These are the leading stories in local newspapers this Saturday.

Times of Malta leads with news that Qormi mayor Renald Falzon has died while infected with COVID-19, becoming the youngest patient to die of the virus in Malta so far.

The newspaper also gives prominence to former minister Chris Cardona’s testimony in the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry, with the former minister saying he advised Joseph Muscat to retain Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi following the Panama Papers scandal.

The Malta Independent dedicates its front-page story to a report Cardona’s testimony, with the newspaper noting how he described the Panama Papers scandal as an “albatross around our necks”.

In-Nazzjon splashes a photo of PN leader Bernard Grech meeting the party’s MEP Roberta Metsola, who was nominated first vice-president of the European Parliament this week.

The newspaper also gives prominence to the story of a reformed drug addict, as it promotes a 12-hour charity telethon to raise funds for Caritas.

L-Orizzont reports that Qormi mayor Renald Falzon has died aged 46 and quotes Chris Cardona as saying none of the many allegations made against him had ever been proven. The newspaper also gives prominence to reports of side-effects made by some patients who received a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine during the trial phase.