Newsround: what Friday's papers say

The top stories in Friday's newspapers:

THE IRISH TIMES

- The paper leads with the Barcelona terror attack, reporting that a van ploughed into dozens of people in the centre of the city yesterday, killing at least 13 and injuring dozens more. The white Fiat left the road around the central Placa de Catalunya square at about 5 pm local time and struck pedestrians on the Las Ramblas boulevard.

- The country's most senior judges told Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in an "unprecedented" letter that reforms championed by Minister for Transport Shane Ross would fail in their aim of removing politics from judicial appointments, the paper says. The previously-unpublished letter claims the reforms would create further political interference.

- It reports that Shane Ross, who is also Minister for Sport, has said funding to the Olympic Council of Ireland will not be restored if it continues in its arrangements with agents THG. He told the Oireachtas Committee on Sport he only this week became aware of the deal with compels the OCI to have THG as its ticket agent until 2026.

- In its business section, the paper reports that weak sterling encouraged more visitors from the Republic to travel to the North in the first three months of the year, according to new tourism statistics. The numbers show visitors from the South took 105,000 trips to the North and spent €21 million more than they did in the same period of 2016.

FINANCIAL TIMES

- The paper reports that Uber is planning a new round of fundraising that would at least match its $68 billion peak valuation as it seeks to recover from the spate of scandals that have beset the car-hailing company. In an unusual arrangement, investors who take part would be able to buy into the company at a lower overall price than the headline number suggests.

- Steve Bannon, the man behind Donald Trump's nationalist economic agenda, has added to tensions at the White House by pouring scorn on colleagues decrying US policy on North Korea and pressing for the administration to be "maniacally focused" on "economic war with China".

- The FT's Big Read focuses on Germany, reporting that its prosperity and industry are the envy of much of the rest of the developed world. But as the country builds up to elections in September, widening social and economic inequality have become leading issues in the campaign.

- In its Companies & Markets section, the paper says that Alibaba reported a near doubling in net income to more than $2 billion in its first fiscal quarter, beating analyst expectations as the boom in Chinese online shopping shows little sign of slowing.

IRISH INDEPENDENT

- The paper also reports on the Barcelona terror attack, reporting that dozens of bodies were left sprawled across the pavement in Las Ramblas as many of the survivors were covered in blood and nursing broken limbs. Two people were arrested after the attack amid reports a third suspect had been killed in a police shootout.

- The class of 2017 continued the familiar pattern of girls doing better than boys in the Leaving Certificate, according to a gender breakdown of results from the State Examinations Commission. Girls proportionately gained more top grades at higher level in all subjects except maths, applied maths, chemistry, engineering, accounting, Japanese and Polish, the paper says.

- A judge who dismissed two landmark challenges against the North's same-sex marriage ban has made clear that it is for politicians, not the courts, to change the law. Mr Justice O'Hara rejected both cases on the grounds that while European law allows for government to introduce gay marriage, it does not compel them to do so.

- Consumer confidence has hit a high last seen before the financial collapse, a new survey claims. International media measurement firm Nielsen found consumers in this country are more confident than those in Denmark, Turkey and Germany.

IRISH EXAMINER

- The paper reports on the warning from Sports Minister Shane Ross that he will not reinstate funding for the OCI until it cuts ties with ticketing agents THG and implements reform. Almost half a million euro in funding has been withheld for this year and last after the OCI was caught up in the Rio ticketing scandal.

- US president Donald Trump dug in defiantly in his response to racial violence in Virginia, echoing the position of white nationalists by intensifying his opposition to the removal of monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy. Trump took aim at the removal or consideration for removal of Confederate statues in states such as California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and New York.

- In its business section, the paper reports that cybercrime is now more lucrative than the drugs trade and Irish companies must treat it as an ongoing concern. Failure to take cybersecurity breaches seriously is costing some firms hundreds of thousands of euro, an IT security expert has warned.