The following are the top stories in Malta's newspapers on Thursday.

Times of Malta leads with news that companies which hire and fire third-country nationals too often will face higher fees and enforcement and be blocked from registering new workers.

The newspaper also reports that almost a fifth of all Y-plate cabs in operation have been ordered off the roads in a major clampdown by the government.

The Malta Independent also leads with an article on the government's new labour migration policy, while in a separate piece, the newspaper reports that the Prime Minister said on Wednesday he did not have a copy of the 17 Black inquiry report.

In-Nazzjon reports that two Moroccan men who escaped from a parked Turkish Airlines aircraft on New Year’s Day are still on the run.

L-orizzont meanwhile reports that a court has asked an Irish expert to testify in the Vitals' case.