A large car bomb that exploded yesterday in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut is covered prominently in the Times, Independent, Guardian, Independent i and the online edition of the Telegraph. The explosion injured more than fifty people in an attack that is being widely interpreted as a serious spill over from the violence in neighbouring Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside President Assad’s forces. The Times quotes a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese parliament who sought to blame Israel and the United States for the attack.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports that the UK has pledged £50 million to help Lebanon to cope with the huge influx of Syrian refugees who continue to cross the border between the two countries at a reported rate of around three thousand each day. The online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph report Russian claims that opposition forces in Syria used sarin nerve gas during fighting in an Aleppo suburb in March.

In Egypt, the Guardian and the Times cover the appointment of a new interim Prime Minister and interim Vice President by the country’s interim President Adli Mansour. Liberal economist and former-finance minister Hazem el-Beblawi is to become the interim Prime Minister following the agreement of several political factions, while Mohammed El-Baradei, former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency will become interim Vice President with special responsibility towards foreign affairs. Mansour also announced a timetable for parliamentary and presidential elections.

Writing in the Times, Roger Boyes says that the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt could drive some of its members towards terrorism and that the rule of Mohammed Morsi exposed Western naivety over the nature of the Muslim Brotherhood’s democratic ambitions. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Morsi’s downfall has had a negative impact on Hamas in Gaza and the everyday economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Independent, Independent i and the online edition of the Telegraph cover reports in the Israeli media over the existence of an additional ‘Prisoner X,’ another member of Israel’s secret services imprisoned anonymously in the Ayalon Prison, following revelations earlier this year over the similar incarceration of Ben Zygier.

In the Israeli media this morning, Yediot Ahronot leads with further claims of the existence of an additional ‘Prisoner X’ in an Israeli prison, with Zygier’s attorney Avigdor Feldman quoted saying that a secret prisoner is being held whose offences are far more serious than those committed by Zygier. Feldman’s comments are also covered in Makor Rishon and Israel Hayom.

Meanwhile, Maariv and Makor Rishon lead with claims by opposition groups in Syria that a foreign army attacked a military installation in the Syrian port of Latakia, reportedly destroying Russian made Yakhont anti-ship missiles. Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon would only comment that red lines exist.

Israel Hayom leads with widespread condemnation of an attack yesterday evening on an ultra-Orthodox soldier that took place yesterday in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The man was eventually rescued unharmed by riot police, who were themselves attacked by a stone-throwing crowd. Israel Radio news highlights comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and government ministers condemning the incident.

Haaretz, Makor Rishon and Israel Radio news cover the confirmation yesterday that Ron Dermer, a former close aide to Netanyahu, has been appointed as Israel’s new ambassador to the United States, an appointment that has apparently been welcomed by Washington.