Israel appoints second woman FM

Livni has been tipped as a future Kadima leader

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has chosen a woman as his new foreign minister - only the second such appointment in the country's history.

Tzipi Livni, 47, who is also Israel's justice minister, replaces Silvan Shalom, who resigned last week.

Mr Olmert, who has taken over from ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, also expanded his diminished cabinet.

Only one other woman has ever held the foreign affairs portfolio - Golda Meir, who went on to become prime minister.

Ms Livni's appointment is the most eye-catching in the new line-up, BBC correspondent Katya Adler in Jerusalem says.

The Labour party has meanwhile chosen candidates for Israel's elections, to be held on 28 March.

Labour leader Amir Peretz is guaranteed the number one slot on the list, while former housing minister Isaac Herzog and Ophir Pines-Paz won the second and third spots.

Recent polls suggest Kadima will be the strongest party after elections in the next Israeli parliament, with Labour second and Likud trailing third.

Rising star

A former Likud MP, Ms Livni quit the party in December to join Mr Sharon's new centrist party, Kadima.

Seen as a rising star in Israeli politics, Ms Livni hails from a prominent nationalist family - her father was a key figure in the Jewish underground movement, the Irgun, which fought British rule in Palestine before Israel was founded in 1948.

Mr Olmert also promoted Sharon loyalists Zeev Boim, Yaakov Edri and Roni Bar-On to the cabinet.

The reshuffle follows the resignation of Labour and Likud ministers from the government over the past two months, which eventually left the cabinet with just seven members.

Observers say it is a further sign that Israeli politics is returning to business as usual following Mr Sharon's stroke on 4 January.

The caretaker government has been led by Mr Olmert since Mr Sharon fell ill.

Jerusalem question

On Tuesday, Mr Olmert hinted that Israel might permit a future Palestinian state to have connections with East Jerusalem - previously ruled out by successive Israeli governments.

Defending his recent decision to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote in Palestinian elections on 25 January, Mr Olmert said it was a possibility.

"The responsible approach... is that as long as we don't cede our authority and sovereignty in all parts of Jerusalem, we certainly have an interest in preserving the link between the residents of East Jerusalem and a Palestinian state, and not the state of Israel."

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but Israel has insisted on exerting sovereignty over the whole of the city.