Panama papers

Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, died on Monday when a powerful explosive device blew up her car, police said.

Ms Caruana Galizia ran a hugely popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged high-level corruption targeting politicians across party lines.

In a post published on her site just half an hour before the explosion she wrote: "There are crooks everywhere - the situation is desperate."

New Zealand has announced it is tightening rules surrounding foreign trusts after numerous documents in the Panama Papers leak referenced the country.

Officials in Wellington said the changes would improve the disclosure and registration of foreign trusts, as well as strengthening anti-money laundering rules.

"The changes to the foreign trust rules are a matter that the Government intends to move quickly on," Finance Minister Bill English said.

RNZI reports Samoa was named in the Panama Papers tax scandal in April when documents were leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

During a state visit in Brussels, Tuilaepa suggested that royalty payments from trustee companies like Mossack Fonseca fund social programmes for young people vulnerable to drug abuse.

RNZI reports millions of documents from a boutique Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca -- now known as the Panama Papers -- were given to several media organisations around the world and have revealed the firm's involvement in setting up shell companies in offshore jurisdictions, which has allowed the world's richest people to avoid paying taxes.

RNZI reports leaked documents show the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca had been involved in administering offshore trusts in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Samoa and Niue.

The Samoa government issued a statement on Monday night saying ten licensed trustee companies, including Mossack Fonseca, currently operate under its international financial centre.

RNZI reports documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have been given to several media organisations and show the process for setting up shell companies in offshore jurisdictions, and the involvement of Samoa's mission.

The High Commission said it was required to forward documents for processing only, while notarisation and legalisation of documents were done by Samoa's authorities at home.

Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.