Malta journalist death: Caruana Galizia's son hits out

7:49 am today

John Key and his policy of opening NZ to super-secret trusts hiding criminal money has dragged this country into this sort of corruption and dirt.

It will take a lot to regain the country’s reputation. However, the consequences will be permanent

Here is my report from yesterday

Daphne Caruana Galizia: Top investigative reporter killed by car bomb in Malta

'There were body parts all around me': Son of anti-corruption journalist killed by car bomb in Malta describes finding her body and accuses Prime Minister of being complicit in her murder

• Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia killed in a car blast on Monday
• Writer ran a hugely popular blog dedicated to highlighting political corruption
• Son has described finding 'body parts all around me' after rushing to the scene
• He also accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of being 'complicit' in her killing

Malta journalist death: Caruana Galizia's son hits out

Radio NZ,

18 October, 2017

The son of an investigative journalist killed in a car bomb attack in Malta has denounced what he called the country's "mafia state".

Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, died in an explosion shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta, on Monday.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, died in an explosion shortly after she left her home in Bidnija, near Mosta. Photo: supplied

She was known for her blog accusing top politicians of corruption.

"My mother was assassinated because she stood between the rule of law and those who sought to violate it," said her son Matthew, who was close to the blast.

In a lengthy Facebook post published hours after he attempted to save his mother from the burning vehicle, he accused Maltese police of incompetence and the government of "impunity".

"When the institutions of the state are incapacitated, the last person left standing is often a journalist," wrote Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is also a journalist.

He also took aim at Malta's projected image as a liberal Western nation.

"Yes, this is where we are: a mafia state where you can now change your gender on your ID card (thank god for that!) but where you will be blown to pieces for exercising your basic freedoms," he said.

A government spokesman, Kurt Farrugia, denied the government operated with impunity, and promised a "very tough" and thorough investigation.

Panama Papers

Daphne Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of the government and effectively triggered an early election this year by publishing allegations linking Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to the Panama Papers scandal.

Mr Muscat and his wife denied claims they used secret offshore bank accounts to hide payments from Azerbaijan's ruling family - and he was returned to power in the election, despite the controversy.

Caruana Galizia's popular blog had also targeted opposition politicians, calling the country's political situation "desperate" in her final post.

After her death, Mr Muscat denounced the killing, calling it an attack "on the freedom of expression in our country."

In other developments:

• Wikileaks founder Julian Assange offered a €20,000 ($NZ33,000) reward for information leading to a conviction.
• European Commission condemned the murder, calling her "a pioneer of investigative journalism in Malta".
• The Malta Independent says that a magistrate assigned to the case requested it be taken up by someone else, because she had been the target of Caruana Galizia's writing in the past.
• The Times of Malta reports that a police officer who celebrated Ms Galizia's murder in a post on Facebook has been suspended and is under investigation.

In his statement, Matthew Caruana Galizia said he would never forget "running around the inferno in the field, trying to figure out a way to open the door".

"This was no ordinary murder and it was not tragic. Tragic is someone being run over by a bus. When there is blood and fire all around you, that's war," he wrote.

He is a developer and data journalist at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The organisation, which won the Pulitzer Prize this year for its work on the Panama Papers, said it was shocked by Caruana Galizia's death, and "deeply concerned about freedom of the press in Malta".

Police have opened a murder inquiry and Malta has asked for international assistance - including from the FBI - with the investigation.

- BBC

Sibel Edmonds reveals that there is far more involved in this than just money laundering and the Panama Papers.

Confirmation of story SEAL team may be in N Korea to assasiante Kim-JOng-un

This March article follows on from SEAL TEAM 6 POSSIBLY LIQUIDATED INNORTH KOREA, ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OF DEAR LEADER KIM JONG-UN, and confirms that a Seal team in North Korea to take out Kim Jong-un may well be realistic.

US SEAL Team 6 is training for a decapitation strike against North Korea's Kim regime

Business Insider,

14 March, 2017

The annual Foal Eagle military drills between the US and South Korea will include some heavy hitters this year — the Navy SEAL team that took out Osama bin Laden, Army Special Forces, and F-35s, South Korea’s Joon Gang Daily reports.

The SEALs, who will join the exercise for the first time, will simulate a decapitation attack, or a strike to remove North Korea’s leadership.

This fits with a March 1 Wall Street Journal report that the White House is considering military action against the Kim regime.

The SEALs boarded the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, and should arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, Joon Gang Daily reports.

The US effort for a decapitation force mirrors attempts by South Korea, and seem to have increased in intensity after North Korea’s latest missile test, which simulated a saturation attack to defeat US and allied missile defences.

“It will send a very strong message to North Korea, which is constantly carrying out military provocations,” a ministry official told Joon Gang Daily.

The Foal Eagle exercise includes 3,600 US troops in addition to the 28,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea. The drills include air, land, and sea operations designed to prepare the joint forces for a possible conflict with North Korea. This year’s exercise also integrates preparation for the deployment of US missile defences to South Korea.

Additionally, the US’s newest combat aircraft, the F-35, will fly in to simulate attacks on North Korea‘s missile infrastructure, Joon Gang Daily reports. The F-35 will accompany many of the US’s most high end platforms, like F-22s and a nuclear-powered submarine.

“A bigger number of and more diverse US special operation forces will take part in this year’s Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises to practice missions to infiltrate into the North, remove the North’s war command and demolition of its key military facilities,” the an unnamed military official told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

A submarine that carries US Navy SEALs just arrived off the coast of North Korea

South Korea’s Yonhap News agency reported on Monday that the USS Michigan, a submarine that sometimes moves special forces like the US Navy SEALs, would join the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group off of North Korea’s coast.

Sure enough, on Tuesday, the Michigan, a guided-missile, nuclear-powered submarine appeared in Busan, South Korea Fox News reports.

But Yonhap also reported on March 13 that SEAL Team 6 was training alongside South Korea’s own version of the SEALs for an attack to “incapacitate” North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

KIM JONG-DOOM 

North Korea threatens to SINK US nuclear submarine carrying Navy SEALs leaving it an ‘underwater ghost’ after warships arrive at Kim’s doorstep

NORTH Korea has threatened to destroy an American sub – leaving it an “underwater ghost” – as Kim Jong-un and President Trump stepped up their war of words.

The chilling threat came as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula, where it will join the USS Michigan, a guided missile submarine that docked in South Korea on Tuesday.