outside his residence diminishing.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Friday evening that "the prayers of millions of his supporters have started working" and Thackeray's health was gradually improving.

"He is like our god. Very soon he shall be able to appear in public for his admirers," Raut assured.

Thackeray's son and Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray was expected to address the media later Friday to give an update on the 86-year-old Sena supremo's health.

As news of his improving health spread Friday morning, normal activities resumed after the spontaneous near-total shutdown in Mumbai Thursday.

Thousands of Shiv Sena workers who had gathered outside the Thackeray residence Matoshri in Bandra East also began dispersing.

At 11pm on Thursday, Uddhav Thackeray informed the restive crowds that his father's condition was stable.

"He is stable and we are doing everything we can. His health is improving. He is better than yesterday. We have still not given up hope," Uddhav told the large crowd of activists and mediapersons outside his house.

"We are all praying for him and it is the strength of our prayers that will see him through this crisis," Uddhav said.

Several party leaders had appealed for calm Thursday.

Bal Thackeray has been under the care of a team of specialists from Lilavati Hospital at his home, Matoshri. According to party leaders, an ICU had been created at Matoshri with all emergency equipment and medical and para-medical staff on duty round-the-clock.

A stream of VVIP visitors continued at Matoshri Friday to enquire after Bal Thackeray's health, including film personalities Rakesh Roshan, Suresh Oberoi and son Vivek, yoga guru Baba Ramdev and several people from the Marathi film industry.

Barely a handful of visitors were allowed to enter where Bal Thackeray is as it is out of bounds for all barring immediate family members.

Meanwhile, pujas, aartis, havans continued in temples and public places besides special prayers in mosques, churches and gurudwararas across Maharashtra for Bal Thackeray's speedy recovery.

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EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Read More..

Hero Vets Die Saving Wives in Texas Train Crash

Police have identified the four servicemen who died in Midland, Texas when a freight train plowed into a parade float carrying wounded veterans and their spouses at a crossing, two of whom saved their wives by pushing them to safety before they died.

Army SGM Gary Stouffer, 37, and 47-year-old Army SGM Lawrence Boivin were pronounced dead at the scene, police said, after the float carrying wounded veterans and their families to an honorary banquet was struck by a Union Pacific train around 4:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The train struck as the parade was crossing the tracks, turning the honorary event into a scene of destruction.

Army SGT Joshua Michael, 34, and 43-year-old Army SGM William Lubbers were transported from the scene and later pronounced dead at Midland Memorial Hospital, according to the Midland Police.

Seventeen people in all were transported to the hospital and 10 were treated and released. Four people were in stable condition and one is in critical condition as of this morning.

Michael was killed in the crash but was able to save his wife, his mother-in-law told the Amarillo Globe-News.

"He pushed his wife off the float -- my daughter," Mary Hefley told the newspaper. "He was that kind of guy. He always had a smile on his face. He would do for others before he would do for himself."

Hefley said Michael retired from the Army due to health reasons.

According to a website set up by Cory Rogers, a friend of Michael's family, the father of two completed two tours of duty in Iraq, and received two Purple Hearts after being wounded in combat.

"His love of country and for his wife, Daylyn and their two children shone through," his family said in a statement on the site. "The family appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers in this very difficult time."

Mary Hefley/Standard Time San Angelo

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SGM Boivin also pushed his wife out of the way before he was hit, Jaime Garza told ABC News. He said that his wife was hurt in the crash, but survived. Boivin died in his arms, Garza said.

Garza said that he and his wife Denise lost their son in Afghanistan seven years ago. On Thursday they were driving in a separate car about a block away, helping escort the floats.

"I looked in my rear view mirror. That's when I saw the train hit the float," he said. "I made a quick U-turn to get back up there. The first person who was there was Lawrence. I had to help him out ... and he gave me his last breath ... He actually pushed [his wife] off the float and then he got hit."

Denise Garza said that the entire incident happened very fast.

"Everybody was getting help in two seconds. Everybody had help. It was like the best response," she said. "It was terrible. The worst thing I've ever seen in my whole life."

About two dozen veterans and their spouses had been sitting in chairs on the back of a flatbed tractor-trailer decorated with American flags and signs identifying each veteran.

The first truck crossed the tracks in time, but the second did not, according to Hamid Vatankhah, a witness who owns a used car lot near the scene of the crash.

Sirens from the police cars in the parade may have drowned out the sound of the approaching train, Vatankhah said.

The impact, witnesses say, was deafening as the train plowed through the parade float crossing the tracks in an industrial part of Midland.

"Some people were able to jump, and some that were sitting in wheelchairs on top couldn't do nothing about it," Vatankhah added.

Patricia Howle was sitting traffic with her daughter watching the parade go by when she heard the train honking its horn.

"I just saw people going under the train. There was blood. There was blood all over," said eyewitness Eservando Wisler.

A Union Pacific spokesman Tom Lange said it appeared safety devices at the crash site were working. But there were conflicting reports by eyewitnesses about whether the gates went down at the crossing when the train approached.

"I saw the truck crossing the tracks. About halfway across the gates started coming down. The truck tried to blow his horn to get the other people in front of him out of the way. The gates actually hit the first people on the trailer," witness Michael Briggs said.

"Our preliminary findings indicate that the lights and gates were working at the time of the incident and that our train crew sounded the locomotive horn," said Lange.

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Jerusalem and Tel Aviv under rocket fire, Netanyahu warns Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian militants nearly hit Jerusalem with a rocket for the first time in decades on Friday and fired at Tel Aviv for a second day, in a stinging challenge to Israel's Gaza offensive after an Egyptian bid to broker a truce.

The attacks came just hours after Egypt's prime minister, denouncing what he described as Israeli aggression, visited the Gaza Strip and said Cairo was prepared to mediate.

Israel began bombing Gaza on Wednesday with an attack that killed the Hamas military chief. It says its campaign is in response to Hamas missiles fired on its territory. Hamas stepped up rocket attacks in response.

Israeli police said a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the Jerusalem area, outside the city, on Friday.

It was the first Palestinian rocket since 1970 to reach the vicinity of the holy city, which Israel claims as its capital, and was likely to spur an escalation in its three-day old air war against militants in Hamas-run Gaza.

Rockets nearly hit Tel Aviv on Thursday for the first time since Saddam Hussein's Iraq fired them during the 1991 Gulf War. An air raid siren rang out on Friday when the commercial centre was targeted again. Motorists crouched next to cars, many with their hands protecting their heads, while pedestrians scurried for cover in building stairwells.

The Jerusalem and Tel Aviv strikes have so far caused no casualties or damage, but could be political poison for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, favored to win re-election in January on the strength of his ability to guarantee security.

"The Israel Defence Forces will continue to hit Hamas hard and are prepared to broaden the action inside Gaza," Netanyahu, signaling a possible ground campaign, said hours earlier.

A Hamas source said the Israeli air force launched an attack on the house of Hamas's commander for southern Gaza which resulted in the death of two civilians, one a child.

Officials in Gaza said 22 Palestinians had been killed in the enclave since Israel began the air offensive with the declared aim of stemming surges of rocket strikes that have disrupted life in southern Israeli towns.

The Palestinian dead include eight militants and 14 civilians, among them seven children and a pregnant woman. Three Israelis were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

A solidarity visit to Gaza by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, whose Islamist government is allied with Hamas but also party to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, had appeared to open a tiny window to emergency peace diplomacy.

Kandil said: "Egypt will spare no effort ... to stop the aggression and to achieve a truce."

But a three-hour truce that Israel declared for the duration of Kandil's visit never took hold. Israel said more than 35 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip hit its territory and 86 were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Israel denied Palestinian assertions that its aircraft struck while Kandil was in the enclave.

TEL AVIV ROCKET

Israel Radio's military affairs correspondent said the army's Homefront Command had told municipal officials to make civil defense preparations for the possibility that fighting could drag on for seven weeks. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

The Gaza conflagration has stoked the flames of a Middle East already ablaze with two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to leap across borders.

It is the biggest test yet for Egypt's new President Mohamed Mursi, a veteran Islamist politician from the Muslim Brotherhood who was elected this year after last year's protests ousted military autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood are spiritual mentors of Hamas, yet Mursi has also pledged to respect Cairo's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, seen in the West as the cornerstone of regional security. Egypt and Israel both receive billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to underwrite their treaty.

Mursi has vocally denounced the Israeli military action while promoting Egypt as a mediator, a mission that his prime minister's visit was intended to further.

A Palestinian official close to Egypt's mediators told Reuters Kandil's visit "was the beginning of a process to explore the possibility of reaching a truce. It is early to speak of any details or of how things will evolve".

Meanwhile, Israel has begun drafting 16,000 reserve troops, a possible precursor to invasion. Tanks and self-propelled guns were seen near the border area of Friday.

Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-2009, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis also died.

Tunisia's foreign minister was due to visit Gaza on Saturday "to provide all political support for Gaza" the spokesman for the Tunisian president, Moncef Marzouki, said in a statement.

The United States asked countries that have contact with Hamas to urge the Islamist movement to stop its rocket attacks.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. By contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules in the nearby West Bank, does recognize Israel, but peace talks between the two sides have been frozen since 2010.

Abbas's supporters say they will push ahead with a plan to have Palestine declared an "observer state" rather than a mere "entity" at the United Nations later this month.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Ari Rabinovitch, Jeffrey Heller and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Motor Racing: Vettel fastest in first practice in Texas

Austin, TEXAS: Sebastian Vettel, chasing his third consecutive world title, topped the times for Red Bull in Friday's opening free practice session for this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old German, who needs to outscore nearest rival Fernando Alonso by 15 points to become Formula One's youngest triple champion, produced his customary blistering pace in his first run at the brand new Circuit of the Americas 25 kilometres out of downtown Austin.

In his 100th Grand Prix event, Vettel looked ominously quick as he clocked a best time of one minute and 38.125 seconds around the 5.516-km track to wind up top of the time screens ahead of Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by more than 1.4 seconds.

Title rival Alonso of Ferrari was third fastest, a further 0.8 seconds adrift, ahead of Jenson Button in the second McLaren, Mark Webber in the second Red Bull and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.

If it did little else, the opening session proved that Vettel and Red Bull will have few problems adapting to the demands of the circuit and that the usual suspects -- Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari -- will be the teams to beat.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two weekends ago, was first out on to the 'green' circuit on a morning of many minor incidents as the drivers learned their way round the spectacular sweeping track.

German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India was the first driver to enjoy a major spin, but most of the field endured a variety of unscheduled excursions off the asphalt, notably at Turn 19 where Hamilton, Vettel and Massa all slithered wide as they under-estimated the fast left-hand corner.

Hamilton looked likely to be the session-topper until, with only three minutes to go, Vettel blitzed to his fastest lap and left his rivals with little chance to respond.

Hulkenberg ended up seventh fastest ahead of Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Sergio Perez of Sauber.

- AFP/fa

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