His reforms were intended to speed up the voting process and to avoid a deadlock when electing a new pope.

BBC: Pope Benedict (file image)

Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials met to talk about American proposals for ending the deadlock in the peace process .

ECONOMIST: Politics this week | The

There they will discuss ways to break the deadlock in the peace process which has stalled since the political institutions were suspended last month over the decommissioning issue.

BBC: Decommissioning 'won't go away'

The deadlock is so intractable, and the mistrust so deep, that the entire process of adapting the military to a changing world is at risk of paralysis.

ECONOMIST: Anything useful to do, besides fighting the army?