The online editions of the Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail and BBC report that Britain’s Consul-General to the Jerusalem was forced to cancel a speech that he was scheduled to deliver at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah after his car was attacked by a group of protesting Palestinian students. Dozens of protestors prevented Sir Vincent Fean from reaching a lecture hall, seemingly citing a variety of grievances from the plight of Palestinian prisoners to Britain’s support for a Jewish State through the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Although neither Fean nor any other diplomatic staff was injured in the incident, the consulate released a statement regretting that the Fean had been unable “to engage in an open dialogue … on this occasion.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian, Independent, Telegraph and Independent i report that a Gaza marathon, organised by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), has been cancelled following a demand by the Hamas authorities which control the Gaza Strip, that women should not be allowed to participate in the race. UNWRA has coordinated the event for the last two years, but said that “our work in Gaza is based on UN values” and therefore could not meet Hamas’s request.

The online editions of the Guardian, Times, Telegraph and Financial Times say that opposition forces in Syria have captured much of the north-eastern city of Raqqa, bringing them close to seizing control of a provincial capital for the first time. Reports suggest that the province’s governor and the local chief of President Assad’s Ba’ath Party have been captured during the fighting. Raqqa is considered a strategically important city, with links to the country’s second city of Aleppo.

Both the Telegraph online and the Independent online cover the launch of the first ever Hebrew edition of Playboy magazine in Israel, which goes on sale today. 

In this morning’s Israeli media, Haaretz and Makor Rishon lead with further developments in coalition talks. Both publications suggest that Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid insists on becoming foreign minister, while the leader of Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett is keen to be finance minister. However, Israel Hayom quotes a source from the Likud-Beitenu faction who says that the position of foreign minister will be reserved for Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Lieberman, in the event that he is acquitted of corruption charges in an upcoming court case. Beyond the question of ministerial portfolios, Maariv reports that Yesh Atid is demanding a change in Israel’s religious status-quo as a condition to joining the coalition. The measures that they are reportedly requesting include the introduction of civil marriage and public transportation during the Jewish Sabbath.

The headline in Yediot Ahronot is devoted to the opening of a police investigation into alleged illegal payments made to vote contractors during the Labour Party’s internal primaries prior to January’s election. The investigation is focusing on former Labour leader Amir Peretz, who left the party after the primaries to join Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah Party and was subsequently elected to the Knesset as number three on the Hatnuah list.   

Meanwhile, Makor Rishon covers yesterday’s meeting in Washington between Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak and new US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, during which Hagel pledged continued US support for Israel’s missile defence systems and to maintain “Israel’s qualitative military edge.” Maariv and Makor Rishon report that new videos indicate Syrian opposition groups affiliated to Al Qaeda have deployed along Israel’s border with Syria on the Golan Heights.