Good morning. These are the leading stories in this Saturday's local newspapers. 

Times of Malta reports that the chairman of the jury which picked Valletta as a European Capital of Culture has written to the EU, asking whether comments made by key Valletta 2018 officials violated values espoused in the EU Treaty. 

The Malta Independent leads with news of industrial action called - and then temporarily put off - by Air Malta pilots, who are displeased that a new plane does not allow them to delete recorded cockpit conversations. 

L-Orizzont quotes Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, who said Malta had grown "in every sector" under the current government and that the budget surplus allowed the government to be "cautious and smart about the future".   

In-Nazzjon writes that Malta will end up forking out $400 million extra for gas over a 10-year-period through a deal signed with Azerbaijan, extrapolating from a Daphne Project story published by Times of Malta.