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The group said that critics "who benefit from the status quo have been more focused on tearing this apart than on getting aid in, afraid that new, creative solutions to intractable problems might actually succeed."

It is notable progress in a state where the dire shortage of low-income housing can seem an intractable problem.

As a conclave gets under way in Rome this week to decide Pope Francis's successor, Palestinians and Israelis will be watching closely to see what the next Pope has to say about their intractable conflict.

Keefe’s meticulous research, empowered by tapes divulging long-held secrets, results in a story without good and bad guys: just a cause worth killing and dying for, and the moral morass of upholding intractable ideals.

As her letter indicates, senior figures have conversations behind the scenes, but so far this dispute appears intractable and as the weather forecast predicts highs of 20C, the mood in the city continues to sour.