El Mundo says most party leaders in Spain have announced that they would not be joining a coalition with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party. But for an alliance between the Socialists and Podemos, the price is the holding of a referendum on the independence of Catalonia, according to Pablo Iglesias.

Polskie Radio announces a Polish court has sentenced a former chemistry professor to 13 years in prison over a plot to blow up parliament using a car loaded with tonnes of explosives. Brunon Kwiecien, 48, was convicted of planning to assassinate the president, the prime minister and members of parliament in 2012.

Le Soir reports the EU has decided to maintain economic sanctions against Moscow citing incomplete implementation of the Minsk peace accord. Sputnik says Moscow claims the extension will encourage Kyiv to “sabotage” the peace process.

Afghan Post reports a suicide attacker has killed six US soldiers on a joint NATO-Afghan patrol near Bagram Airbase. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack. Just hours later, three rockets reportedly struck a Kabul area, one of the missiles landing near the US embassy.

Tunisia has said it had dismantled a cell in the northern region of Bizerte recruiting women to marry jihadists fighting abroad. Tunisvision reports four people have been arrested. Women Affairs Minister Samira Merai, has said some 700 women were among the estimated 6,000 Tunisians who have travelled to Syria, Iraq and Libya to join jihadist organisations..

More than a million children have had their education interrupted by the conflict in and around Nigeria, UNICEF announced yesterday, on top of the 11 million children who are already out of school in the region. Time quotes the UN agency saying more than 2,000 schools across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger have closed and some 600 teachers in Nigeria have been killed in the conflict.

Le Parisien says National Front leader Marine Le Pen and her father, former party leader Jean-Marie, have been accused of understating their assets. They could face severe fines as well as a ban from holding public office.

Brunei Times announces that the authorities have banned all public Christmas celebrations, including sending festive greetings and the wearing of Santa Claus hats. Muslims seen celebrating Christmas and non-Muslims found to be organising celebrations could face up to five years jail. However the country’s non-Muslims, who comprise 32 per cent of the 420,000 population, can celebrate Christmas in their own communities on the condition that Muslims are not invited.

President Obama’s 16-day Christmas getaway in Hawaii will bring the cost of his family’s personal travel during his time in office to more than $70 million (€64 million), according to a new study. This year alone the estimated bill for the US First Family’s holidays was $11.6 million (€10.6 million), including golf trips to Florida and California, and Michelle Obama

going skiing in Aspen. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, the conservative watchdog which compiled the study, said: “The Obamas are treating Air Force One like an Uber ride.”

Sole 24 Ore quotes Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi dismissing claims that his government’s 2016 budget was made up primarily of “gifts to win voters for his centre-left Democratic Party”. In a newsletter on his website, Renzi said there was “a comprehensive design – lower taxes, the defence of the weakest, simplification”. The budget Bill has moved to the Senate for a third reading after being approved by the Lower House at the weekend.

Fox News reports Bill Cosby has sued one of his most vocal accusers for defamation, accusing supermodel Beverly Johnson of fabricating claims that the comedian drugged and tried to sexually assault her in the 1980s. The lawsuit is part of a new legal strategy by Cosby to attack some of the women accusing him of sexual abuse in court.

CNN announces Chelsea Clinton is pregnant again, which will give her daughter Charlotte a sibling and a second grandchild for former US President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

A millionaire who frittered away hundreds of thousands of pounds on drink, drugs and escort girls is challenging his ex-wife’s divorce settlement, arguing that when she married him it was for “better or worse”. The Daily Telegraph says David Rapp, 56, a former oil trader, received £1.2 million less than his ex-wife Françoise, 47, after a court heard he had wasted a large amount of their joint fortune. But lawyers for Rapp argued the court should consider their wedding vows and said he should not be punished for his addictive “illness”.

France Football reports Sepp Blatter has claimed he had been “killed” and “betrayed” by the FIFA ethics committee he had established and Michel Platini branded the eight-year suspensions “a mockery” as they were cast out of the sport over a €1.8 million payment that is also the subject of a criminal investigation. They were convicted of offering or accepting gifts, conflict of interest, and of violating their fiduciary duties.