Newspaper headlines: Putin 'must pay for Navalny' and Harry reaches out

Many of Friday's papers lead with the reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny, the leading critic of Vladimir Putin whose death was reported by the Russian prison service on Friday, is on almost every front page.

"Murdered by the Kremlin" is the headline in the i. Both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail highlight the words of Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who said the Russian president "will answer" for her husband's death.

The FT Weekend describes Navalny as a "tireless activist who took on Putin and exposed state corruption". It says his activities were such an irritation for the Kremlin that, for years, Putin and other senior Russian officials refused to utter his name. In a separate editorial, the paper says that, however Navalny's death actually occurred, the Russian authorities are morally responsible because, had he not been wrongly jailed, he would surely still be alive.

For the Times, Navalny was "a martyr to freedom". The paper says his death brutally demonstrates Putin's paranoia, nationalist ambition and inexorable return of his country to the horrors and terrors of Stalin's days.

On its front page, the Guardian says the death raises questions over what tools the West still has to constrain or punish Putin. The Russian leader has faced sanctions since 2022 and has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

An editorial in the Daily Telegraph says the death should focus minds in Western capitals as they decide on the next round of essential military aid for Ukraine. Some may whisper that now is the time for negotiations, but could such a brutal regime ever be trusted, asks the paper.

"The Tories must now fight for their survival," is the headline above another editorial in the Telegraph. The paper says there's no hiding the fact that Conservative support is faltering after the party lost two by-elections on Thursday. It urges the government to use the budget next month to announce major tax cuts funded by restricting the growth of the benefits bill.

The Sun also says Rishi Sunak must slash taxes. The paper's advice for the prime minister ahead of the budget is: "Reward hard work and aspiration, end wasteful public spending, build some houses." The Daily Mail echoes that, calling for a return to "true-blue principles".

But the Daily Mirror says the lesson for Sunak is that voters have had enough of his "tired, tin-eared and incompetent government". The paper asks what it will take for him to realise the country wants a general election now. The Guardian says the government is in terminal decline.

According to the Times, the Duke of Sussex is ready to return to a temporary royal role in support of the King during his illness. The paper says the prince has had several "warm exchanges" with his father since his cancer diagnosis.

Under the headline "Yankee Harry", the Sun highlights a comment by the prince in an interview that he has considered becoming an American citizen. The paper says it would be a shock move because he'd lose his royal titles and it would amount to a final burning of the bridges with the country of his birth.

The Mirror says the prince's dream of reconciliation with the family is "a delusion". The paper's royal editor says his insistence that he loves the family might raise more than eyebrows at the palace - some blood pressures might have peaked as well.

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