  We present new XMM-Newton results on the field around the NGC346 star cluster
in the SMC. This continues and extends previously published work on Chandra
observations of the same field. The two XMM-Newton observations were obtained,
respectively, six months before and six months after the previously published
Chandra data. Of the 51 X-ray sources detected with XMM-Newton, 29 were already
detected with Chandra. Comparing the properties of these X-ray sources in each
of our three datasets has enabled us to investigate their variability on times
scales of a year. Changes in the flux levels and/or spectral properties were
observed for 21 of these sources. In addition, we discovered long-term
variations in the X-ray properties of the peculiar system HD5980, a luminous
blue variable star, that is likely to be a colliding wind binary system, which
displayed the largest luminosity during the first XMM-Newton observation.
