What the papers say

Journalist Grania McFadden takes a look at what is making the headlines in Wednesday's morning papers.

There's not a lot of Christmas cheer in the papers.

The Mirror leads with the funeral of Belfast schoolboy Christopher Shaw, who was killed in a car smash on Friday.

The paper says hundreds of tearful mourners brought streets to a standstill as they paid their respects to the soccer mad schoolboy.

His family placed a birthday card at the spot where Christopher died - it was his 12th birthday on Monday.

The Irish News leads with a tale of two Belfast women sent to Australia from a children's home in the 1940s. The women are now looking for any surviving relatives in Belfast.

The News Letter notes that Wednesday is the 2,000th day of the Orange Order's protests on Drumcree Hill.

The stand-off, which began when their 1998 march was barred from the Garvaghy Road, will continue until the parade is allowed through, says spokesman David Jones.

The paper also reveals that the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has registered its own tartan.

The range includes kilts, trousers, waistcoats and scarves, and some of the proceeds from sales will go to help needy children in Ethiopia.

The Independent speaks to Armagh couple Mark and Bernie O'Connor, whose son Gareth is missing, believed to have been murdered by republicans.

The O'Connors tell how they are dreading Christmas, but will put on a brave face for the sake of their other children.

The Daily Mail's headline reads: "Anne's Dog Kills Queen's Corgi".

The paper describes how the Queen is distraught after one of her favourite corgis was savaged by Princess Anne's bull terrier Dotty.

The paper says the ageing corgi Pharos had no chance of escape after Dotty attacked it.

Last year the terrier bit two boys, and landed the Princess in court. Now she must decide whether to have Dotty put down.

Christmas mood

The Express gives its front page over to the ordeal suffered by two teenagers when a crocodile dragged their friend to his death.

The trio were quadbiking in Australia, when they stopped to wash in a river.

Brett Mann was swept away by the current, and then attacked by the 13 foot crocodile, which later turned on his friends.

They were forced to flee up a tree, where they remained for 22 hours while the crocodile swam below them. They were eventually rescued by a police helicopter.

"Don't go in the water" is a message echoed by the Irish Times, which warns Christmas Day swimmers at Sandycove's Forty Foot that they risk being bitten by one of the 22 hungry seals which have colonised the area.

Finally, the Guardian reports a novel alternative to the traditional supermarket Christmas music.

Crowds in Wakefield in West Yorkshire have warmed to a tape of gobbling turkeys, which plays across the city once an hour.

Shoppers say the sound of the contented birds, which was recorded as they were fattened for Christmas Day lunches, is 'calming' and puts them get into the Christmas mood.