Papers clash over Gilligan role

The national papers draw very different conclusions from Tuesday's hearing of the Hutton inquiry investigating the death of the weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

"BBC admits Iraq scoop was flawed" is the main point picked out by The Times. It says an e-mail from the editor of this programme referring to "flawed reporting" reveals the doubts shared among BBC executives about Andrew Gilligan's story.

The paper argues that it makes the Corporation's decision to persist in a battle with the government in defence of the report highly questionable.

The Times' stablemate, the Sun, judges the BBC in an even harsher light, casting doubt on the honesty of Andrew Gilligan.

Different interpretation

Its headline reads simply: "Lies, Lies, Lies".

It accuses him of being what it calls "an extraordinarily unreliable witness".

However a very different interpretation of Tuesday's hearing is found in some of the other papers.

The Independent and The Daily Telegraph highlight testimony that Dr Kelly told a second BBC reporter that Downing Street's director of communications, Alastair Campbell, had pressed for the inclusion of the now infamous "45 minute" claim into the government's dossier setting out the case for war.

The Independent says the disclosure immediately swung the advantage to the BBC in what it calls its "ongoing confrontation with Number Ten".

The Telegraph says Mr Campbell must now explain how not one but two BBC reporters received the same information from a man who appeared to have intimate knowledge of the dossier's compilation.

Challenging Potter

"Campbell Cornered" is the headline in The Daily Mirror while The Daily Mail describes Tuesday's events at the Royal Courts of Justice as a "a very damning day for Alastair Campbell".

The Mail prefers to lead with Tuesday's warning from nutrition experts of the long-term health effects of slimming regimes like the Atkins diet.

The paper says celebrity-backed claims that such regimes work has spawned a multi-million pound industry in diet books.

The Atkins Diet, is says, is even challenging Harry Potter for world sales figures.

The Sun is among a number of papers to carry pictures of a forlorn looking George Best having a few glasses of wine yesterday while on holiday in Malta.

Best has been warned not to drink after receiving a new liver.

Lifting the wall

A number of papers describe his every move, what he ate for breakfast, how much it cost, how many showers he took and who he talked to by the pool.

He is quoted in The Mail as saying dryly: "I can't do anything without the press following me - I can't even have a glass of wine."

A German artist is proposing to replicate the Berlin Wall to mark its 45th anniversary in 2006, according to The Guardian.

Christof Blaesius is trying to raise the 18m it would cost to construct a 29-mile plastic copy of the wall to coincide with the World Cup.

While it will resemble the sinister shape of the original, there will be one significant difference - the new wall is designed to lift up - allowing Berliners to pass freely between east and west.

Blooming chance

And finally, a case of flying window boxes is reported in The Times.

Two Lancashire communities have admitted "borrowing" hundreds of plants to bolster their chances in this year's Britain in Bloom contest.

Residents of Kirkham and Wesham have been mystified to find blooming flower boxes appear outside their homes and businesses - only to see them disappear again a few days later.

The Lancastrians have denied any wrongdoing but as a spokeswoman for the Royal Horticultural Society points out - the competition is about keeping the area nice for the whole year, not just a day.