The Mail throws in some festive cheer on this Xmas eve with its front page claiming

The yule log jam: Thousands of gifts bought online won't arrive in time for Christmas Day

Hundreds of thousands of families face bitter disappointment tomorrow because presents bought online have not been delivered.
Failures by internet firms, Royal Mail and private delivery companies have affected a huge range of Christmas gifts including computer consoles, designer goods and children's toys.
More than two million parcels and letters are estimated to have been lost or delayed by Royal Mail alone.

Meanwhile the Telegraph reports that

Shoppers set to spend £2bn on Christmas Eve

Shoppers are set to spend more than £2 billion on Monday as almost half of all adults take to the high street for a last-minute spending spree.
Many people plan to take advantage of having Christmas Eve off work, while others have been forced into the shops after their internet orders failed to materialise because delivery companies are struggling to cope with the enormous demand.

Meanwhile

Fog causes chaos at airports and on roads

Fog blighted the Christmas travel plans of more than 17,000 air passengers yesterday as nearly 140 flights to and from Britain's two busiest airports were cancelled.
Roads in the east Midlands, northern England and Scotland were also affected. A pile-up involving 15 cars and a coach caused gridlock on the M5 near Bristol last night. The motorway was closed in both directions while fire crews cut a passenger free from the wreckage of a car. A woman was said to have suffered spinal injuries.


The dailies have a variety of headlines.According to the Times

Patients admitted to hospital simply to hit targets

Targets intended to cut long waits in hospital Accident and Emergency units have cost the NHS in England £2 billion over the past five years, an assessment of healthcare information has concluded.
The extra costs come from patients who are in danger of having to wait more than four hours in A&E – the target limit – and are admitted to hospital “just in case”. Many are later discharged the same day, suggesting they had no real need to be admitted, with today – Christmas Eve – having the highest proportion of patients sent out on the day of admission

The Guardian reports on

Iraq cover-up claims: MPs call for inquiry

MPs called yesterday for a full parliamentary inquiry into the British security company ArmorGroup after allegations made about its operations in Iraq by former employees. Two MPs have issued the call in response to claims that an employee had been told to withhold intelligence from the British armed forces and that the company had exaggerated the numbers of its employees on the ground

The Telegraph says that

Billions of pounds are being spent on schools in deprived districts in Labour strongholds at the expense of pupils in more affluent areas, new figures show.Over the past decade, inner-city boroughs have benefited most from a huge surge in spending on books, staff, teaching resources and facilities - with mixed results.
Almost all the local authorities that have seen the biggest increases in spending since 1997 are dominated by Labour councillors and MPs.

Familiar themes in the Mirror and the Express,

Presents from Madeleine with love says the front page of the former

Thousands of toys left for Madeleine McCann have been donated to orphans for Christmas by her brave parents.
The toys, placed on a war memorial in the McCanns' home village, have been parceled up and sent to needy youngsters in Eastern Europe.
A family friend said: "It would have been a shame if the toys had gone to waste. They've helped brighten the Christmas of a child who might have nothing."

Whilst the Express reports on the mystery of the Dad's missing gym bag

News of foreign elections in the qualities

Election triumph could herald Thaksin's return says the Guardian

The successor party of deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra claimed victory last night in the first election since the military coup 15 months ago, fuelling fears of further political uncertainty.
The Thai election authority's unofficial tally with most votes counted showed that the People Power party (PPP) won 228 seats, less than an outright majority in the 480-seat parliament, but well ahead of its key rival, the Democrat party, which was headed for just 166.

Ousted leader to return in triumph after voters humiliate the generals says the Times

Race for Kenya's presidency splits along tribal lines reports the Independent

With just three days to go until Kenya's presidential election, the race is too close to call. One-time allies President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga are neck and neck in a campaign that has been dominated by questions of tribal allegiances.
The two front-runners put ethnicity aside five years ago, uniting to break Kanu's monopoly on power since Kenya won independence from Britain in 1963. But the spirit of co-operation survived just three years. Mr Odinga was incensed that Mr Kibaki failed to keep an alleged promise to create a prime minister position for him. He left the cabinet and hit the campaign trail.

The Telegraph reports

UK troops prepare for Christmas in Afghanistan

Christmas morning will start early for British soldiers facing the Taliban in the First World War-style trenches that criss-cross southern Afghanistan.About 7am at Garmser, the most southerly British frontline positions in Helmand province, the sandbagged fighting positions are likely to receive their first incoming fire of the day.



nine NHS trusts admit security breaches says the Times

At least 168,000 patients have been affected by the breaches, which came to light during a data security review by the Government.
The Department of Health said that patients had been told of the losses and that there was no evidence that data had fallen into the wrong hands.

Now they've managed to lose the health records of hundreds of thousands of NHS patients says the Mail

The Sun carries a front page exclusive

Alesha-Strictly saved my life

JOYFUL Alesha Dixon told yesterday how she transformed herself from suicidal wreck to dancing queen in 12 extraordinary months.
The gorgeous Strictly Come Dancing winner was in the depths of despair last Christmas.
The former Mis-Teeq singer had discovered her husband, ex-So Solid Crew member MC Harvey, was cheating on her with pop pal Javine Hylton. And days later, her record company dumped her.

Another reality winner in the Telegraph

Leon Jackson claims Christmas number one

X Factor winner Leon Jackson has fought off competition from The Pogues festive classic to claim the Christmas number one.The Scottish star's debut single When You Believe out-sold its rivals when 275,000 copies were snapped up this week - more than the rest of the top ten combined.

Police doubt Manchester United 'rape' reports the Mirror

The model at the centre of the Manchester United rape claim may have wrongly identified defender Jonny Evans as the alleged attacker, police said last night.
Detectives quizzing the 26-year-old believe "serious inconsistencies" have cropped up in her account of the 4am incident at the team's Christmas party last week.

Soccer lies in the gutter says the Sun

SEX-shame England star Micah Richards was yesterday facing a grilling after dragging soccer back into the gutter.
A video shows the footballer and an unnamed Premier league pal romping with a teenage fan in a disabled TOILET.
In the 87-second clip the Manchester City star is seen having sex with the girl while she pleasures his friend.

Staying with the Sun,it reports that

HATED Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe screamed in terror as a knifeman tried to gouge out his only eye.
Evil Sutcliffe, who had lost his left eye in a previous attack, was told: “I’ll blind your f****** other one.”
Crazed killer Patrick Sureda, 41, leapt at him in a dining hall at Broadmoor top security hospital on Saturday, yelling: “You f****** raping, murdering bastard.”

According to the Times

Ivy League generosity is luring brightest away from Oxbridge

A record number of talented British teenagers are snubbing Oxbridge and applying to Ivy League universities, lured by more substantial American bursaries. Students from families whose household income is £90,000 qualify for financial assistance at Harvard. It also recently raised its threshold for free tuition and board for the poorest students.

To politics and the Guardian reports

Blair's Respect agenda ditched, claim Tories

Ministers are accused by the Tories of airbrushing out of existence Tony Blair's Respect agenda, once seen as the spearhead of the government campaign against antisocial behaviour.
In a significant change since Gordon Brown took over from Blair, the government has closed down its Respect taskforce, and its head, the high-profile civil servant Louise Casey, has moved to a job inside the Cabinet Office looking at community policing.

The Mail claims

Gordon Brown's £144bn spending spree could land each household with £5,500 more tax

Gordon Brown is on a collision course with the Treasury after racking up spending commitments of more than £140billion since he came to power.
Senior officials are anxiously tracking the impact of more than 130 promises made by the Prime Minister that will test the public finances to the limit.

Poll shock for Brown as voters say it's time for change says the Indy

Voters believe it is "time for change" and that the next government should be a Conservative one, according to an opinion poll for The Independent.
The survey by ComRes shows that David Cameron is seen as the best Prime Minister for Britain, as more likeable than Gordon Brown and as having the best frontbench team. But Mr Brown is ahead on the economy.
The most striking finding is that 48 per cent of the public agree with the statement that "it's time for change and the next government should be a Conservative one", while only 36 per cent would prefer a Labour administration to a Tory one.



The Telegraph has an interview with the new Lib Dem leader

How Nick Clegg plans to shake up Westminster

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, his first as leader, he set out his strategy and policies for the new year.
Mr Clegg repeatedly attacked the Tory leader - while hardly mentioning Gordon Brown - and his major policies on family and tax appear aimed squarely at wooing traditional Conservative voters.

Finally the Telegraph tells us

Real Scrooge 'was Dutch gravedigger'

According to Sjef de Jong, a Dutch academic, the Charles Dickens character may have been inspired by the real life of Gabriel de Graaf, a 19th century gravedigger who lived in Holland.
De Graaf, a drunken curmudgeon obsessed with money, was said to have disappeared one Christmas Eve, only to emerge years later as a reformed character