en-uk Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:37:29 GMT Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd. custserv@timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:19:40 GMT Newspapers 144 21 http://www.timesonline.co.uk http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,116979,00.gif Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:01:38 GMT 2009-11-26T12:21:25Z The deal to free Gilad Schalit is proving tortuously difficult to strike because it pulls in strands from conflicts across the Middle East. Israel is negotiating not just with Hamas but also with Fatah, and neither faction of the Palestinian leadership is itself entirely united. The Egyptians and Germans, who are brokering the talks, have their own views of the best route to a deal; so do the Syrians, as host to some of the Hamas leadership. So, too, do the US and the European Union, who want a deal urgently, partly so that Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip will end. Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-11-23T11:00:01Z The European Union has achieved a small, surprising success in helping Central and Eastern Europe to avoid a savage banking crisis this year. We should give it credit for that. Bank regulation is not an area where the EU has generally distinguished itself in clarity or consistency. It has usually failed to rise above national interests, or even those of individual banks. Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:45 GMT 2009-11-19T11:46:38Z Israel has surely lost more this week in support abroad — in the US, above all — than it has gained in asserting its right to build houses around Jerusalem. Bronwen Maddox: World Briefing Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT 2009-11-18T09:25:18Z There are many global problems in which the United States is painted as prime villain; there are not many where Iran is also hailed as the solution. But finding ways to make the world’s population grow more slowly is one of those rare cases because of the recurrent coyness of the US about promoting contraception, and the ayatollahs’ sure-footedness in doing just that. World Briefing: Bronwen Maddox Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:13 GMT 2009-11-17T09:54:19Z Pakistan’s seizure of key Taleban bases goes some way to answering President Obama’s call for action on its western border. Expectations of President Zardari could not have been lower nine months ago, at home or abroad, after his calamitous deal with Pakistan’s Taleban. But this is one sign that he and the army are capable of getting a grip on some of the country’s worst problems.