Blair cuts lonely figure

Alongside pictures of beaches packed with sun-bathers enjoying one of the hottest days of the year, The Times reckons that rarely can a man have welcomed the prospect of his sun-lounger with more passion than the prime minister.

Above a front-page photograph of Tony Blair's solitary, silhouetted figure, The Guardian's headline speaks of the shadow cast over the prime minister by the row with the United States over the handling of the Iraq crisis.

The paper comments that this, combined with stuttering progress on public services at home, has created a rare moment of real challenge for Tony Blair.

"Beached, wounded and alone" is The Daily Mail's description.

While The Sun talks of a "dangerous mutiny from all sides", as friends of Gordon Brown plot to seize Mr Blair's crown.

But the paper in its editorial column, continues to back the prime minister and wonders whether everyone at Westminster has been sitting out in the sun too long.

Pub regular

Another man cutting a lone figure this morning is the former footballer, George Best, who has widely pictured at his local pub.

As The Independent points out, his glass held nothing stronger than mineral water with a dash of lime.

But just one glance at the ranks of TV cameras and telephoto lenses outside was needed to get the message - George Best is drinking again.

The Daily Express sees a "man with a death mission", while the Daily Mirror finds it hard to hide its frustration. Best does not need another liver transplant, it says, he needs a brain transplant.

The scale of the funding crisis facing schools is highlighted in a survey carried out by the Independent.

It suggests one school in five is so short of money that parents are being asked to give financial support to buy essential equipment and pay teachers' salaries.

A third of schools are warning that some areas of the national curriculum will suffer unless the government provides new money, the paper says.

A shortage of cash is also threatening plans to build two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, according to the Financial Times.

It says the contractor, BAe Systems, has told the Ministry of Defence that it cannot build the ships to budget, and that unless the Navy comes up with an additional one-point-two billion pounds, it will have to accept smaller ships which carry fewer planes.

Gender gap

Women are more likely than men to lie about their sex lives - according to a study published in the Times.

It says women are so concerned about society's dim view of female promiscuity that they routinely claim to have slept with fewer partners than they really have.

The paper says the findings offer the best explanation yet for a paradox that has baffled psychologists for years.

Namely why do men seem to have more partners than women over their lifetime, when logically the average for both genders should be about the same?

Finally, the Telegraph reports that French scientists have established how sheep manage to tell each other apart in flocks.

Apparently it is all down to vocal recognition which allows a ewe to easily pick out a lamb at a distance by the pitch and timbre of its bleating. What you might call a baaa code.