This morning’s edition of the Times covers the trial of a Swedish man of Lebanese origin who yesterday admitted in a Cypriot court that he had acted as a courier for Hezbollah and had staked out locations on the island popular with Israelis. The man was arrested just days before a bus bomb killed five Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas. A Bulgarian investigation recently found that Hezbollah was responsible for the bombing. The Cypriot authorities believe that the man on trial was helping plan a similar attack. The article suggests that the trial in Cyprus could sway the debate in the European Union over whether to proscribe Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

The Guardian online includes an analysis by Ian Black of this week’s appointment of Tzipi Livni to a dual role in the next Israeli government, where she will serve as both Justice Minister and head Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians. Black argues that, despite her determination, Livni will find it difficult to achieve significant progress on a peace deal.

The online editions of the Times, Independent and Guardian all report on a mortar attack in Damascus which yesterday killed a Syrian footballer and wounded three of his team-mates who were preparing to play a Syrian league match at a central Damascus stadium. The Times online notes that the attack was the second time in as many days that opposition mortar fire had reached the centre of the capital. Meanwhile, in the Financial Times online, David Gardner’s analysis suggests that the West’s refusal to arm Syria’s opposition is contributing to a likely scenario in which Syria will descend into “a patchwork of armed gangs.”

The Times online reports that protests by hundreds of people at Port Said’s crucial international shipping terminal is costing the Egyptian economy around £4.85 million each day. The blockade is part of widespread unrest in the city after the police killed more than forty people in disturbances last month which followed the sentencing of 21 Port Said residents to death for their part in a deadly football riot.

The headlines in the Israeli media focus on the ongoing state of coalition negotiations. Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Makor Rishon lead with comments made yesterday by Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, who indicated that although he is still keen to join a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his alliance with Yesh Atid is unbreakable and that he is prepared to sit in opposition rather than compromise on certain demands. Writing in Maariv, Shalom Yerushalmi advises Netanyahu to broker a deal with Bennett and Lapid even if it is at the expense of including the ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition. Meanwhile, Haaretz suggests that most parties considering joining the coalition are opposed to Netanyahu’s proposed plan to draft ultra-Orthodox religious seminary students.

In other news, Yediot Ahronot reports further details on the circumstances of Ben Zygier’s death in Ayalon Prison, claiming that although Zygier’s cell and bathroom were fitted with surveillance cameras, they were fixed at such an angle as to allow him to hang himself out of view.

Meanwhile, both Maariv and Yediot Ahronot report that the Energy and Water Resources Ministry has granted a licence to American-Israeli company Genie Energy to begin exploratory drilling for oil on the Golan Heights. Previous drilling initiatives on the Golan Heights were suspended in the 1990s amidst optimism over a regional peace agreement.