The Guardian covers a vote by the academic body, the American Studies Association (ASA) in favour of boycotting Israel and banning collaboration with Israeli academic institutions and their representatives. The article notes that the decision by the ASA, which has around 5,000 members, is inconsistent with the distinction drawn earlier this week by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas who said that although he encourages such actions against settlements, he does not support boycotts of Israel itself.

The Guardian online reports on yesterday’s car bomb in eastern Lebanon, which appeared to target a Hezbollah stronghold in connection with its support for President Assad and his regime in neighbouring Syria.

The Independent, Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian, Times and Telegraph all cover the announcement yesterday that a British surgeon on a humanitarian mission, held for more than a year by Syrian authorities and on the verge of release, had died in custody. Syrian authorities claimed that 32-year-old Dr Abbas Khan from South London had committed suicide. However, Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson said the Syrian authorities had “in effect murdered a British national.”

The Independent online says that a British Islamist from Portsmouth, who recently appeared on BBC’s Newsnight, has been killed fighting with al-Qaeda affiliated forces against the Assad regime. The Telegraph online covers a King’s College report which says the number of foreign fighters in Syria has almost doubled since estimates earlier this year.

The online edition of the Guardian outlines a complex two-week multi-national operation, which was announced yesterday by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, to dismantle 500 tonnes of chemical components amassed by the Assad regime before the end of the year. Russian armoured trucks will deliver chemicals including Sarin, VX nerve gas and mustard gas to a Danish and Norwegian naval escort which will set sail to an Italian port for transfer to a US naval vessel.

The Financial Times includes a lengthy special report on Egypt. It discusses the country’s return to militarism, its place in the world and a dwindling tourism industry in the wake of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ousting in July by the military authorities.

In the Israeli media this morning, most dailies note the simmering coalition tensions especially between Likud-Beitenu and Yesh Atid. Maariv leads with the news that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein will appoint himself as the new chair of the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee after party leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid failed to agree on who should fill the position. Meanwhile, Israel Hayom and Israel Radio news both say that Yesh Atid will today introduce a bill on equal tax credits for same-sex couples, despite known opposition towards the legislation from Jewish Home and sections of Likud. Apparently, should the bill be introduced, Likud-Beitenu will respond with legislation mandating a two thirds Knesset majority to cede any part of Jerusalem in a peace deal, an idea unpopular with Yesh Atid and Hatnuah.

Meanwhile, Haaretz previews this evening’s Likud Party Convention, at which the party’s elected governing body is expected to vote on whether to maintain the alliance with Yisrael Beitenu.

Yediot Ahronot leads with an in-depth story regarding new revelations over a legal case against the Bank of China in the United States. The case has been brought by the families of those killed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad who accuse the Bank of China of allowing funds to be transferred to both terror groups. Israel’s government, apparently wary of hurting important economic ties with China, has blocked the testimony of a key security official, following pressure from Beijing over the case. Yediot Ahronot says a secret Israeli security unit had been set up in 2002 to encourage families to pursue such cases.