Papers ponder troop number cuts

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The Times leads on the PM's announcement that more troops are to leave Iraq by next spring and says most could be out by the end of 2008.

The Guardian calls it the most optimistic assessment yet of the security situation in Iraq.

The Daily Mail says that, for the first time in the "disastrous war", the UK is not taking orders from the US.

The Daily Mirror says the pullout will not absolve the government of responsibility for the mess Iraq is in.

'Spanish practices'

Consumer watchdog Postwatch tells the Daily Telegraph the postal strike is now "beyond serious".

It says the latest stoppage could shut down most of the Royal Mail network until next week. Analysts says the dispute has cost the firm £260m.

There is no sympathy for the striking workers in the Daily Express.

Its editorial describes the industry as one of the last bastions of "Spanish practices" which it says once crippled the British economy.

DNA tests

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are again on some front pages.

The Sun and Express say UK forensic scientists think tests on fresh clues support earlier findings that led to the McCanns being declared suspects.

The McCanns, who deny any involvement, were named as formal suspects in connection with Madeleine's disappearance by Portuguese police at the start of September.

The Express says a source close to the case has rejected claims that DNA tests on their hire car were inconclusive.

'Just a crack'

The Independent is among papers to feature a "cracking" new installation at London's Tate Modern gallery.

The work, by Doris Salcedo, is a 167-metre long crack in the floor of the gallery's Turbine Hall.

The reaction of the public to the £300,000 Shibboleth installation is mixed, says the Times.

One women says that to her it "clearly represents a tear in the fabric of society" but that she suspects her husband would see it as "just a crack".