What the papers say

Journalist Grania McFadden reviews Wednesday's morning papers.

Britain is in the grip of anthrax terror, according to the Daily Express.

The paper lists scares in London, Liverpool and Fife, and offers readers an "anthrax advice guide".

The Mirror also supplies details about the three forms of the disease, while simultaneously urging people to remain calm.

Local papers lead with reports that a grandmother from west Belfast found herself in the middle of an anthrax scare after opening a letter from Canada which contained white powder.

The Irish News says the woman and her two-year-old grandson were stripped and hosed down by firemen before being taken to hospital and treated with antibiotics.

The Mirror claims there have been 2,300 such alerts across the world in the last 16 days, from as far apart as New Zealand and Lithuania.

Attacks

And it links Northern Ireland to global terrorism, alleging that Osama Bin Laden has bankrolled the Real IRA to help it carry out attacks on Britain.

The paper says Real IRA members in Slovakia have told the FBI that they worked closely with the al Qaeda terror group, and accepted money to buy weapons.

As bombing continues over Afghanistan, the Guardian carries a picture of the sinister AC one thirty gunship, which is to be deployed in the next phase of the war.

The paper says the plane, known as the Spectre, can fill a football field with bullets in seconds as it circles its targets.

The Telegraph says the Spectre is the most frightening sight anyone is likely to see in the skies, and believes its entry into the war could herald the use of ground troops.

Bombing

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Pentagon has spent millions of dollars to prevent western media from seeing satellite pictures of the effects of bombing raids.

The paper says a decision to buy up all the pictures from a civilian satellite was taken by officials last week, after reports of heavy civilian casualties from overnight bombing.

Back home, and the News Letter reports on Unionist fury at the secretary of state's announcement that the RUC will cease to exist in just 18 days.

Dr Reid has set 4 November as the day when the force changes its name to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The paper quotes DUP leader Ian Paisley, who describes Dr Reid as a modern day Guy Fawkes.

And Ulster Unionists Jeffrey Donaldson and David Burnside warn that the battle to protect the RUC is "far from over".

The Irish News is underwhelmed by the sweeping changes in the way family doctors deliver their services in Northern Ireland.

The paper believes the planned new structures are unwieldy, and says introducing new layers of bureaucracy will be a retrograde step.

As airlines around the world struggle for survival, the Irish Times reports that the Irish cabinet will be asked to approve a loan guarantee for Aer Lingus, pending clearance from the European Commission.

The Irish Independent says unions have been warned to accept the government's rescue plan - which includes 2,500 redundancies - or see the airline go under.

Finally, as police resources worldwide are stretched in the fight against global terror, the Guardian reports that officers in Oxfordshire were asked to deal with a very different problem.

The paper says a seven-year-old boy from Banbury dialled 999 to complain that his mother wouldn't give him egg on toast for breakfast because he had been naughty.