The Financial Times online reports that Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Israel in a week’s time and that there is a degree of controversy surrounding his plans to celebrate mass in a room in Jerusalem where Christians believe the Last Supper took place. The room, known as the Cenacle is located on the top floor of a building on Mount Zion, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City, in which Jewish tradition holds that King David is buried and which also once housed a mosque. Some Jewish and Muslim groups have said that the agreement for Pope Francis to celebrate mass there is part of a deal under which Israel is planning to give the Catholic Church greater control over the site, altering its delicate status quo.

An eyewitness report from Tehran in the Guardian says that ordinary Iranians are feeling the strain of international sanctions in the course of their daily lives. A separate Guardian report covers comments made by an Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister who indicated that Iran will not apologise to Britain over the ransacking of the UK embassy in Tehran in 2011; some compensation for material damage may be offered as the two sides attempt to restore bilateral relations. The Telegraph online says Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has expressed anger at attempts by more hard line Iranian officials to control the internet and social media use in Iran.

Meanwhile, the online editions of the Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times all report that the head of Syria’s air defences has been killed by opposition fighters near Damascus, in what is seen as a symbolic blow to President Assad’s forces and a morale-boosting achievement by his opponents. The Financial Times online says that Hezbollah troops are fighting alongside Assad’s troops on the outskirts of Damascus.

In the Israeli media, the top story is last night’s victory for Maccabi Tel Aviv which saw them crowned European basketball champions for the sixth time. In a dramatic game, they defeated Spanish giants Real Madrid in overtime in the Euroleague final in Milan. Both President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned Maccabi coach David Blatt to congratulate him soon after the game ended. Tens of thousands of fans celebrated on the streets of Tel Aviv, congregating in Rabin Square. Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Maariv all devote the first several pages of today’s edition to the victory, which also makes the front page of Haaretz.

In other news, Maariv reports that representatives of Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah Party have leapt to her defence after she was criticised by several right-wing MKs for meeting last week with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in London. Livni met with Abbas with the knowledge of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who reportedly stressed that the meeting was not however part of any official negotiations between the two sides. Talks suspended last month after Abbas’ Fatah faction agreed to form a unity government with Hamas, which remains committed to Israel’s destruction.

Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Israel Radio news all report that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is expected today to announce the date of the Presidential election, most probably 17 or 18 June. The successor to incumbent Shimon Peres will be chosen by a vote of the Knesset’s 120 members with the leading declared candidates so far Likud’s Reuven Rivlin and Labour’s Binyamin Ben Eliezer. However, Haaretz says that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who holds deep antipathy towards Rivlin, is likely to quietly support Likud Minister Silvan Shalom who the report says will announce his candidacy.