As Gordon Brown pays a visit to Afghanistan,the papers continue to report on the deaths of four British marines.

Courage of Afghan bomb Marines says the Telegraph

Three of the Marines died when a 13-year-old suicide bomber pushing a wheelbarrow blew himself up in the Sangin area of Helmand province. A fourth was killed after his vehicle was blown up by a suspected improvised explosive device. During a visit to Afghanistan yesterday, Gordon Brown paid tribute to the Marines and condemned the suicide attack as a cowardly act. The Prime Minister warned that a “chain of terror” stretched from Afghanistan to Britain.

Brown horror says the Observer

The Prime Minister arrived for what was planned as a morale-boosting Christmas visit - highlighting the deployment of hundreds of fresh troops in Helmand province - to find the British base in mourning after one of its blackest days.

The Express reports that

TWELVE more children are being groomed to carry out suicide attacks against British forces in an escalation of the Taliban’s new dirty war.
As Gordon Brown, in Afghanistan yesterday, praised the bravery of three Royal Marines killed by a 13-year-old
suicide bomber, we disclose that the attack is just the start of a concerted campaign to drive out British troops.

The Times meanwhile reports on the next destination

Tensions rise between Pakistan and India as Gordon Brown visits

Tensions between India and Pakistan were running high on Sunday morning as Delhi denied Islamabad's accusation that Indian planes had "inadvertently" violated Pakistani airspace yesterday.
The new dispute between the nuclear-armed neighbours came as Gordon Brown held talks with Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minsiter, in Delhi before flying to Islamabad to meet Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's President, later this morning.

Both the Independent and the Mail have the same lead

The head of the Government's exams watchdog dramatically quit his £180,000-a-year job last night – days before an official inquiry is due to deliver a damning report on how his organisation handled this summer's national curriculum tests fiasco says the former

How boss behind SATs fiasco enjoyed yacht club reports the Mail

The head of the Government exam agency behind the SATs marking fiasco resigned yesterday, hours after The Mail on Sunday uncovered details of his taxpayer-funded perks.The Mail on Sunday established that a clause in his employment contract promised that the authority would ‘pay for membership of your current yachting club’.

The Observer leads with the news that

The government is facing a growing backlash over its rescue package for the economy after the pound slumped to below parity with the euro on British high streets and at airports for the first time since the single European currency was launched a decade ago.Sterling's decline to a value of less than a euro, after commission charges, is seen by economists and opposition politicians as a pivotal 'psychological moment' - and evidence of declining faith in the British economy on global currency markets.

Cabinet split over proposed Heathrow third runway is the lead in the Times

Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, broke cabinet ranks yesterday to warn that Heathrow’s controversial expansion plans should be rejected unless noise and air pollution are dramatically cut.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Benn said Britain’s biggest airport had a “problem” with air quality even before the construction of the proposed third runway.

The Independent meanwhile reports that

Penny-pinching and red tape are suffocating government plans for a rapid increase in the amount of renewable energy used in Britain.
The plans – a cornerstone of ministers' strategy to combat climate change – set out to multiply the proportion of the country's energy provided by renewables by an ambitious five times in just 12 years. But they have yet to make headway because of official foot-dragging.

According to the Mail

it seems that David Cameron worries his Shadow Cabinet may have a just little too much bottom – and not in a good way.
For many of the frontbench Tories are thought to look too well fed and prosperous to connect with the nation’s cash-strapped voters.

The Indy has the latest opinion poll.Labour cuts Tories' poll lead to a single point

David Cameron's double-digit lead has been whittled down to a single point in the space of a month, despite the first significant criticisms last week of the Prime Minister's £20bn "fiscal stimulus" rescue plan.
The ComRes survey shows that 37 per cent of those polled said they planned to vote Tory at the next election. The level of Tory support is six points down on the figure recorded in a similar survey a month ago.

Hundreds of homes flooded after heavy rains reports the Telegraph

Families had to be evacuated from their houses and dozens of drivers and passengers were rescued from cars after heavy rainfall overnight.
The worst-hit area was the south west where downpours left homes in up to 4ft of water and dual carriageways covered by 18in.
A 22-year-old woman from Poole, Dorset, died when her Vauxhall Astra went off the road and crashed on the A35 at Upton, Poole, during heavy rain.

Missing activist was 'collecting evidence' on Mugabe crimes reports the Observer

A prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist abducted 12 days ago was working on case files to be used as possible prosecution evidence against members of President Robert Mugabe's regime, The Observer has learnt.
Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), is the most prominent among 20 political and civil society activists who have disappeared in the past six weeks

Greek riots spark fear of Europe in flames reports the Times

The protests continued yesterday and more demonstrations are planned. Some see a foretaste of the next phase of the global financial crisis, sensing in the tear gas and chants a warning to European leaders of what may unfold elsewhere if they do not take into account the frustrations of their people.
Sympathy protests from Moscow to Madrid helped to fuel such concerns, as did Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who mentioned the Greek upheaval to justify his rejection of budget proposals that would have cushioned the wealthy from losses.

The Telegraph reports that

The City's “superwoman”, Nicola Horlick, has launched a scathing attack on US financial regulators following the emergence of a $50 billion (£33 billion) investment scam.The swindle allegedly perpetrated by one of Wall Street’s most celebrated traders is being called the biggest fraud in corporate history.
The roster of A-list victims of the scam allegedly run by Bernard Madoff, one of the most respected names on Wall Street until his arrest, reads like a Who’s Who of international business, high society and the philanthropic elite.

It was a busy night on the TV,Strictly disaster reports the News of the World

ALL three couples in Strictly Come Dancing will be in next week’s final—after reality TV’s biggest cock-up.
Viewers were left in confusion as the BBC1 show’s hosts Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly offered NO explanation after the dance-off was axed last night.
All yesterday’s millions of votes will be carried over to next week’s final—when Tom Chambers, Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon and their pro dance partners will all compete in the final.

The winner of X factor is in many of the papers

Anadrenaline-charged three-hour final watched by 15million people, Alex – tears still streaming down her face – composed herself to belt out her debut single Hallelujah to a rapturous audience.
The star was mobbed by former contestants who hugged her as she sang – while proud mum Melissa Bell, 41, watched from the front row

reports the Mirror

More entertainment in the Mail which reports that

Today presenter Ed Stourton has lashed out at the BBC after he was sacked from the Radio 4 show – saying his family believe he has been treated worse than Jonathan Ross.
Stourton, who learned of his dismissal from a rival journalist, compared his ‘ten years’ unblemished service’ with that of Ross, who was suspended after making an obscene prank phone call.

Finally the News of the World reports that

Man United ace Cristiano is going Christmas crazy—turning his house into a GROTTO and dressing up as SANTA to hand out pressies.
The twinkle-toed star plans a lavish Christmas Day bash and has paid an events firm a whopping £6,000 to decorate his £4 million house — and provide a Father Christmas suit.