What the papers say

What the papers say

Journalist Grania McFadden takes a look at what is making the headlines in Wednesday's morning newspapers.

There's not much optimism about Northern Ireland's political process in the morning papers.

As Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern prepare for more talks on Wednesday, the Irish Times says there's a deepening sense of pessimism in London that the situation will remain deadlocked.

The Irish News says precious time is slipping away as the game of brinkmanship continues to be played between the IRA and both governments.

The News Letter quotes Ulster Unionist Ken Robinson, who says "we're now into the final seconds of injury time", and still waiting for "a realistic statement of intent from the republican movement".

If Washington achieves a Middle Eastern peace settlement it will be a miracle - if it doesn't then the invasion of Iraq will have solved nothing

The Independent

Its editorial asks: "Are we really a model for the rest of the world?"

As talks get under way on a new government for Iraq, the Guardian says the discussions are marred by chaos. It sees the process of steering the country towards democracy as "tortuous".

The Independent fills its entire front page with a list of questions it says must be answered now the war is over. Among them: "Where are the weapons of mass destruction? How long will American troops stay? Has the war left the world a safer place?"

'Resignation calls'

It says if Washington achieves a Middle Eastern peace settlement, it will be a miracle. If it doesn't, then the invasion of Iraq "will have solved nothing".

While different factions talk of peace, Clare Short is back on the war path.

Her remarks on the humanitarian situation in Iraq are widely reported, and the Mail says she now faces new calls for her resignation.

More patients are being treated for malignant melanomas than in any other part of the UK

The Mirror

Ms Short said the US and Britain "should have done better" in anticipating the collapse of order in Iraq, and added that the fall of Saddam Hussein was not worth one life.

Back home, the News Letter reports that the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast is to spend £500,000 on several smoking rooms for patients and staff.

The hospital's trust says it has to consider the needs of patients who smoke. But doctors, politicians and cancer charities have condemned the plans as "an absurd waste of money".

'Weekly wage'

The Mirror leads with reports that Ulster's skin cancer cases have risen by 400% in recent years.

The paper claims more patients are being treated for malignant melanomas than in any other part of the UK - 185 people were diagnosed with the cancer in 2000.

Specialists say the fashion for looking tanned and an increase in foreign holidays are to blame for the rise.

The Irish News reports that an RUC informer who claims he tipped off police about the Omagh bomb has been told he won't be provided with a new identity in England.

The paper says Kevin Fulton has been living in a safe house in England, and receives a weekly wage from the British Government.

Now he says the security minister has told him he will no longer be provided with a new identity, and that the NIO believes he won't be in danger living under his new name. Mr Fulton says that decision has put his life at risk.