Iran nuclear talks pulled back from brink as Tehran shifts stance | Iran nuclear deal - thanks to Chinese and Russian pressure - by Patrick Wintour

Efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal have been hauled back from the brink of collapse as Tehran revised its stance after pressure from Russia and China and clear warnings that the EU and the US were preparing to walk away.

The cautiously optimistic assessment came at the start of the seventh round of talks on the future of the nuclear deal in Vienna. It follows what was seen as a disastrous set of talks last week in which the US and the EU claimed Iran had walked back on compromises reached in previous rounds.

The Russian ambassador to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said: “We managed to eliminate a number of misunderstandings that created some tension. Everyone confirmed their commitment to productive work [to restore the nuclear agreement].”

Read more at: Iran nuclear talks pulled back from brink as Tehran shifts stance | Iran nuclear deal | The Guardian

The Netherlands: Pressure mounts as Dutch govt coalition talks drag on

Pressure is mounting on Dutch political leaders to put together a coalition government, which after 226 days on Friday became the longest formation talks on record in the Netherlands.

Experts say even the position of long-time Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was by no means certain,

But seven months after Dutch voters went to the polls it was very much back to square one, with a future coalition government most likely resembling the one that stepped down in January over a childcare scandal.

Read more at: Pressure mounts as Dutch govt coalition talks drag on

Middle East: Israel and Hamas agree cease-fire after 11-day conflict

Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire on Thursday to halt an 11-day conflict that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday said his Security Cabinet unilaterally approved the Egyptian-mediated proposal.

Read more at Israel and Hamas agree cease-fire after 11-day conflict | Euronews

USA: How Putin or Xi Could Blow It All Up for Biden

Joe Biden is on a roll. His approval rating is higher than his predecessor’s ever was. Almost three-quarters of Americans think he’s doing a good job handling the COVID pandemic. Sixty percent approve of his handling of the economy.

So now is the time for him to start looking at what could go wrong, and turning his attention past our borders. It’s no coincidence that the one area where Biden’s ratings lag is at our southern border, where his efforts to fix the problems his predecessor exacerbated have hit problem after problem, all of them magnified by the knowledge of desperate immigrants that Donald Trump is gone.

Read more at: How Putin or Xi Could Blow It All Up for Biden

IRAN; the Trump pressure on Iran is causing self inflicted damage to the US

Trump's 'maximum pressure' on Iran is causing U.S. some self-inflicted damage

Read more at: 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/national-today-newsletter-iran-syria-train-gun-trafficking-1.5125888

TTIP EU-US TRade: US seeking bilateral trade deal with UK to press EU on TTIP - by Patrick Wintour

A potentially swift bilateral trade and investment deal with the UK is being suggested by American officials as a way of pressing the European Union to speed up its own stalled transatlantic trade deal, as well as cementing a commitment to the UK-US economic relationship.

The news will be welcomed by the international trade secretary, Liam Fox, who has been charged with striking British trade deals to replace the EU’s deals with the rest of the world.

The UK cannot formally sign any trade deals with other countries or trading blocs until it has left the EU, but it appears to be accepted that negotiations on the outline shape of such deals can start before that happens.

During the EU referendum campaign Barack Obama, the US President, said the UK would have to go to the back of the queue for a trade deal with America if it left the EU, but in the wake of the vote US thinking seems to be changing. Fox is due to visit the US shortly.

Note EU-Digest: Hopefully the EU does not get bamboozled by the this game playing of the "Anglo Saxon team" and capitulate on their principals by approving this basically bad deal for the EU.

Read more: US seeking bilateral trade deal with UK to press EU on TTIP | US news | The Guardian

Greece crisis: Tsipras under pressure to submit reform blueprint to creditors - total foreign debt: € 246 billion

Fforeign debt of €246b Greece and local debt € 32b 

Greece is under intense pressure to table a last-chance blueprint for radical economic reform, tax increases and spending cuts on Thursday in order to secure a future in the euro and stave off financial collapse.

The reform proposals are to be sent to Greece’s creditors with negotiations at the critical stage. The embattled Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, accused his eurozone creditors on Wednesday of exploiting his country as an “austerity laboratory” for the past five years while formally asking Europe for three more years of rescue funds.

Note EU-Digest: Athens has accumulated a debt mountain of 175% of GDP amounting to € 246 billion. If you spread that over the population of 11.3 million Greeks, every Greek Citizens presently would owe approximately € 21 million to cover the debt. Very difficult to figure out how Greece would ever be able to pay this off unless a lot of the debt would be "forgiven".

EU-Digest