But the new government’s manifesto was condemned by the Palestinians and the Syrians

But the new government’s manifesto was condemned by the Palestinians and the Syrians. Mahmoud Abbas, the chief Palestinian negotiator in talks on the final status of the West Bank and Gaza, said Mr Netanyahu’s positions “contradict the spirit of peace.” They were, he said, “uncompromising and stubborn”.The Netanyahu government said it undertook to “negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, with the intent of reaching a permanent arrangement, on the condition that the Palestinians fulfil all their commitments fully.” This gives Mr Netanyahu an escape hatch if he does not like the way the negotiations are leading, as neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have fulfilled all their commitments.But, Mr Netanyahu rules out a Palestinian state, or a Jordanian-Palestinian federation. Unlike Mr Sharon, he can be relied on not to make waves.In his inaugural speech last night, Mr Netanyahu pledged to continue the search for peace with Israel’s neighbours. Mr Sharon also brokered the deal that won the Likud candidate the crucial votes of the ultra- Orthodox.Building a coalition of six right-wing, religious, ethnic and centrist parties has proved a crash course in the realities of Israeli politics for the 46-year-old Mr Netanyahu who had never been more than a deputy minister.

The coalition parties, including his own Likud, all have their separate aspirations, interests and constituencies.Mr Netanyahu chose Yitzhak Mordechai, another former general, as Defence Minister The stolid and popular Mr Mordechai is a political novice. The job went to the former justice minister, Dan Meridor.But Mr Netanyahu has created the post of National Infrastructure Minister, which is expected to go to Mr Sharon, the architect of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the driving force behind settlement in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.Mr Sharon’s inclusion in the 18-member cabinet would raise Arab hackles and displease Washington, which frowns on Jewish settlements.Mr Levy earlier threw MPs into disarray when he refused to accept the post of Foreign Minister until the Prime Minister allocated Mr Sharon a senior portfolio.Mr Sharon’s original omission from the top cabinet ranks (“unthinkable”, in Mr Levy’s words) was clumsy and ungracious as it was the burly old warrior who persuaded Mr Levy and another right-wing maverick, Rafael Eitan, to withdraw from the prime ministerial race, leaving Mr Netanyahu a clear run against the Labour Party’s candidate, Shimon Peres. Michael Cannon has made a fortune for the second time in three years by selling his Magic Pub chain to Greene King for nearly pounds 200m. Mr Levy returned to the post he held in the last Likud administration.Once he was denied the defence ministry, Mr Sharon demanded finance, another china shop which Mr Netanyahu was determined to exclude him from. Mrs Clinton had been the most likely person to put them there, the Republicans declared – a matter of “grave legal implication”. However, the committee’s ranking Democrat, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, said that “having failed to tarnish the President, the Committee was on a massive witchhunt against Mrs Clinton.” Rupert Cornwell – Washington. Israel’s new Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, broke all records last night by presenting his government to parliament only 18 days after his election was confirmed.

But minority Democrats retorted that the report was a partisan and “despicable” attempt to smear the First Lady in an election year. With much of the committee’s 700-page report leaked, the final exchanges centred on the rediscovery of subpoenaed billing records of Mrs Clinton in the White House private quarters last January. Hillary Clinton was accused of a “grave” abuse of power by the Republican majority on the Senate Whitewater committee yesterday in covering up her involvement in the protracted controversy. ValuJet’s closure was the climax of a month of intense scrutiny by the watchdog agency, which posted inspectors on every Valujet flight in the wake of the DC-9 crash in the Everglades The ultimate indictment is devastating. The month-long check uncovered “system-wide deficiencies” in ValuJet’s maintenance programmes, doubts about the airworthiness of several aircraft, and “multiple shortcomings” in ValuJet’s control of the outside contractors Rupert Cornwell – Washington. A major shake-up is looming at the Federal Aviation Administration following its failure to tackle the safety problems at ValuJet, which led to the indefinite grounding of the low-fare airline this week – five weeks after the Florida crash which killed 110 people. The Justice Department said a federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against Mr Kaczynski.

The indictment alleged that four bombs that killed a timber industry lobbyist, Gilbert Murray, and a computer store owner, Hugh Scrutton, and injured a well-known geneticist and a computer scientist were placed in, mailed to, or mailed from Sacramento by Mr Kaczynski. The charges provide for a maximum punishment of the death penalty upon conviction.
Mr Kaczynski, 54, was arrested at his isolated Montana cabin on 3 April in connection with the series of attacks that killed three people and wounded 23 others over a 17-year period Reuter – Sacramento. The economy is so mismanaged that even though Burma is one of the region’s biggest rice producers, little boys at the Rangoon river docks trail after the stevedores, hoping to catch a few falling grains of rice from leaky sacks.And now she says wistfully: “Maybe the Slorc doesn’t understand that they have nothing to lose in talking to us. Understand that we also want to live peacefully,” Ms Suu Kyi explained to foreign businessmen recently. These threats are nothing new to us,” she added, laughing.After seeing how many of her supporters defied the Slorc’s ban on her rallies, many Western observers in Rangoon predict that putting Ms Suu Kyi back in detention could lead to public unrest, which she opposes.