The following are the top stories from Friday's newspapers. 

Times of Malta leads with comments from Prime Minister Robert Abela, where he continued to criticise Magistrate Gabriella Vella's handling of the Vitals inquiry, saying that "time will tell" whether she had "shut out" police from investigating the case. 

It also reports on an expert opinion given to the European Court of Justice which found that Malta's finch-trapping research falls short of its obligations under EU law. 

The Malta Independent's main story also reports on the finch-trapping opinion, adding the government's reaction that it is "disappointed" by the opinion. 

The newspaper's secondary story reports on a press conference held by rule of law NGO Reppublika on Thursday, where they said that the AG and the police commissioner are treating the defendants in the Vitals case with kid gloves. 

l-orrizont leads with a report of a court judgement on the case opened by former opposition leader Simon Busuttil against the General Worker's Union after an NAO report had found it breached its contractual obligations when it leased parts of its Valletta headquarters. The newspaper reports that the GWU will retain use of the building. 

It also reports on Robert Abela announcing a €60 million expansion of the medical equipment firm Baxter, which will see the creation of 180 new jobs. 

In-Nazzjon's front page features pictures from Bernard Grech's political activities on Thursday. It leads with a headline saying that the PN has a plan for every locality because it wants everywhere to improve.