Panic in the tabloids

The people of Britain may be surprised to know that they have been gripped by "anthrax panic" - a condition fully diagnosed on The Mirror's front page.

It lists what it calls a series of scares in London, Liverpool and Fife and gives its readers details about the three forms of the disease, complete with a rather gruesome picture of an anthrax flesh burn.

But after doing as much as it can to worry the public, the paper then wisely insists in its leader column that the government's call for everybody to stay calm is sensible advice.

If the newspaper-reading public is not satisfied with those soothing words, it can turn to the "anthrax advice guide" in The Daily Express.

Beneath the headline: "Britain on red alert for anthrax horror", the guide calmly reassures itself that there is absolutely no need to panic.

Spectre-fications

A rather more immediate threat looms over Afghanistan at the moment - in the shape of the AC130 gunships being deployed in the latest phase of the war against the Taleban and Osama Bin Laden.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the plane - known as the Spectre - is the most frightening sight anyone is likely to see above them.

The Sun greets its deployment with the headline: "Enter the Dragon", while The Times dubs it the "killing machine".

The Guardian reports that it can fill a football field with bullets in seconds as it slowly circles its target.

And for those with a taste for military hardware, all the papers take the opportunity to inform their readers of the Spectre's particular specifications.

Ground down

It is widely agreed that the use of the AC130 could herald the use of ground troops.

The Daily Telegraph goes further, insisting the change of tactics was ordered by the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, after a row with his generals about what he sees as their lack of creative thinking.

It illustrates the war between the hawks and the doves in the Bush administrations with profiles of Mr Rumsfeld and the Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

'Rupert the bare-faced'

According to The Independent, the former Tory MP Rupert Allason - aka the spy-writer Nigel West - lists "sailing close to the wind" as one of his recreations in Who's Who.

But if reports of Tuesday's proceedings in the High Court are anything to go by, he may be about to capsize.

Mr Allason has been accused by a High Court judge of repeatedly lying during court proceedings he brought against the publishers Random House.

On Tuesday an outraged Mr Justice Laddie threw out the case and referred Mr Allason's testimony to the director of public prosecutions.

Taking a look at Mr Allason's parliamentary career, the Daily Telegraph notes that the Tory whips nicknamed him Bermuda Triangle - because he was more likely to be in the Caribbean than at Westminster when a Commons vote was called.

Bob-seekers

It seems that Bob Dylan may not be quite as freewheeling as he once hoped.

The Times reports that after ordering tighter security during his current tour, the American singer turned up for one of his concerts in Oregon without a pass, only to be refused entry.

When the irate singer explained who he was, the guards replied that they were Santa Claus.

The hapless duo have since been relocated.