Palestine coalition govt is close

The new Hamas-Fatah coalition was to set to clear a final formal hurdle today, approval by the parliament, before taking on the challenge of persuading a sceptical world to end a crippling year-long boycott of the Palestinian government.

The government’s program, finalised late Friday, contained some softer language than a draft published earlier in the week, though is still falls short of international demands for acceptance, including explicit recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence.