These are the leading stories in local newspapers this Saturday.
Times of Malta leads with an inside look at Malta’s animal smuggling trade. Investigators believe a massive haul of 700 dead birds found last month are just “the tip of the iceberg”.
The newspaper also reports that Janet Walker, who was forced to leave her home following a construction site collapse earlier in the summer, will be one of the people marching on Saturday in protest against excessive construction.
The Malta Independent reports on construction waste issues, with an Environment Ministry spokesman not ruling out the possibility of requisitioning quarries to start accepting construction waste.
L-Orizzont emphasises record tourist numbers registered in August and speaks to women’s rights activists who tell the paper they are in favour of plans to decriminalise prostitution.
In-Nazzjon leads with news that Victory Day celebrations have begun ahead of the September 8 holiday. The newspaper also gives prominence to a Friday evening speech by Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia, in which he criticised the government for a lack of long-term development planning.