Christmas Eve and the Sunday's have a mixture of headlines and stories.

The Independent features a Xmas theme with

Christmas on the front line

As it reflects on Xmas at war 2006 style

Today, somewhere in Iraq or Afghanistan, at least one Christmas dinner is likely to be held. It will be a curious mixture of khaki camouflage and silly hats, bits of tinsel and no-nonsense weaponry.
British forces on operational duties have to celebrate Christmas when they can, and for some, that will not be on Christmas Day. Even for those who do not have to go on patrol or guard duty, or form part of the rapid-reaction force, which is on standby to deal with emergencies, tomorrow will not be a day of leisure.

But also reflecting on wars past

Christmas on the frontline seems at once so meaningful, and yet so far away; which is why those back home always make such special efforts to reach out to those serving there. On Christmas Day 1914, at the instigation of Princess Mary, soldiers were given a brass box monogrammed with an "M". It contained cigarettes or pipes for smokers, sweets for abstainers, spices and sweets for Indian troops, and chocolate for nurses.

The Mail meanwhile brings us right up to date asking

So where was everyone on the busiest shopping day ever?

It was predicted to be the busiest day in shopping history, with credit-card companies claiming spending on Saturday would hit a record £2.5billion. But shoppers seem to have had other ideas.
Despite confident forecasts, shopping centres and High Streets around Britain reported fewer customers than expected, dashing hopes of a final pre-Christmas profits boost.

The Telegraph tells us that

Shoppers have been deserting high street stores in their droves this Christmas in favour of luxury retailers.
With thousands seeking expensive, branded presents, sales have soared in upmarket stores such as John Lewis, Kurt Geiger and Waitrose.

Amongst the other broadsheets a mixture of headlines,The Times goes with

Secret memo warns Blair of crime wave

BRITAIN is facing the first increase in crime for more than a decade and a 25% jump in the prison population to 100,000, a leaked Downing Street report reveals.
The confidential and unusually frank report from Tony Blair’s strategy unit also attacks the police for failing to improve their performance despite big budget increases.

The Observer's front page tells us

Row over cancer jab plan for all schoolgirls

Schoolgirls as young as 12 are to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease linked to cervical cancer, under controversial plans being drawn up by the Department of Health.
Millions of girls would be immunised at school against human papilloma virus (HPV) before they become sexually active. Research has shown the virus is one of the key causes of cervical cancer, which kills around 1,000 women a year.

Whereas the Telegraph warns of

£1,000 fine for failing to update identity cards

A draconian regime of fines, which would hit families at times of marriage and death, is being drawn up by ministers to enforce the Identity Card scheme.

Millions of people, from struggling students to newly-wed women and bereaved relatives, will face a system of penalties, netting more than £40 million for the Treasury.
People would be fined up to £1,000 for failing to return a dead relative's ID card, while women who marry will have to pay at least £30 for a new card if they want to use their married name, risking a £1,000 fine if they do not comply.

All of the papers report on the impositio of sanctions by the UN on Iran

The UN Security Council unanimously approved a tough resolution yesterday evening authorising sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, bringing to an end two months of often fractious negotiations aimed at pressuring Tehran to clarify its nuclear ambitions.
The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and individuals involved in the programmes named on a UN list.

Says the Observer.

The Indy reports on some better news from the region

Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree to 'rebuild trust' at surprise summit

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, unexpectedly held his first summit meeting with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, last night and promised to release $100m (£51m) of tax it had been withholding since Hamas came to power ten months ago.
The pledge to remit about a fifth of the total withheld tax and promises to ease some travel restrictions in the West Bank were among concessions offered by Mr Olmert to help Mr Abbas without directly aiding the Hamas-led Palestinian authority.
At the first set-piece meeting between an Israeli and Palestinian leader since Mr Abbas agreed a ceasefire with Ariel Sharon in February 2005, Mr Olmert also said he would consider ways of increasing the amount of cargo passing through the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel. Mr Olmert's office said the talks were a "first step toward rebuilding mutual trust and fruitful co-operation".

Not much Xmas cheer is another part of the region in a report in the Telegraph

'Leave, crusaders, or have your heads cut off'

After months as a nervous bystander to the spiralling civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims, Iraq's Christian minority now faces the spectre of sectarian violence coming to their traditional home city. They fear that al Qaeda-backed zealots within the Sunni community, which forms the bulk of Mosul's one million population, want to end nearly 1,500 years of co-existence with an onslaught of ethnic cleansing.

Residents say that the campaign, which they claim has intensified in recent weeks, is prompted by Sunni fears of a complete Shia takeover of Baghdad in coming years. In response, Mosul would be turned into a northern capital for a Sunni-dominated enclave, which would include Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit and stretch south to the anti-American towns of Fallujah and Ramadi.

The Indy reports from Afghanistan where

British jubilant as Taliban leader in south Afghanistan killed in air strike

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, one of the Taliban's most senior leaders, with close links to Osama bin Laden, was said to have died on Tuesday in Helmand province, the scene of bitter fighting involving British troops last summer. Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's shadowy leader, who like bin Laden remains at large, declared Osmani his heir in 2001.

The Observer claims that

Channel tunnel is terror target

The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware of earlier this year, is revealed in a secret report to the French government on threat levels. The report, dated December 19, indicates that the tip-off came from the American CIA. British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high. British security services remain on high alert throughout the holiday period.

The News of the World has an exclusive interview with the mother of the man accused of the Suffolk murders

THE HEARTBROKEN elderly mum of Steve Wright believes her confused son is LAPPING UP the notoriety of being a suspected serial killer.
Collapsing in tears, Patricia Wright, 67, revealed: "Steve is normally a bit withdrawn. I think now he is enjoying all the attention without realising the seriousness of it all.
"All of a sudden he is like a star. Everybody is talking about him and he's on the news. He doesn't understand how terrible this is."

The news that Bono is to receive an honoury knighthood is heavily featured

You too are a knight, Sir Bono

according to the Times

The U2 singer follows in the path of Bob Geldof, his fellow Irishman, from rock star, via poverty campaigner, to member of the Establishment. He was one of the prime movers behind last year’s Live 8 concert, intended to persuade world leaders at the Gleneagles summit to write off African debt.

As you would expect the papers have got a lot if Xmas coverage,the Times focus section asks

So this is Christmas...

Your guide to the festive season, 2006 style

There is no doubt about it: Christmas has changed unrecognisably from its humble origins. It’s complicated, fraught and, above all, a challenge.

The Telegraph sets out

In search of Christmas

Where does this leave Christmas in 21st-century Britain? The tabloid newspapers have a conspiracy theory: political correctness is trying to ban it, and not only as regards the biblical content. Earlier this month, a primary school blew the gaff on Father Christmas himself, by telling a class of nine- and 10-year-olds that the presents came from… but shhh, there may be children reading.
What happened to magic? In an age of multiculturalism, has Christmas been reduced to the status of a gluttonous winter festival? Or has the growing sense that Western culture is under attack caused a revival of the traditional, church-going Christmas?

The Indy carries a good piece from Robert Fisk

Banality and barefaced lies

Here in America, I stare at the land in which I live and see a landscape I do not recognise

I call it the Alice in Wonderland effect. Each time I tour the United States, I stare through the looking glass at the faraway region in which I live and work for The Independent - the Middle East - and see a landscape which I do no recognise, a distant tragedy turned, here in America, into a farce of hypocrisy and banality and barefaced lies. Am I the Cheshire Cat? Or the Mad Hatter?

A time for reflection in the Observer where Andrew Rawnsley writes

The Prime Minister has had a brilliant year. Oh yes he has

The politician of the year is Tony Blair. No, that is not a misprint. And no, I have not drunk too deeply at the well of Westminster Christmas parties. I am stone-cold sober as I tap on the keyboard. It is Tony Blair who has had the most sensational 2006.

In the same paper Will Hutton writes

2006: a vintage year for ideas that will change our world

When words fade, it is the great ideas and arguments that move the world on. John Maynard Keynes couldn't bear the 'practical' men and women who forged economies and societies by getting their hands dirty and mocking the thinkers. All, he said, were, in truth, slaves to some intellectual, theorist or philosopher (usually dead) who had given them their lines. He was right. We need an intellectual compass to make sense of reality around us.