Developments surrounding Syria feature prominently in this morning’s dailies. The online editions of the Guardian, Times, Telegraph and Financial Times all cover yesterday’s announcement by Foreign Secretary William Hague that the UK will step up support for Syria’s mainstream opposition groups by providing them with non-lethal military equipment such as body armour and armour-plated vehicles. Hague said that the international community couldn’t stand by as the situation in Syria has reached “catastrophic proportions” and warned that it had become a “top destination for jihadists.” The Telegraph includes an editorial, which argues that although it is a risky strategy, the UK is morally compelled to take action to support the opponents of Syria’s President Assad in the hope that it will help alleviate his downfall.

The online editions of the Times, Telegraph and Financial Times also cover an announcement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who said that the total number of Syrian refugees who have fled the country has now reached one million, following a sharp spike in numbers over the past two months. Meanwhile, the online editions of the Financial Times, Independent and Telegraph devote coverage to the apparent detention of around twenty UN peacekeepers by a group of Syrian opposition fighters in the Golan Heights near Syria’s border with Israel. A video shows a spokesman for the group demanding that President Assad’s forces leave the area and accusing the UN monitors of being “agents of Israel.”

The Telegraph includes a brief item on a report issued yesterday by child welfare agency UNICEF, which alleges ill treatment of Palestinian minors taken into Israeli detention in the West Bank. The report says that Israel’s foreign ministry said it would act on the study’s recommendations. Meanwhile, the Guardian online reports that Bob Carr, Australia’s Foreign Minister announced that a preliminary report indicates that Ben Zygier, the Australian citizen recently revealed to have been the ‘Prisoner X’ who died in an Israeli prison, was probably working for Israel’s intelligence services. The Guardian and Telegraph online report that Israeli authorities are using pesticides to battle a large swarm of locusts threatening crops in the south of the country.

The online versions of the Guardian, Times, Telegraph and Financial Times report that Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that parliamentary elections scheduled for April should be postponed, requesting that a controversial electoral law be referred to the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court. The decision throws further doubt on the credibility of the elections, after the main secular opposition coalition had already vowed to boycott the vote.

The Financial Times reports that Jordan is set to commission the building of two nuclear reactors to help combat an energy crisis.  The report notes that the Jordanian plan will face opposition from Israel and the United States who fear regional nuclear proliferation.

In the Israeli media this morning, Israel Hayom, Haaretz, Maariv and Makor Rishon  report the detention of around twenty UN peacekeepers by a Syrian opposition group on the Golan Heights near the border with Israel. Elsewhere, coalition talks are covered widely. Israel Hayom says that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid remains insistent on becoming the next foreign minister, although Makor Rishon reports that Likud-Beitenu and Yesh Atid have broadly agreed on guidelines for an agreement. Maariv says that the two parties have reached an understanding regarding the study of core subjects set out by the Education Ministry at all public schools, including those in ultra-Orthodox communities. The same report says that Lapid’s demand to become foreign minister is holding up an agreement, although Israel Radio News reports comments by Lapid denying that this is the case and instead attributing the delay to remaining disagreements on the ultra-Orthodox draft and the size of the next government. Maariv reports that hundreds of arrest warrants have been issued to ultra-Orthodox religious seminary students who failed to respond to call-up orders. However, it remains unclear if the arrest warrants will be acted upon.