What the papers say

Journalist Barbara McCann takes a look at Wednesday's morning newspapers

"All the Bestie George" is the headline on the Daily Mirror's story of the soccer legend's life-saving operation to replace his diseased liver.

While the local papers report the good wishes for his speedy recovery from Northern Ireland's Sports Minister Michael McGimpsey and the former footballer's legion of fans, the Newsletter in its editorial says, however, the message of his illness needs to be taken to heart.

"George Best", the paper says "gave enormous pleasure to millions with his dazzling artistry in the beautiful game, but for most of his public life as a sports icon his main contribution has been as a warning beacon that even the most graceful of bodies can be destroyed by the old demon drink."

The government was wrong to hold suspects without trial, however natural its instinct to deal with the threat of terror

The Independent

The Irish News carries an exclusive tag on its front page story claiming the gun used to murder Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor was also used in an attack linked to the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Freedom Fighters' notorious 'C' Company which took place at the height of the loyalist feud.

The national papers carry widespread reaction to Tuesday's ruling that nine suspects, held under emergency anti-terrorism laws, were being detained illegally.

The Times says the decision has damaged a key weapon in the government's anti-terror armoury.

But the Independent says the government was wrong to hold suspects without trial, however natural its instinct to deal with the threat of terror.

The Guardian leads with the libel victory of two nursery nurses wrongly accused of abusing dozens of children.

One of them, Dawn Reed, tells the paper she is angry for the children and their families, for the nine years lost since the allegations were first made and also at the incompetent witnesses and people in positions of power who should not have been.

And legal reforms make the lead in the Daily Express.

It says a government consultation document on opening up the legal profession could see "solicitors setting up in supermarkets".

"It could also open up practices such as making wills and conveyancing to competition from people without legal qualifications" the paper says.