Widespread coverage continues of the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) to conclude a long-term agreement over Tehran’s nuclear development. The Financial Times online, Independent i and City AM all emphasise that the negotiations will now extend beyond the self-imposed deadline which expires today and suggest that both sides will look to finalise a deal before 10 July, the date on which US Congress will be permitted an extended amount of time to consider an agreement.

The Times suggests that Iran has relented over the potential relief of sanctions and has agreed to a phased approach. Meanwhile, the Telegraph says US officials indicate that the other major sticking point, access for international inspectors to sensitive Iranian sites, is also near resolution. However, the Independent speculates that this remains unresolved. The Guardian’s Ian Black reports from Tehran where he says that there is optimism over ending sanctions but residual mistrust of the West. Writing in the Financial Times, BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow Mike Herzog says that if a nuclear deal is agreed, the United States must establish deterrence against Iran breaching its terms or else Israel will be left to face Iran alone.

The Guardian, Independent i, Evening Standard and the online edition of the Telegraph all cover the peaceful interception early yesterday morning of a Gaza protest boat by Israeli naval forces. Israel warned that it would not allow the flotilla to breach its restrictions on waters around Gaza which are in place to prevent arms smuggling. Commandos boarded the vessel and escorted it to Ashdod port. The Independent includes a feature on how Israel’s restrictions impact the lives of fishermen in the Gaza Strip, preventing their businesses from prospering.

The Independent i covers comments made by Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who yesterday indicated that Israel provides medical aid to some Syrian rebel groups in return for guarantees that Syria’s Druze population will not be harmed. Israel’s Druze community has recently expressed deep concern for their Syrian brethren.

The Guardian online includes a feature on the revival of Hebron’s Old City, which has seen a number of Palestinian properties revitalised thanks to the work of the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee.

The Independent i reports that an agreement has been reached for Islamic Jihad activist Khadar Adnan to end his 55-day hunger strike in an Israeli prison, in return for his release.

In Egypt, the Times and the online editions of the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times all report that the country’s state prosecutor was yesterday killed by a huge bomb blast in northern Cairo. There are suggestions that the assassination was the work of Islamist terror groups whose attacks have so far been confined largely to the Sinai Peninsula.

In the Israeli media, the top item in Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Haaretz is two terror attacks yesterday in the West Bank. In the first incident yesterday morning, a female soldier was stabbed in the neck at a checkpoint by a Palestinian woman. Late last night, four Israeli men in their twenties were wounded, one seriously, when the car they were travelling came under a hail of bullets. Israel Radio news says that security forces are still searching the area for the assailants.

The main item in Maariv, also covered extensively in Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz and Israel Hayom is the postponement of a Knesset vote yesterday regarding a deal approved by the government with the two main investors in Israel’s off-shore natural gas industry. The government is seeking permission from the Knesset to circumvent the Antitrust Authority, which opposes the deal. However, the details of the agreement have not yet been published. When it became clear that the government would not secure a Knesset majority for yesterday’s vote, it was postponed. Israel Radio news says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will instruct that the details of the agreement be made public today. Writing in Maariv, Ben Caspit accuses Netanyahu of having created the crisis himself by establishing a government with a razor-thin majority, writing that he has “built this magnificent house of cards, and he is the one who is now watching it collapse.”