Papers react to Iraq war inquiry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8377861.stm

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The papers give a mixed reaction to the first day of proceedings at the long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq war.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1230683/QUENTIN-LETTS-Grandeur-oomph-sense-theatre-none.html">Daily Mail said the national inquisition lacked "grandeur,</a> oomph and a sense of theatre".

<a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6929604.ece">While an editorial in the Times hit back at critics</a> of the inquiry, saying to dismiss it in advance as a whitewash is "irrationalism and fanaticism".

The Guardian, meanwhile, detected an air of somnolence, saying it "did not inspire the expectation of excitement".

McCann fund

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/142307/Salt-kills-40-000-a-year-">Daily Express says high levels of salt added to everyday foods kill </a> tens of thousands of people in Britain.

The Independent has a different health story, reporting that the HIV pandemic is officially in decline according to the World Health Organisation.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2745269/Maddie-McCann-fraudster-Kevin-Halligen-is-nicked.html">Sun claims a "detective" on the run accused of swindling the Madeleine McCann fund out of £300,000 </a> has been arrested.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e5f8c2b8-d93c-11de-b2d5-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1">Financial Times reports that the BBC is holding talks over floating</a> its commercial subsidiary BBC Worldwide.

Tory chums

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6930661.ece">Times claims research into cancer and dementia is under threat</a> as millions of pounds are reprioritised to fund plans for free social care.

While the <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1230668/How-1-3-schools-fails-provide-adequate-teaching.html">Daily Mail reports on Ofsted's annual report,</a> saying two million children are being taught in schools that are mediocre or failing.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/">Daily Mirror claims David Cameron's closest Tory chums will make £7.1m</a> from his plans to slash inheritance tax.

It also carries a dramatic picture of a bear mauling a man in a zoo enclosure.

Robin Hood

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/6642903/Widow-of-Afghanistan-soldier-Olaf-Schmid-pays-tribute-to-warrior-husband.html">Daily Telegraph prints the funeral eulogy</a> delivered by Christina Schmid, the widow of a British bomb disposal expert killed in Afghanistan.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1230708/Cracker-gags-PC-brigade-happy.html">Daily Mail tells us some Christmas cracker gags have been axed</a> for now being considered politically incorrect.

And the Guardian reports on a banker in Germany who has been given a suspended jail sentence for transferring money from rich customers to poorer clients.

Not surprisingly perhaps, she has already been compared to Robin Hood.