Papers reflect and look ahead

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Many of the Sunday papers reflect on 2007 and look forward to 2008.

The Sunday Mirror concludes "2007 was not a great year". To back its claim, it cites floods, foot-and-mouth, war, disasters abroad and sporting failure.

But the Mail on Sunday finds "genuine reasons for hope". It sees UK troops returning from Iraq and the return of two-party politics in Britain.

The Sunday Times is more ambivalent and uses the headline "Into the unknown" to express its view of 2008.

New Year messages

Other papers look at the New Year messages issued by party leaders Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

The Observer sees "grim language" in Mr Brown's message and has a sober prediction of "a bleak year" ahead.

Meanwhile, the Daily Star Sunday phrases the same thought "It won't be a great oh-eight."

The Sunday Express shows a cartoon of Mr Brown sweeping Tony Blair through the exit, while Mr Cameron is shown pushing Mr Brown in the same direction.

Fruit and vegetables

Other papers look at the issues surrounding healthy living.

The Observer says the government's multi-million pound campaign to get people to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day "has flopped".

The Sunday Telegraph carried out a survey which suggests many children are eating badly, exercising little and consuming alcohol at an early age.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times says healthy eating is linked to a 300% increase in experiments on animals.

Pakistan's future

Several papers make the argument that, as the Sunday Times puts it, "events in Pakistan matter to us all".

The Sunday Telegraph points out that a series of attacks in Britain has shown Pakistan to be a "finishing school for British terrorists".

The Observer describes the country as "on the edge of the worst bloodletting" since its partition from India.

The Independent on Sunday says Pakistan is "damned" and describes assassinated Benazir Bhutto as "brave and modern".