The Financial Times reports that Russia and Saudi Arabia risk hurting efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus if they insist on continuing an oil price war, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned, saying poorer crude exporting countries may struggle to cope as their revenues fall. The Times, the Financial Times, the Associated Press and Reuters report that Saudi Arabia will pump more oil than ever before from next month as it escalates a price war against Russia and the United States. The Guardian reports that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has spelled out details of the dramatic increase in its production that prompted Monday’s huge falls in global stock markets and is regarded as a targeted attack on the US shale oil industry.

The Financial Times reports that investors in Lebanon’s dollar debt are nursing big losses after the government failed to repay a $1.2bn bond due on Monday, triggering the country’s first ever sovereign default. Reuters reports that Lebanon’s public prosecutor has agreed with commercial banks a set of rules aimed at protecting the rights of depositors, state news agency NNA reported on Tuesday, potentially easing restrictions on deposits amid a dollar shortage.

Reuters and the Associated Press report that President Erdogan said on Tuesday he would not stop migrants trying to cross Turkey’s border into Greece despite EU pressure to do so, but he also announced a summit next week in Istanbul with European leaders to seek a solution to the crisis.

The Independent reports that countries across the Middle East have begun closing their borders as the number of cases in the region soared past 8,600, with the vast majority within Iran. The Guardian reports that Iran has temporarily freed 70,000 prisoners from prisons around the country out of fear that coronavirus could spread through prisons unchecked, but British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has not been released. The Associated Press reports that Iran will recognise doctors and nurses who die combating the new coronavirus as “martyrs” like slain soldiers, the country’s supreme leader announced on Tuesday as the nation’s death toll rose to 291.

Reuters reports that the US has offered to sell Turkey its Patriot missile defence system if Ankara promises not to operate a rival Russian system, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, in what he called a significant softening in Washington’s position.

The Guardian reports that WhatsApp has said its lawsuit against the Israeli spyware maker NSO Group encountered an unusual delay because of a legal holdup involving the government, raising questions about whether the Israeli Government will play a role in the company’s case.

The Times reports that the UK is to remove 330 of the 1,100 regular military personnel stationed in Afghanistan by mid-July in the first phase of the fragile US-Taliban peace deal.

The Guardian reports that international powers are increasing deliveries of suspected military supplies to factions in Libya’s civil war, ignoring a poorly enforced UN embargo as the shattered country braces for a new round of fighting.

The Times reports that the Taliban have overtaken Islamic State as the world’s most lethal terrorists, just as the United States begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to research.

In the Financial Times, David Gardner asserts that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman ‘strikes again’ with a Saudi palace coup and oil war against Russia, as Saudi Arabia’s ‘rash but ruthless’ 34-year-old heir looks increasingly out of his depth.

In The Guardian, Madawi al-Rasheed argues that Prince Mohammed bin Salman has struck first in the bitter struggle for Saudi rule, as the de facto ruler’s crackdown against dissenting royals shows he is anything but the moderniser he claims to be.

At Reuters, Marc Jones asks what lies next for Lebanon’s debt crisis after it defaulted on a $1.2 billion payment, identifying use of the IMF, a ‘beg, steal and borrow’ approach to debt renegotiation or the ‘Argentina route’ of strong-arming bond holders as three potential policy options.

All the Israeli media continue to report the stringent and extensive measures adopted by the Israeli authorities to prevent the further spread of coronavirus COVID-19. The number of Israelis who are confirmed to have the virus has increased to 76 and is expected to rise throughout the day. Yediot Ahronoth reports that the Health Ministry has issued several new restrictions and recommendations, such as banning public gatherings of more than 2,000 people and advising the public to refrain from visiting hospitals and retirement homes. According to Kan Radio, Delta Airlines announced a decision to suspend its New York-Tel Aviv route as of Saturday and El Al cancelled flights to 20 destinations today.

Writing in Yediot Ahronoth, Dr. Yoav Yehezkelli says Israel is “past the time for quarantine” and that now is the time to tackle those who are hospitalised and will need more intensive care units and more respirators. He argues: “There is no way to stop the spread of the virus in Israel or around the world. That horse has already bolted. The draconian and economically devastating measures taken by health officials may only delay infections for a while, but in the long run, the spread of the virus is inevitable.”

Israeli commentators give  their verdict on the apparent U-turn of MK Orly Levy-Abekasis, who announced last night in a Facebook post that she would not support a minority government that required the support of the Joint List to receive the Knesset’s confidence. In Ma’ariv, Ben Caspit writes that Levy-Abekasis “slammed the door on the fingers of Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid and Moshe Yaalon, but she also slammed the door on the fingers of everyone who holds Israeli democracy dear and who believes in the burgeoning coexistence in this country of ours.” In Yediot Ahronoth, Sima Kadmon is similarly critical, describing Levy-Abekasis’s announcement as “opportunism, cowardice, treachery,” and arguing that her decision “not only betrayed her partner, who carried her on his back the entire way and who apparently was taken completely by surprise by her decision; she also betrayed the Israelis who voted for Labor-Gesher-Meretz, which never had any reservations about accepting the support of the Joint List…” Alternatively, Israel Hayom’s Haim Shine praises Levy-Abekasis’s decision, which he describes as a “decisive stand against the delusional partnership with the Joint List. By so doing, she expressed sentiments shared by many Israelis, who had begun to feel nauseous and short of breath on account of the virus that has infected senior Blue and White officials.”

Kan Radio News reports that IDF troops foiled an attempted terrorist attack near Route 465 in the Ramallah area. The soldiers spotted two people who were preparing to throw firebombs at vehicles on the road. The soldiers fired and hit the assailants, who were subsequently arrested.