A variety of stories feature on Friday's front pages.
The Times reports that teachers, MPs and campaigners have accused technology company Meta of taking a "highly irresponsible" approach to child safety after it lowered the minimum age for WhatsApp from 16 to 13. A member of the Commons Education Select Committee describes the decision as reckless. The paper says there are concerns the messaging app is fostering cyberbullying, sleep deprivation, and the spread of harmful content among children.
Comments by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer feature in two papers. He's told the i that he would increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP if he becomes prime minister. He said a more dangerous world made it necessary to spend more on the military.
In an article for the Daily Mail, Sir Keir promises what he calls a "triple lock" on the UK's nuclear weapons – to build at least four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, to maintain a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and to deliver all future upgrades needed. In a separate editorial, the paper says defence has historically been Labour's weak spot, but not today. It points to a recent poll showing that the party is now more trusted to keep the country safe than the Tories.
According to the Guardian, Labour is at risk of losing a number of its target seats at the next general election because Muslims and progressive voters are turning away from the party, angered by its stances on Gaza and the climate. The paper says polls currently suggest Labour is on track to win by a landslide but that some insiders fear that, if the margins narrow, the loss of some of the party's core vote could prove the difference between a hung parliament and an outright majority.
The Financial Times says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's hopes of going into the election on the back of lower taxes and cheaper mortgages have suffered a blow because of higher-than-expected inflation in the US. Financial markets now expect the Bank of England to cut interest rates just twice this year, rather than six times as had been anticipated in January. The paper says that's pushing up the cost of government borrowing, potentially reducing the government's scope for pre-election tax cuts in the autumn.
On its front page the Daily Express decries what it calls a "triple lock pension injustice for millions". Writing in the paper, former minister Baroness Altman explains that fewer than one third of pensioners have received the full 8.5% increase in their retirement income this week. She says that is because men aged 73 and over, and women older than 71 are on the old basic state pension and have received a smaller rise, leaving them £200 a year worse off.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Royal Mail has accused Border Force of failing to prevent counterfeit stamps being brought into Britain from China. An executive said the government should put pressure on law enforcement to stop the fakes coming into the country.
And finally a number of the front pages feature OJ Simpson, the American football star who has died almost 30 years after he was cleared of murdering his former wife and her friend. The Daily Mirror says he was "infamous" while the Sun calls him "disgraced."
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