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

Times of Malta leads with news that testimony given by Melvin Theuma during the magisterial inquiry about the phantom job he had been given five months before the Caruana Galizia assassination, will be discarded as evidence in the case against five men allegedly involved in handing the murder middleman that job.

The newspaper also reports that police were carrying out a roadblock on the Central Link half an hour before a car crash that killed teenager Kacey Sciberras.

The Malta Independent leads with Transport Malta's plans on ensuring safety on the Central Link 

It separately refers to comments by Lands Minister Silvio Schembri that he cannot understand why there is so much insistence on removing squatters occupying historical sites. 

In-Nazzjon carries three stories on its front page. The first article is about the seizure of 270kilos of drugs at the Freeport while the second is about a Qormi accident in which a man was injured when the car he was driving overturned.

In a third article on its front page, In-Nazzjon describes how a call to the emergency hotline 112 saved a diver's life in Ċirkewwa.

L-orizzont also reports on the drug bust.

Separately, it carries an article on Malta's efforts to secure offshore renewable energy opportunities.