These are the leading stories in local newspapers this Saturday.

Times of Malta leads with news that a man has been charged with the murder of Mario Farrugia, whose decomposed body was found inside the trunk of a car in Qormi. 

The newspaper also reports that most Good Friday processions were cancelled due to strong winds and rain. 

The Malta Independent also leads with news of the arraignment of murder suspect Elliot Paul Busuttil, writing that Busuttil is pleading not guilty and did not request bail.

The newspaper’s second front-page article focuses on a court decision to dismiss action filed by Birdlife that sought to block the spring hunting season for turtle dove. The season will now begin on Easter Sunday. 

L-Orizzont also chooses to lead with news of Busuttil’s arraignment for murder. The newspaper’s main image focuses on cancelled Good Friday processions while a secondary article reports on the court decision to allow the spring hunt for turtle dove. 

In-Nazzjon leads with an account by a Maltese youth at the Poland-Ukraine border about the stream of refugees, many of them women and children, who are fleeing the war-torn country. 

The newspaper also gives prominence to the weather’s disruption of Good Friday processions, writing that after two years of COVID-19 it was the wind to blow away procession plans.