Yesterday’s announcement that the United States plans to reduce its military aid to Egypt is covered by the Guardian, Metro and the online editions of the Times and Financial Times. Delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US military hardware, including F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and tanks is being withheld until there is progress in Egypt towards electing a democratic civilian government. The Telegraph online highlights that yesterday’s announcement came as Egyptian authorities formally charged Morsi with incitement to violence, which carries the threat of capital punishment. Meanwhile, an editorial in the Guardian warns of continued divisions in the country and deterioration in Egypt’s stability.

The Financial Times reports that Israel’s government is set to give its support to a billion dollar project to develop natural gas fields off the Gaza Strip on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), as part of a wider push to revive the Palestinian economy.

The Telegraph includes an opinion piece by Peter Jenkins, former UK representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency, who says that if the United States shows flexibility over sanctions on Iran, then Tehran will make meaningful efforts to assuage international concerns over its nuclear programme.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports that the head of the international organisation responsible for dismantling Syria’s chemical stockpile has said that the tight timetable set to disarm Syria of such weapons is achievable if there is a temporary ceasefire in the fighting in certain parts of the country.

The Financial Times covers the announcement yesterday that two Israeli professors based in the United States will share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development of multi-scale models for complex chemical systems.

The Nobel Prize award to Professors Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt is the top item in this morning’s Israeli media. The pair became Israel’s eleventh and twelfth Nobel laureates and the headline in Yediot Ahronot simply says “Honour.” However, with both Warshel and Levitt based in the United States, yesterday’s announcement has fuelled a debate on Israel’s ‘brain drain’ with a recent report indicating that a very high percentage of Israeli researchers leave to work abroad. The headline in Maariv proudly states the achievement of Warshel and Levitt but also highlights that “One in four Israeli university teachers leaves.” Israel Hayom’s headline captures the mood, stating “Nobel Prize is (almost) ours.”

As speculation persists that the international community is readying to broker a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, Israel Hayom reports that an unnamed Israeli official has described the expected Iranian proposal as a “joke.” Meanwhile, Haaretz says that Israeli officials are asking members of the US Congress not to loosen sanctions on Iran.

The future of Shas in light of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s death earlier this week continues to make the headlines. Maariv claims that Shas political head Aryeh Deri has formed an alliance with the Yosef family at the expense of his political rival Eli Yishai. Maariv also says that Shas has wasted no time in making use of Rabbi Yosef’s death in the party’s campaign for the upcoming municipal elections which take place later this month.