Posted by 9jabook.com on January 27, 2010 at 7:00am
After more than Sixty Days The Senate The highest lawmaking body in Nigeria has seen the Light like Papa Iyabo and they are
trying to get into VP Goodlucks good books like OBJ
Loks like they now know something OBJ knew when he made his statement !
The Senate today resolved, in a landmark move, that sickly Nigerian leader, Umary Yar’Adua, should hand over power to his deputy by transmitting a letter to the upper house without delay. The resolution was swiftly commended by the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), which commended the Senate for coming to patriotic and democratic judgment in the resolution of the unwarranted constitutional crisis imposed by President Umaru Musa Yaradua and his handlers. It further called on the House of Representatives to follow suit. The Senate, which is dominated by Yar'Adua's People's Democratic Party, had been meeting in last 48 hours in the effort to come to a resolution. The issue has generally generally polarized and paralyzed the upper chamber.
The Conference said in a statement, signed by Osita Okechukwu, its National Publicity Secretary, "CNPP has maintained that it is incongruous, unpatriotic and undemocratic for President Yaradua and his handlers to subordinate constitutional order under personal survival, in other words the survival of our fledgling democracy under self glorification and self service."
It commended the Senate for appreciating that the power vacuum created by the absence of the Commander-in-Chief has unleashed unintended consequencies on Nigerians, thence sliding our democracy to quasi-dictatorship, rubbishing our image abroad and hindering peace, order and good governace.
"We had wondered on what is wrong for a president availing himself of section 145 of the constitution which in all intents and purposes is the safety-net and common ground in the midst - 143,144 and 146."
It further asked "the handlers of Mr President and the pliable Federal Executive Council to place the interest of the corporative existence of Nigeria above petty and selfish concerns."
One missing element in the resolution of the Senate today, observed analysts, is the absence of an ultimatum. "What if Yar'Adua simply ignores the Senate," asked one in Abuja, "when will the Senate take further action?
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Posted by Jane Okinedo on January 27, 2010 at 4:33am
In "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," Davy Jones asks Johnny Depp's iconic character, Jack Sparrow, if he felt dead. Sparrow replies, as might Johnny Depp right now, "You have no idea."Despite untimely rumors to the contrary, not only is Johnny Depp very much alive, he's also just been named the runner-up in the much-ballyhooed Harris Poll. The poll, which measures public opinion on movie stars living and long gone, named Depp the second-most-loved Hollywood celebrity. Clint Eastwood came in first.It's been an interesting week for Depp. Over the weekend, an Internet rumor that the 46-year-old star had perished in a traffic accident in France gained traction on Twitter. Then today, the "Public Enemies" star learned that he finished second in the new Harris Poll to an actor who hasn't been in a movie in over a year. (Clint was last seen in his 2008 film "Gran Torino"; he directed - but does not appear in - this year's critical favorite, "Invictus.")John Wayne, who died in 1979 and hasn't been featured in a film since 1976, is the only actor to be ranked in the countdown every year since its inception in 1994. Wayne finished first in 1995, when he barely edged out this year's winner, Clint Eastwood.Denzel Washington, who has finished in the top spot on the poll for the last three consecutive years, fell to No. 3 this year.John Wayne aside, the Harris Poll has a history of honoring actors that haven't appeared in any recent films. Mel Gibson -- who before this upcoming weekend's release of "The Edge of Darkness" has not starred in a film since 2002's "Signs" -- topped the poll in 2003 and continuously ranked in the top 10 until 2006. Conversely, Meryl Streep, who has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards, made her first-ever appearance on the poll, finishing eighth. "The Blind Side" star Sandra Bullock was the highest ranking woman, finishing fourth.The top 10 in this year's "America's Favorite Movie Star" Harris Poll (with last year's rank in parenthesis) is as follows:1. 1. Clint Eastwood (2)2. 2. Johnny Depp (8)3. 3. Denzel Washington (1)4. 4. Sandra Bullock (not ranked)5. 5. Tom Hanks (7)6. 6. George Clooney (not ranked)7. 7. John Wayne (3)8. 8. Meryl Streep (not ranked)9. 9. Morgan Freeman (9)10. 10. Julia Roberts (6)
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Court says deposit 150Billion Naira and you can go away .Money laundering charges await in US
Despite a court order releasing her passport, a former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank International Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, has not been able to travel to the United States for medical treatment.
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Daniel Abutu, had on December 19, 2009 granted the request of Ibru to travel to Washington DC , the United States for medical treatment.
But the judge gave her up to January 24 to return to the country in view of her trial which is coming up on January 26.
Investigation by The Nation however revealed that the CBN has secured another court order to protect depositors’ funds.
The order asked Ibru to deposit N150billion with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Ibru to cover part of her liabilities before she can travel for medical treatment.
It was learnt that the CBN made the demand following fears that she might run away from the country under the guise of medical check-up.
A highly-placed source said: "Since she has about N235billion exposure, the CBN wanted her to deposit about N150billion as a guarantee that she will return to the country.
"Based on the court order obtained by the CBN, Mrs. Ibru asked her counsel to negotiate with the apex bank on the fresh demand.
"When Ibru’s counsel met with the CBN team, they said they would go and consider the proposal. But they have not returned since then.
"The situation has left Mrs. Ibru stranded in the country as she is legally barred. The CBN is also not ready for any waiver."
Asked when the negotiation on the medical trip will resume, the source added: "It is left to Mrs. Ibru if she is ready to part with N150billion.
"We have reached a level that suspect standing trial for alleged financial crimes would not be allowed to hide under the law to escape from justice."
Another source in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission also said: "Mrs. Ibru is still in the country because we have initially watch-listed her to relevant agencies in the United States .
"If she goes to the US today, she will also face a fresh trial for money laundering. I think she chose to stay in Nigeria to bear her cross.
Out of 75 properties which Mrs. Ibru allegedly with slush funds, 12 houses are in the United States.
Buildings suspected to have been bought by Cecilia Ibru in the United States with the funds of Oceanic Bank International Plc, through Agape Global Real Estate LLC, are located at 4155 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$452,508.00 (registered in the name of Anita DaSilva Ibru); 4145 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$440,105.00 (registered in the name of Anita DaSilva Ibru); 4139 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$451,629.00 (registered in the name of Edesiri Onatejerohene Ibru); and 4149 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$473,657.00 (registered in the name of Obaro and Hirut Ibru).
Others are 4141 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$441,790.00 (registered in the name of Cecilia Ibru); 4143 Chariot Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$439,362.00 (registered in the name of Cecilia Ibru); 14605 Hawley Lane, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$399,990.00 (registered in the name of Janet Ibru); 14630 Hawley Lane, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$460,703.00 (registered in the name of Janet Ibru); 14721 Argos Place, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$457,950.00 (registered in the name of Janet Ibru); 14719 Argos Place, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$451,840.00 (registered in the name of Janet Ibru); 11300 Dappled Grey Way, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA, purchased for the sum of US$987,949.00 (registered in the name of Cecilia Ibru).
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The Nigerian Army has restricted the movement of soldiers because of “rising tension” as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua remains in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau, told reporters yesterday that troops must have passes, and good reasons to travel outside the places their units are stationed.
Fears of a military coup are rising because of Yar'Adua's absence since November 23, 2009 and the ensuing tension in the country occasioned by nationwide protests by civil society groups, Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday.
Danbazau dismissed the “unnecessary, unwarranted and inflammatory comments” circulating which suggest that a coup might be needed to pull the country out of a constitutional crisis in Yar’Adua’s absence.
He warned that a military coup would be akin to “dragging us back to the dark days of our nation's history”.
“We are aware of the fact that there is tension in the country. We know it's not a secret," Danbazau said. "Everybody knows that. And we also got intelligence information that some people are trying to infiltrate our ranks."
The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, also told reporters that military officials would not seek to overthrow the government.
“Meddling in political issues does not complement our constitutional role in any way, shape or form,” Dike said. “I therefore warn all members of the armed forces to steer clear of politics. Ours is a military that is mindful of its past, conscious of its present and hopeful of the future.”
Dike said: “Regardless of the imperfections of our political experiments, democracy remains the only acceptable form of governance.”
Both men stated this at the inauguration of the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Forward Operations Base along the Bill Clinton Drive that leads to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
According to Dike, “Pertaining to developments in our political scene, the Nigerian military would not in any way meddle in the political affairs of the country. Politics is better played by politicians.”
Dike stated that it is the duty of all military personnel to defend the nation’s democracy “at all cost”.
The Defence Chief further warned that meddling in political issues does not complement the military’s job of protection of the nation’s territorial integrity.
Reacting to comments in the news media expressing fears of possible military take-over, Dike said: “From the recent comments and innuendos about our Armed Forces by certain segments of our society pertaining to developments in our political scene, I am compelled to remind everyone of the constitutional role of the Armed Forces which is primarily anchored on the protection of Nigeria’s territorial integrity. I therefore warn all members of the Armed Forces to steer clear of politics. Ours is a military that is mindful of its past, conscious of its present and hopeful of its future.”
The Defence Chief further stated that it is imperative for all personnel of the military to “justify the trust of the nation’s leadership by exhibiting unflinching loyalty.”
On peacekeeping operations, he noted that “Nigeria would, in the foreseeable future, continue to play a pivotal role at both regional and global levels in the efforts to create and sustain a peaceful environment. We must also realise that for as long as the nation exists, conflicts will occur that will require the deployment of peacekeeping troops. Furthermore, our deployment outside the shores of Nigeria confers the status of ambassadors of this nation. This presupposes that our troops will obey the laws of their host countries and must upon return join us in our collective resolve to serve our great nation with pride while upholding the tenets of democratic governance at all times.”
Dambazau in his comment earlier noted that with “the subsisting democratic environment giving us a lot of advantages in our pursuit of professionalism, the Nigerian Army affirms its commitment to its constitutional responsibilities and will continue to contribute meaningfully to the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. The Nigerian Army urges all stakeholders in our national affairs to eschew violence and promote peace and tranquility in Nigeria.”
Reacting to accusations that the Army is culpable in the recent Jos crisis which claimed hundreds of lives, the Army Chief said that those who are accusing the Army of taking sides in the recent crisis in Jos, Plateau State, are missing the issues as all Army personnel, by their training “has placed us above primordial sentiments”.
He said “no [Nigerian Army] soldier fired a shot. For this operation, there was no order for any soldier to fire. So, soldiers have not fired a shot.”
Danbazau dismissed the accusations of genocide against the Nigerian Army during the crisis in Jos, saying that “we are too clean to do that.”
Defending the Nigerian Army stoutly from any untoward acts, Dambazau blamed the accusations against the Army on “some persons who apparently do not value peace and are hell-bent on creating disaffection between the military and the public, particularly with reference to the Jos crisis.
“Of course, we can safely assume that such persons find it impossible to commit other atrocities whenever we deploy to keep the peace, hence their frustration. Lest we forget, the military was swift and decisive in containing the Boko Haram debacle and will therefore not hesitate to equally deal decisively with any form of mayhem whenever the need arises. We want to state categorically that in the Nigerian Army, our religion is espirit de corps, while our tribe is the military profession. And our training has placed us above primordial sentiments. The barracks is not a political battlefield and our soldiers are not tools to be used for creating disunity.”
He added that accusations that the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division, Major Gen Saleh Maina, is Muslim does not mean he would move against Christians as “the Chief of Staff is Yoruba. He is responsible for organising operations. The Garrison Commander is a Yoruba and Christian. And he supervises, deploys the troops. Anyone bringing religion into this is trying to bring tension.”
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Chapter 1 - We're in a Spiritual Battle
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
EPHESIANS 6:10–12
God’s Word reveals that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but demonic powers. Our fight isn’t against people, but the spiritual forces influencing them. However, most of us simply don’t recognize the role that the spirit realm plays in what occurs in our daily life. We think it’s just human—natural—but the devil is busy influencing people every day.
It’s useless to debate whether or not an individual is possessed, oppressed, or just depressed. When the New Testament calls someone demon-possessed, the Greek word there literally means “demonized.” They are under the influence—and therefore, control—of the devil. This issue people make about whether someone is possessed, oppressed, or just depressed isn’t in the Scriptures. The truth is that people all around the world today are being influenced, controlled, and used—to whatever degree—by the devil.
Proper Perspective
Many westerners honestly believe that all the demons are over in some third-world country. But anyone who is spiritually perceptive knows that there is an abundance of demonic activity anywhere you go in the world, including the West. We just tend to look at things as being normal and natural for this day and age. We miss the fact that the origin of many things that happen in our day—things that tick us off and come against us—is spiritual. We fail to recognize the spiritual influence behind it.
If you were to adopt the biblical mindset, it would make a huge difference in the way you respond. You’d recognize that it’s not that person who sits next to you at work, it’s not your neighbor, your spouse, or your circumstances that are really what’s coming against you. They can be influenced, inspired, and used of Satan, but they themselves aren’t really the source. When you genuinely understand that this isn’t a physical battle, it changes the way you respond.
I get a lot of hate mail and criticism because of the things I say. There was a time when I took these things personally and thought, Why is this individual so upset with me? I just looked at their criticisms and always tried to deal with them on the human level. Since then, I’ve come to recognize that Satan is the one who’s trying to get my attention off of what God has told me to do. I recognize that the enemy is using some person to come against me. He’s trying to gain an inroad into my life so he can steal God’s Word from me. (Mark 4:16–17.) But because I look beyond the individual and don’t take their comments personally, I’m able to put things into proper perspective and deal with it differently.
I’ve actually had some good friends come against me. Even though they did some pretty mean things, I’ve been able to look past that and forgive them. I recognized that they had a sensitivity in some area that Satan took advantage of and used them against me. I haven’t been angry or bitter toward them because I understood what the devil was trying to do. Since then, they’ve turned around and realized what happened. We’ve been able to completely reestablish our friendship because I recognized that it wasn’t those people, but Satan trying to get at me.
Satan Uses People
Jesus exemplified this same perspective. He recognized when the devil was trying to get to Him through a person.
After Peter—under the influence of God—confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt.16:16), the Lord started explaining to His disciples about His soon coming crucifix- ion, death, and resurrection. Immediately, Peter began to rebuke Him, saying:
Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
MATTHEW 16:22
Apparently, Peter had missed Jesus’ statement that He would rise again on the third day. Peter didn’t even want to consider the thought of his beloved Lord being taken and killed. This was the same man who just moments before had been inspired and con- trolled by the Holy Spirit. Yet now Jesus…
Turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
MATTHEW 16:23
The Lord recognized that Satan was speaking through Peter. This wasn’t something coming from God. Jesus knew it was inconsistent with what the Father had clearly revealed to Him of His will. So even though Peter had previously spoken forth a glorious revelation by the Holy Spirit, Christ knew that the inspiration for this rebuke was from hell.
There are times when the devil speaks to you through people. He’ll use people to get at you. Of course, they may be unaware of the fact that they’re being used of Satan. Peter was probably shocked, hurt, and offended when Jesus turned around and said, “Get behind me, Satan!”However, there are times when you need to rebuke the devil that way too.
Whose Voice Is It?
Now don’t misunderstand me and go around blasting people. I’m not saying you should rebuke everyone who disagrees with you, declaring, “You’re of the devil. Satan is using you in my life.” That’s not what I’m trying to get across. You just need to recognize that Satan—as well as God—can speak through and use the people in your life. Like Jesus, you need to discern whose voice is coming through.
More than thirty years ago, my mother wanted to take my wife, my oldest son (who was one at the time),and me to the Smoky Mountains. This was back during our “poverty days.”Jamie and I were struggling financially and didn’t have any money, but since Mother offered to pay for everything on the trip, we decided to go ahead and go.
At that time, my mother had just started believing God for healing. Since she hadn’t seen the manifestation yet in the specific areas she’d been believing for, basically she had suffered a defeat. Due to this, Mother was on the bubble about whether this “healing stuff” really worked or not. Since then, she’s turned around and received great healing, but this was way back in the beginning of our ministry when Mother still thought I was somewhere out on the lunatic fringe.
Anyway, as we began our trip, Mother was nursing a little bit of a cold. She started saying negative things about my son like, “Keep him away from me or he’ll catch this cold.”
I’d answer, “No, Mother. He’s not going to catch this cold.”
Then she’d complain about the money, saying, “I really shouldn’t be taking this trip. I don’t have the money to do it.”
So I just told her, “Hey, Mother. We have zippo, zilch, nada. If you don’t have the money to take this trip, we need to go home now because I can’t help you.”
She’d respond, “Oh no! I’ve got plenty of money.”Mother was just in a negative mindset, which made it a bad situation.
During the hot summer day, my son sat right in front of the air conditioner. Since I understood that we can have what we say (Mark 11:23),it really bothered me when she said things like, “Don’t put him there. He’ll catch a cold!”
I’d have to counter that with, “No, he’s not going to catch a cold.”
“Shut Up!”
All this griping and complaining was really out of character for my mother. She is a super lady and is usually very positive, but she was just stuck in this negative mindset. She talked doubt and unbelief all day long. It was a constant battle back and forth to counter what was being said. Since this was my mother, I tried to be as polite and kind as I possibly could.
The very first night of the trip, we all stayed in a hotel room together. Our son was sleeping in a little crib. Around eleven o’clock, he woke up with this croup in his throat that you could have heard in the next room. It was loud and he could hardly breathe, so I got up, prayed in tongues, rebuked the croup, and released my faith. He went back to sleep and everything was fine.
Thirty minutes later, the same thing happened. I got up, prayed over him, and he went back to sleep. Every thirty minutes, I was up and down like a yo-yo, praying over our son and trying to get him back to sleep. Finally, about three in the morning on one of my trips back to bed, my mother said, “Admit it, Andy. He’s sick!”
I got right down there, stuck my finger in her face, and said, “Satan, in the name of Jesus, I command you to shut up! I will not receive any of your criticism or any of your curses. My son is blessed and not cursed!” Then I started speaking the Word. Mother never said another word, and our son never got up again that night. He was just fine, but Mother didn’t say anything for two whole days— and we were together all the time in a car on vacation.
Finally, when she did speak, she cried, “Well, I’m sorry you think I’m the devil” and started into this self-pity party.
I said, “Mother, you know enough to know better. I’ve told you the Word of God. You knew that stuff you were saying was exactly opposite the Word. You’d just given yourself over to Satan. I’m not mad at you. I was just standing against the devil. He was trying to steal my faith for healing.”
To this day, Mother continues to be one of my very best friends. She’s over ninety five years old and enjoys the blessing of good health. My approach that night was pretty strong, but I knew Satan was behind this attack trying to steal my faith.
You can certainly take a stand against what people say with more tact than I displayed back then. I was young in the Lord and that’s just the way I responded, but the principle applies regardless of how you administer it.
Stretched to the Max
We are in a spiritual battle! Unfortunately, most of the time people don’t recognize it. They’re just looking at things from a natural, human perspective. They factor God, the devil, and the whole supernatural realm right out of the equation. The average person doesn’t realize the spiritual dynamics taking place. God doesn’t send bad things our way. It’s not just happenstance or fate. There’s a real enemy out there that we must learn to deal with.
The first time I tried to produce a book was about twenty years ago. It was my Life for Today—Gospels Edition study Bible and commentary, which is almost six hundred pages long. This was going to be a major expense. At that time, my ministry income was so low that to come up with $50,000 to print a book was two or three months’ worth of income for me. This project was really stretching me to the max!
A number of different publishers came and offered to help us with the project. One offered to reduce our cost to $27,000 if we would pay right away. They said, “We’re in a bind and need the money. If you pay right away, we’ll give you this discount.”So I went to my partners, raised the money—more than a month’s worth of income at the time—and gave it to them. This was a major deal for us.
Within a month, I learned that the salesman had run off with our money. In fact, he’d burned several other well-known preachers at the same time!
I remember when I heard this news. My employee said, “This salesman just took our $27,000.We’re going to have to come up with an additional $45,000 just in the next week or so to be able to make this project work. All together, we’re looking at about $70,000.”
Sevenfold
My first reaction was shock. Is this really true? Then came a fleshly twinge of wanting to beat up this salesman. But I recognized who the real culprit was. Satan had come against me and was trying to steal from me.
Immediately, Proverbs 6:31 came to mind.
But if [a thief] be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
I recognized that this wasn’t just a person trying to steal from me. Obviously, there were demonic entities working behind the scenes. So within seconds of getting this news, I realized, This is the devil stealing from me, and I’ve caught him. Therefore, according to the Word of God, I demand it back seven times! Immediately, I took a piece of paper and figured out seven times $70,000.Instead of being angry, depressed, and hurt, I started dancing and praising God, saying, “Hallelujah, this is awesome. I’m getting $490,000 back this year!” As I continued praising God, that situation never did get me down or discouraged.
When that year was over, we had increased nearly to the penny $490,000—exactly seven times the amount of money that was taken from us. That was back during a period of time when our entire income was only about $500,000 a year. We nearly doubled our income that year!
What could have been a tragic scenario turned into a positive situation because I recognized that I’m not fighting flesh and blood. I’m fighting a spiritual battle, with spiritual weapons, against spiritual enemies. I realized that Satan was trying to come against me, and then acted on the Word.
Who’s Influencing Whom?
I’ve actually loaned people money before who have never paid me back. They said they would, but for whatever reason, they didn’t. Instead of taking an offense and getting mad at the person, I recognize that this is Satan. Of course, the person cooperated in some measure and allowed him to do it, but I recognize that the devil was trying to get me into unforgiveness. So I just forgive them. My attitude is, “Hey, just take it as a gift. I’m not going to sit here and harbor any animosity over this. It’s not worth it.”
You might think, Man, I’d never do something like that. But I recognize that there is a spiritual battle raging—and nobody is going to rent space in my mind! Nobody is going to occupy my heart except God. I refuse to harbor unforgiveness toward anyone. I will not allow bitterness even a toehold in my life. I’m aware that Satan uses such things as an inroad against me.
Like it or not, there’s a spiritual battle raging right now for your heart and mind. As you think in your heart is the way that you’ll be. (Prov.23:7.) Your thoughts become what you say and do, with your actions being the greatest expression of your authority. Therefore, you’ll be influenced, dominated, and ruled by whomever you yield yourself to—God or Satan.
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It's good being Diddy's son. Not only do you get one of the most lavish sixteenth birthday parties ever bestowed upon a teenage boy, you also get a car worth more than $350,000. See, everyone, the recession is over ... if your name is Diddy. Oh, and he also donated ten grand to Haiti.The son of the rap mogul was greeted with a Maybach, one of the world's most expensive and luxurious cars which is being valued at $360,000.Justin Dior Combs' party over the weekend will be available for the world to see, as MTV's 'My Super Sweet Sixteen' cameras were in tow to document all of the extravagance. Aside from a club full of Justin's friends and family, rappers Fabolous, Lil' Kim and Jim Jones performed for the teenager.According to the New York Daily News, Diddy also gave his son a check for $10,000, which was then kindly donated to the relief efforts in Haiti.
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Posted by 9jabook.com on January 25, 2010 at 11:52pm
Investigators were tonight carrying out DNA tests on severely burned bodies recovered from the sea after an Ethiopian Airlines flight carrying 90 people caught fire during a lightning storm and crashed into the Mediterranean minutes after taking off from Beirut.
As darkness fell no survivors had been found in the stormy waters off Lebanon, despite search and rescue efforts by the country's military, UN naval peacekeepers and units from nearby Cyprus who were tonight joined by British and French helicopter teams.
The plane's 83 passengers included 56 Lebanese – two with dual British nationality – 22 Ethiopians and individuals from Canada, Syria, Iraq and Russia, as well as the American-born wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon. By tonight at least 34 bodies had been recovered.
Lebanon's National News Agency tonight confirmed that 57-year-old Afif Karshat was one of two Lebanese with dual British nationality among the casualties.
Lebanon's president, Michel Suleiman, said terrorism was not suspected in the crash of the Boeing 737-800, which was headed for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "Sabotage is ruled out as of now," he said. Lebanon's defence minister, Elias Murr, blamed bad weather for the crash. An official investigation has been launched, but the plane's black box has yet to be recovered.
Several eyewitnesses reported hearing an explosion and seeing a ball of flame in the sky just after 2.30am today, during a fierce winter thunderstorm.
"There was huge thunder and it was raining like crazy. The lightning was coming down from the clouds. The electricity had gone out, but I couldn't sleep. Then I heard an explosion," said Hassan Ramadan, a 39-year-old engineering contractor from Khalde, just a few miles from where the plane went down.
"I thought it was a building collapsing. I opened the window and saw a huge flame going down in different pieces. I can't believe what happened. You usually only see that on TV," he said.
The prime minister, Saad Hariri, who toured the crash site by helicopter, declared a day of mourning in honour of the dead. "This is a tragedy for Lebanon, and we are working to find the missing passengers," he told reporters. Divers from the country's tiny navy were on the scene within a couple of hours of the crash and continued to be winched in and out of the churning grey seas throughout the day as the bodies and personal belongings of passengers washed up on beaches just south of the capital.
Mothers and relatives of those killed wept and screamed as ambulances brought the burned bodies for identification at the governmental hospital in Beirut. At the airport families of those missing sat in shock, waiting for news, some weeping silently, others collapsing as they tried to walk outside.
Specialist trauma psychologists were sent to the airport to try and comfort distraught families.
"We've never suffered a catastrophe like this air crash before in Lebanon," said Dr Mirna Ghannage, from the Centre for Mental Health.
Riad Ismael's 36-year-old nephew Yasser was among those missing. Like so many in this nation of expatriates, Yasser had left Lebanon soon after graduating, having been unable to find a job. After five years working in a Lebanese restaurant in London he moved to Sudan to pursue his speciality – computer engineering – before starting his own business in Angola. The young father had taken time off to fly home to Lebanon via Ethiopia to visit his wife and two children, aged five and two.
"When we find answers to who is responsible for this crash we have to ask another question: why does the young generation of Lebanese have to live in exile?" said Riad Ismael, the mayor of a village near the south Lebanon town of Nabatiyeh.
"Yasser is like all young guys in Lebanon. , His motives were to build a better future and provide for his family. He was far away from his family and always wanted to return home. He came home to give them money and then died. It is a tragedy."
Many of the Ethiopians killed in the crash were also economic migrants, but in the reverse direction – young women who left homes and families to travel to Lebanon to work as domestic helpers in the homes of wealthy Lebanese.
Many are treated as little more than slaves, human rights activists claim. In many cases servants go unpaid, are confined indoors and made to work long hours seven days a week. Some are beaten and even sometimes raped.
"Why do you Lebanese never treat us good?" screamed one Ethiopian woman as security forces prevented her from entering the governmental hospital in Beirut today to identify a body. "We are human beings like you. God created us. Why don't I have the right to come in and see my sister?"
Outside the hospital a group of Ethiopian women stood quietly in a corner, waiting for news of friends on the flight – young women like the friend they knew as Warkey, who arrived in Lebanon to work for a family in Nabatiyeh,
"She had worked for two years and her family had not paid her salary once," said one of Warkey's friends, who asked not to be named. "She even had to buy her own clothes. So she ran away and I took her in. But she said she missed her parents so much and had to go home. She was only 20.
"We went to the embassy and they did not help. Because she had run away and did not have any papers, she ended up being arrested and put in prison," she said, her dark brown eyes welling up with tears.
"They let her out of prison on Saturday and drove her to the airport, so she could take that flight."
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Sade returns at 51 with first album release for a decadeWith a £40million fortune maintained by daily airplay of some of her earliest hits, singer Sade Adu has been more than happy to maintain a low profile over the years.But the singer has let go of some of her desire for anonymity as she is set to make a return to the spotlight with her first album in ten years, Soldier Of Love.Sade, was seen leaving BBC Radio 2 on the weekend, and despite her advancing years, now aged 51, the singer still maintains the striking looks that gained her a legion of fans.The singer born Helen Folasade Adu in Nigeria, is promoting her new release, Soldier Of Love, which will be her first album in ten years.Buzz is building around the recently released video for the title track and single which shares the same name as that of the highly anticipated album.Sade is in seen in the video as a commander of a group of male military styled dancers, looking remarkably youthful, and still in fine voice.A source told the Mirror: 'She is unique compared to other artists. She just wants to make music, and she's not interested in publicity.'A fierce desire to protect her private life means she rarely gives interviews. And friends even nicknamed her 'Howie' after the reclusive American billionaire Howard Hughes.But she will always break cover to tour for her fans.She has said: 'If you just do TV or video, then you become a tool of the record industry.'It’s when I get on stage with the band and we play that I know that people love the music.'Sade's huge fortune - she has sold 50million records - has allowed her to disappear from sight, and she runs around in a 10-year-old Mercedes, preferring the company of old friends.It is eight years since Sade last made a public appearance - at Buckingham Palace to collect an OBE in 2002.She now lives mainly in a mansion in the Gloucestershire countryside with her new partner, said to be a scientist.The singer has spent most of the last decade as a full-time mother to daughter Ila, 14, from her relationship with a Jamaican record producer.Sade's friend Sophie Muller, whom she met at St Martin's Art College, in London, directed the striking video for the single Soldier of Love.The album is released in the UK on February 9th.Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1245959/Reclusive-singer-Sade-returns-album-release-decade.html#ixzz0diJzbKD8Read more…
Gary Coleman Arrested for Domestic ViolencePosted Jan 24th 2010 5:44PM by TMZ StaffGary Coleman was arrested this afternoon in Utah, TMZ has learned.what you talking about willis ?aw enforcement in Santaquin, UT says they were called to Coleman's house for a domestic disturbance. They found no crime was committed, but he was was picked up because of a warrant stemming from a prior incident.The jailer told TMZ the warrant for which Coleman was arrested was for domestic violence incident in 2009. Coleman was cited, but never showed up for court, thus the warrant.He is currently being held on $1,725 bail.Monday morning update -- Gary Coleman is still in custody. On Sunday night, he had a hot dog, chili, and some vegetables for dinner.Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2010/01/24/gary-coleman-arrested-domestic-violence/#ixzz0de4xCJ6zRead more…
Godwin Emefiele replaces Ovia at Zenith Bank
Godwin Emefiele, the Deputy Managing Director Zenith Bank Plc has been appointed the new Group Managing Director for the bank, in replacement of Jim Ovia, who has occupied that position since 1990.
His appointment follows a crucial meeting of the executive committee and the board of directors on Monday (today) to decide on Mr Ovia's successor, in line with the new CBN directive on banks CEOs' tenure.
Although Zenith is yet to officially confirm Mr Emefiele's appointment, sources privy to the meeting confirmed to NEXT that "his appointment did not come as a surprise."
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Classic Case of Californication as Students get X-rated surprise in class DVD
Teacher seen having sex in video; district tells parents to destroy the disk
ELK GROVE, Calif. - A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.
Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.
"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.
Johnson said the teacher, whose name isn't being released, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD.
The school district, located just south of Sacramento, initially sent a letter home to parents asking them to return the DVDs, but then asked parents to simply destroy them.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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There were indications yesterday that the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may be getting increasingly uncomfortable with the continuing stay of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Jeddah, as they believe “he is well enough to travel back to Nigeria to continue his recuperation,” diplomatic sources told THISDAY.
Yar’Adua left Nigeria for Saudi Arabia to seek medical attention for acute Pericarditis, a heart-related disease, 62 days ago.
While the Saudis are “happy and indeed honoured” to host the Nigerian leader, they are worried that “his continuing stay in hospital may lead to other complications resulting from long hospitalisation which may expose him to other ailments.”
Signals from the Saudi Royalty coupled with last Friday ruling by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Dan Abutu, that the Executive Council of the Federation should within 14 days make public resolution to determine the state of health of the president have intensified the pressure on him to return home to restore his presidency in the face of mounting protests at home over his continuing stay abroad and refusal to constitutionally hand power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to act on his behalf.
Aside from the Saudi authorities growing unease and the court ruling, the statement on Thursday by former President Olusegun Obasanjo calling on Yar’Adua to take the path of honour and morality if his health would not allow him to perform his responsibilities, has also become a strong source of pressure on Yar’Adua to return to Nigeria as many of his supporters, especially among governors and lawmakers are jumping ship in droves.
Obasanjo’s statement had divided the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as some believe the ex-president had spoken the minds of many party leaders who are only exercising restraints for the sake of decorum.
The Saudi authorities believe doctors have done their work and that he is well enough to return home while the rest can be taken care of by Nigerian doctors and post-hospitalisation consultations.
THISDAY checks reveal that Yar’Adua often moves around his hospital suite unaided but may have lost as much as eight to 10 kilos of his normally lean weight, prompting his wife, Turai and family members to wanting him to regain some of his weight and stability before returning home.
It is also believed that his continuing stay in hospital could lead to unenvisaged problems, which long stay in hospital can bring, especially through nurses and other hospital staff.
The Saudis are believed to be reaching out to influential Nigerians to urge the First Lady, Turai, to persuade her husband to return home as soon as possible.
Hajia Yar’Adua, the Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Abdullahi Aminchi, who was deputy to Yar’Adua as governor of Katsina State, and a few personal aides are said to be the only ones that have access to the President at the hospital. The access, is said not to always translate to influence while those with influence and constitutional authority have no access to the President in his hospital suite.
The Saudi thinking feeds on the political dynamics in Nigeria. For example, it is believed that the Friday court ruling has added to the pressure on ministers who will now have to show their hands in the face of mounting public outcry.
The full import of the ruling is such that in line with the provision of Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution, ministers cannot take an informed decision to comply with the court ruling without access to the president by the minister of health and other senior cabinet members.
Said an analyst in Abuja, “how can ministers pass a resolution on the health of the president they have not seen or spoken to? Such a resolution would not only expose them to legal challenges, but make them a laughing stock of the nation. For them to pass a credible resolution, they must have access to the president.”
It is also believed that since the last Thursday statement by Obasanjo on the options available to Yar’Adua, there are fears in the president’s inner circle that he may return to Nigeria and become a president lacking in crucial support as several governors and lawmakers have jumped ship.
The fear of the unsettling impact of the various developments on Yar’Adua’s absence from the country may be constituting intense pressure on the President to return to Nigeria earlier than he and his wife have envisaged and that may be as early as next week.
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James Cameron did it to James Cameron.Cameron's unstoppable Avatar hit $1.29 billion at the international box office, Fox said today, passing Cameron's Titanic mark of $1.24 billion to set the new record. By Monday, the studio estimates, Avatar will top Titanic's worldwide gross of $1.848 billion to become Earth's biggest money-maker of all-time.And, no, the film is not stopping there.Within a week to a week-and-a-half, Fox guestimated, the 3D- and IMAX-powered Avatar should swipeTitanic's last remaining major record: all-time domestic champ.Avatar, which grossed $36 million domestically Friday-Sunday, and, oh, by the way, led the box office for a sixth straight weekend, is now at $552.8 million on that ledger. On Saturday, it blew past The Dark Knight for second place on the domestic list. Titanic's once-believed unbeatable $600.8 million will be the next to go.Rose and Jack, we hardly knew ye."Milestones like this are great," calm and composed Fox exec Chris Aronson said today. "It's part of an amazing ride the film has taken us on. [But] this film is still just captivating audieces on global basis."So, to answer the question, you celebrate becoming the world's No. 1 film after you're finished being the world's No. 1 film.Away from China !Audiences love Avatar. The Golden Globes love Avatar. Chinese mucky-mucks...that's another story.Officials behind the Great Wall are yanking James Cameron's fantasy flick to make way for a biopic of favorite son Confucius.And no, it's not in eye-popping 3-D. But it does have Chow Yun-Fat.China's state-run movie distributor, China Film Group, is responsible for the switcheroo, according to Hong Kong's Apple Daily (via the Los Angeles Times), and finalized its decision after propaganda officials complained that Avatar, playing in 1,628 Chinese theaters, was taking away too much market share from homegrown flicks and bringing unwanted attention to the communist country's issue of forced evictions.Chinese people have been relocated by the millions to make room for government projects. In Avatar, humans try to displace an alien race to mine a precious element.Avatar has been playing in China for just two weeks and has banked $73.2 million—making it the top-grossing film in the nation's history.Which, in Avatar's case, may take a while.Avatar Lords Over Rings, Now No. 2 All TimeLooks like James Cameron is the King of Middle Earth, too.With $1.14 billion worldwide and counting, Avatar has now overtaken the $1.1 billion raked in by 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the second-highest-grossing film in history.In fact, Avatar is going so strong that what once seemed an out-of-this-world impossibility now seems within the realm of (virtual) reality. If the 20th Century Fox movie, which screens in both 2-D and 3-D formats, keeps up its current pace, it could catch the $1.8 billion in global ticket sales tallied by the Oscar-winning filmmaker's own Titanic.It that wasn't enough (and it never is in Tinseltown), Fox's FX cable network has reportedly paid upward of $25 million for the TV rights to Avatar, which will premiere in 2012.And that makes Cameron's blue folk even more green.Some more notes on the box-office weekend:• The $25 million Legion (second place, $18.2 million) did well for a $25 million angel-action movie.• The $31 million Extraordinary Measures (seventh place, $7 million) did poorly for a $31 million Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford movie.• The $48 million The Tooth Fairy (fourth place, $14.5 million) did better than Extraordinary Measures, but not much better.• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (eighth place, $6.5 million) topped $200 million domestically; It's Complicated (ninth place, $6.2 million) moved in on $100 million.• Sandra Bullock's The Blind Side ($4.5 million) departed the Top 10 after nine long weeks, and a super $234 million run.• Leap Year ($3 million; $23 million overall) got bounced from the Top 10 after two short weekends.Here's a rundown of the weekend's top-grossing films, per estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:Avatar, $36 millionLegion, $18.2 millionThe Book of Eli, $17 millionThe Tooth Fairy, $14.5 millionThe Lovely Bones, $8.8 millionSherlock Holmes, $7.1 millionExtraordinary Measures, $7 millionAlvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, $6.5 millionIt's Complicated, $6.2 millionThe Spy Next Door, $4.8 million(Originally published on Jan. 24, 2010, at 9:18 a.m. PT)
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Posted by 9jabook.com on January 24, 2010 at 6:26am
I recently watched an interesting video lecture on stealing botnets. A group of researchers at UCSB recently managed to take control over a part of Torpig botnet for 10 days. During this time, they observed 180 thousand infections and recorded almost 70GB of data that bots collected. This data included submitted form information from all the websites the infected person had visited, smtp, ftp, pop3, windows, passwords, credit card numbers and passwords from various password managers.
Here are the most interesting facts from the lecture:
Torpig uses a technique called “domain fluxing” to avoid being shut down by simply blocking the IP or the domain name of control center servers. The idea is simple - depending on date and time the algorithm generates a domain name to connect to. If the domain gets shut down, the bots will simply use a different domain after some time.
The researchers were able to take control over a part of the botnet by cracking the domain name generating algorithm and registering some of the domain names to be used for communication in the future.
The bad guys noticed that a part of botnet has been taken over and issued a software update to all bots to use a new domain flux algorithm, which used Twitter’s popular topics for the day to generate domain names. It was no longer possible to predict the domain that would be used tomorrow.
When communicating with command & control server, the bots included a unique id field that was generated from machine’s hardware. This allowed researchers to estimate the real number of unique computers infected. Researchers saw 1.2 million unique IP addresses but only 180k unique machines.
The bots would steal financial data from 410 financial institutions (top 5: PayPal, Poste Italiane, Capital One, E*Trade, Chase), they would log credit card information (top 5 cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Maestro, Discover), and they would also steal all the passwords from browser’s password manager.
In a 2008 study Symantec estimated that credit card information is valued at $.10 to $25 per card in the underground market. The bank account information is valued at $10.00 to $1,000 per account. Using this study, researchers estimated that during 10 day period the amount of financial data bots collected were worth $83k to $8.3 million.
Using various estimations researchers calculated that if the bots are used for denial of service the total bandwidth would be 17Gbps.
Researchers observed that there was a fraction of people who’d fill out the phishing page and then immediately email the company’s security group telling that they may have been victims of identity theft.
Since Torpig was sending all the HTTP POST data and emails to command & control servers, researchers did statistics on emails and found out that 14% of all captured emails were about jobs and resumes, 10% discussed computer security/malware, 7% discussed money, 6% were sports fans, 5% were worried about exams and their grades, 4% were seeking partners online.
Researchers collected 300,000 unique credentials on 370,000 websites. 28% of people reused their password on multiple domains. There were 173,686 unique passwords.
Researchers converted the passwords in Unix format and tried to crack them with John the Ripper. 56,000 were cracked in less than 65 minutes using brute-force. Using a wordlist 14,000 passwords were cracked in the next 10 minutes. And another 30,000 passwords were cracked in the next 24 hours. That’s 58% of all passwords cracked in 24 hours.
You’re welcome to watch the video lecture. It’s 1h 15m long. It’s presented by Richard A. Kemmerer.
Direct URL:http://www.9jamovies.com/play.php?vid=801
Here are all the topics in the lecture:
* [02:00] Botnet terminology - bot, botnet, command & control server, control channel, botmaster.
* [03:00] Introduction to the Torpig trojan and Mebroot malware platform.
* [05:00] How Torpig works.
* [11:30] Torpig HTML injection.
* [15:00] Domain fluxing.
* [19:15] Taking over Torpig’s c&c server.
* [24:10] Data collection principles.
* [26:00] C&c server protocol.
* [31:10] Botnet’s size estimation.
* [37:00] Botnet’s threats: theft of financial information, denial of service, proxy servers, privacy thefts.
* [37:30] Threat: Theft of financial information.
* [42:00] Threat: Denial of service.
* [43:30] Threat: Proxy servers.
* [44:20] Threat: Privacy theft.
* [47:00] Password analysis.
* [50:40] Criminal retribution.
* [53:00] Law enforcement.
* [58:00] Repatriating the data.
* [01:00:00] Ethics.
* [01:02:00] Conclusions.
* [01:06:00] Questions and answers.
For more information see the publication “Your Botnet is My Botnet: Analaysis of a Botnet Takeover.”
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Posted by 9jabook.com on January 24, 2010 at 5:16am
CAIRO – Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message released Sunday threatening more attacks on the United States.
A senior U.S. intelligence official in Washington said there is "no evidence whatsoever" that bin Laden had any involvement on the Christmas Day attack — or even knew about it beforehand. The message suggests the al-Qaida leader wants to appear in direct command of the terrorist group's many affiliates around the world at a time when some analysts have suggested he is mostly a figurehead.
In the minute-long recording carried by Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, bin Laden addressed President Barack Obama saying the Christmas attack was meant to send a message similar to that of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the Sept. 11," he said. "America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine," he added.
"God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues."
On Christmas Day, Nigerian Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up his Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit Metro Airport. But the explosive powder he was hiding in his underwear failed to detonate.
He told federal agents shortly afterward that he had been trained and given the explosives by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen.
The U.S. intelligence official said the Yemen-based group is linked with the central al-Qaida group that bin Laden heads and recent intelligence indicates there are ongoing contacts between al-Qaida in Yemen and Pakistan. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.
Bin Laden's message, coming long after AQAP gave its own claim of responsibility, appears to be an effort on his part to stay relevant, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror."
"The training and the definition of the attack was by the local leaders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, so in many ways you can say bin Laden is exploiting for his benefit this particular attack," he said. "Bin Laden still wants to claim leadership for the global jihad movement."
Of all the various offshoots and branches of al-Qaida around the world, Gunaratna said the group in Yemen is one of the closest to bin Laden since it is made up of bodyguards and associates of the organization's top ideologues. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral homeland.
"Today the operational relationship has somewhat suffered, but the ideological relationship is very strong and that is why bin Laden claimed this attack," Gunaratna said.
Two of the group's top members were former detainees released in November 2007 from the U.S. military prison Guantanamo Bay.
Since the Christmas Day attempt, the Yemeni government, at the U.S.'s urging has stepped up its attacks on the group's hideouts in the rugged country's remote hinterland.
Analysts have long debated how much control bin Laden, who is believed to be somewhere in Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, really has over the various organizations using his group's name.
The Yemen-based group, however, has closer ties than most to bin Laden and his key lieutenants, many having once been their bodyguards.
There was no way to confirm the voice on the audio message was actually that of bin Laden, but it resembled previous recordings attributed to him.
The U.S. says it can't immediately authenticate the message but White House adviser David Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" that whatever the source, the message "contains the same hollow justification for the mass slaughter of innocents."
In the past year, bin Laden's messages have concentrated heavily on the situation of the Palestinians in attempt to rally support from Muslims around the world.
Some analysts say bin Laden is focusing on the close U.S.-Israeli relationship because he is worried about Obama's popularity across the Middle East with his promises to withdraw from Iraq and because his father was a Muslim from the African nation of Kenya.
The plight of the Palestinians, especially in the blockaded Gaza Strip where 1,400 were killed in an Israeli offensive a year ago, angers many in the Arab world.
"The Palestinian conflict was never part of the al-Qaida original mandate, but Osama is clearly exploiting it," Gunaratna said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David dismissed the latest al-Qaida message and its attempt to link Israel with attacks on the U.S.
"This is nothing new. He has said this before," he said. "Terrorists always look for absurd excuses for their despicable deeds."
The last public message from bin Laden appears to have been on Sept. 26, when he demanded that European countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan. The order came in an audiotape that also warned of "retaliation" against nations that are allied with the United States in fighting the war.
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Sol Campbell Is At Arsenal To Help Us Win Things - Arsene WengerVeteran can help steer Gunners to success this season...Arsene Wenger has claimed that he signed Sol Campbell for one simple reason: to help Arsenal win trophies.The veteran defender re-joined the Gunners last week as a free agent and it is his experience and winning mentality that Wenger was keen to add to his squad.The 35-year-old has started today's FA Cup fourth round tie at Stoke City, adding some steel to the heart of the defence."[The reason he has joined is] that he helps us to win things, as simple as that," Wenger told ITV."He leads the team at the back today with Mikael Silvestre, they are very experienced players."We have some young players so it is important to have a good mixture between experience and youth and he can help us to do that."He doesn't hide from physical challenges and Sol is a fighter. When he is in a battle you can rely on him and that will be an important quality today in a cup game."
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Was this the way you planned your exit?
No, I didn't plan it this way. But, at the same time, about exiting at some point, yes, but not now.
I had planned to leave at 50, which is three years from now. However, this is coming at a time when what I wanted to achieve in 36 months, I now have to see if I can achieve them within seven months. Yes, there was a bit of suddenness in the announcement, but for Tony, the idea of leaving has always been there.
For UBA as an institution, the idea that the CEO will leave someday has been long decided, that is why we had planned for it. A lot of programmes were put in place for this.
We started two years ago by appointing the deputy managing directors under a governance and socialisation framework. We tried to let them through the end-to-end of our strategic businesses, to begin to groom them as successors. It was not political; we planned for it that at some point, the CEO must leave and some other person must take over.
Does that mean that one of them will automatically take over from you?
The board and committee have been meeting and the automatic nominees are the DMDs and after them, the executive directors, if the CBN fails to approve, the senior managers.
Judging by the board's quick response, one would think that UBA was privy to the CBN's decision. Was this the case?
No, we were not privy to the CBN's decision; the board of UBA believes that no one person is more important than the organisation. The board felt that we have key people such as our staff, customers, investors, regulators and that we must, not only because it is not only appropriate, but to reassure these key people that there is business continuity and there is business sustainability, and should not entertain any fear about our ability to produce good leadership, which is consistent with our corporate governance practice, to respond appropriately at all times, in the best interest of our stakeholders.
Talking about the CBN, do you have any personal issues about the CBN governor?
No, nothing. But you know that some Nigerians will always give the wrong interpretations to the best of intensions. Why will people say that? Maybe because we as a bank always identified with the CBN governor; so the issue of personal animosity does not come in.
For one, the governor and I were one time colleagues, and we worked very well together, we have mutual respect for each other.
Should the CBN's new policy affect CEOs like you that are still serving or will you leave it for expert interpretation?
I think we will leave that for the experts to interprete. But having said that, there is a context, which is that we have a new CBN governor, coming in at a time of global financial crisis, and I believe every new leader has a vision and ideas of how he will like to shape the industry.
There have been accusations that the CEOs were living larger than expected by the public, part of which plunged the industry into crisis. It this true?
I believe that the financial system is a highly regulated one, I think all players must comply with the rules of the game. Every sector has its own rules.
Given the extent of decay Mr. Sanusi claimed he discovered in the sector, would you say Mr. Soludo lived up to expectations?
It may be inappropriate for me to adjudge a regulator. But the current CBN governor was one of us, and upon assumption of office, he ordered for the stress test, put in place additional policies and framework to institute good corporate governance and proper risk management, among others.
There were two major facilities that UBA made under your tenure, the first is Transcorp and the second is Virgin Nigeria. What really happened?
First, I'd like to note that there is customer-banker confidentiality and I'd like to uphold that. But let me say that in the case of Transcorp, I can comment on it because it has been fully liquidated. And with Transcorp, we followed due process to advance acquisition finance. Not just us, but a consortium of big Nigerian banks. The loan was properly analysed, packaged and approved up to the board level of UBA before the facility was made available. There was no malpractice, we followed due process.
For Virgin Nigeria, again, we followed due process and it was done through UBA Asset Management Company.
In other words, UBA has no equity holding in Virgin Nigeria?
Contrary to speculations, UBA has no equity in Virgin Nigeria. It is UBA Asset Management Company that manages investment for companies; has between three and five per cent.
Why did UBA sack over 1,500 workers without paying them their benefits?
Less than 600 workers left UBA and they were paid all their entitlements in line with the contract engagement. In addition to that, they are still on the UBA pay role for the next six months.
Let us look at the issue of full disclosure; people are skeptical that the banks are still not telling the whole truth, otherwise there will not be so many job losses in the industry. What do you thnk?
Citibank, Bank of America, Meryl Lynch all laid off thousands of workers. When business is shrinking, everything has to shrink with it, if a bank is making profit and it is no longer making as much profit, there has to be structural changes to help it recover, and one of it is to prune down the workforce.
Are you also going to close down branches that are not doing well?
I did a memo concerning branches that a minimum bottom of five per cent of staff, we refresh every year. But last year the executive management did not uphold this, because we are not happy in letting people go. We do not delude ourselves about what or who we are, but we respond to issues appropriately. We did a clinical review of all our strategic business units, and how they can add more value.
We used three criteria to do our assessment - first is what is the contribution to our bottom line? Second, what is the strategic relevance to our business and the group? And the third one is the risk exposure.
Would you then say these strategies are part of the reasons UBA scaled through the stress audit, because many are surprised that UBA passed the test?
In terms of corporate governance, UBA is outstanding, in terms of risk management, we have laid down procedures. We have a chief risk officer; we have a chief compliance officer with 20 years of global experience. We have strong credit management process that is institutionalised and process-driven. We have a very strong board, and we had all of these long before risk management became the fad in the industry. Besides, we have put in place most of the risk management software to run a successful financial system.
Why is it difficult to grant loan to the small and medium enterprise sector in spite of efforts by the CBN to get banks to do so?
The current CBN governor is dealing with the root cause because it requires fundamental approach. We had a CEOs retreat in Enugu recently to look at the issues and these infrastructure challenges, having to generate your own power and water, and at the end of the day, there is hardly enough left to give out as loans to the SMEs, but like I said, these are being dealt with.
What will you say is really wrong with the Nigerian economy, because nothing just seems to work?
Let me speak to you as an economist. I have just said there are structural rigidities where certain things are not right. So we must go back to the basics, and a lot of this has to with infrastructure issues. The economy is an intricate web and so many things have happened.
What is the future for UBA, can it really compete with its peers locally and globally?
One of our major targets is to become a leading Nigerian bank, and to remain relevant in this market. Also, to play significantly in the African second tier market. In achieving this, it is a matter of having the right people, training them, strong governance policy, compliance to regulations in these countries and the totality of these factors will position you for competition.
One thing you must realise is that no one CEO can start and finish a process. What the CEO can do is to assemble the right team, and in partnership with the board articulate the right policies.
So then what legacies are you leaving behind for UBA?
I will say quality people. An average UBA person is confident, knowledgeable and goal getters. Confidence comes from achievements and self-empowerment is number one. The second is having a culture of value - humility, empathy and integrity. We embarked on a massive service of excellence, which is key to sustainability. Working with the board, we have put in place a framework and process to continuity, viability and sustainability, to have a UBA that is self-sustaining, with strong governance institution. By my retirement, the true test of my leadership has just begun and I'm sure UBA will outlive me.
You're retiring at 47, what do you hope to do? Is it not too early for retirement?
I have lived a very engaging and active life. It's been tough and I just hope that I will now have the time to take the children to school and what have you. I am fortunate in that I reached the pinnacle of my career early and so I would take it easy from now on.
Plans for retirement?
Well, if it had been in more advanced countries, people like me will be in high demand as speakers and academics but not here in our society. As I told my people yesterday at the board, I hope to get more involved with the UBA Academy as a lecturer and speaker and tell others what I have learnt and experienced. I also hope to be involved later with the Lagos Business School where I can impart knowledge into people because there is so much to share and we should bridge the gap between theories and experience on the field.
So I will spend more time with my family and teach, offering enlightenment to others sharing what I have seen.
We rarely see your wife, who is she and what about your children too?
Well, I'm married to a medical doctor and we have five children. (Points to her picture on the shelf) there she is and you can see her. The truth is that I'm a home person, I rarely go out. You're most likely to see me lying down with a bean bag watching movies with my children. I like my home and whenever I'm not at the office, you will see me at home. I enjoy reading also; I'm particularly fond of Jeffrey Archer's novels. I remarked to my wife the other day that it's been long we attended a wedding and she said yes, that's the kind of man I am; a very homely person.
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo's prayer at the Annual Trust Awards that God should punish him if indeed he deliberately chose as his successor a sick man so he would not be able to perform and possibly outshine him, has drawn quite a number
of Amens from the public with the outrightly cynical insisting that God is already inflicting punishment on the former President. The reference to God often drives up sentiments among Nigerians and in an overtly religious society such as ours, every appeal to God is intended to have a special effect. It is a psychological fact that pastors rely on so well, and which Obasanjo often deploys in seasons of doubt. It is possible to be emotional in responding to his latest intrusion into the public space. But more benefit could be derived from looking at the facts of the case, and why Obasanjo has chosen now to speak up on the subject of the President's ill-health, and what message(s) he could possibly be sending across to the public and certain stakeholders. Obasanjo not only ditched President Yar'çdua publicly, he also advised him to resign if his health has failed him. The wily OBJ talked about the path of honour and the path of morality.
In Yar'çdua's case both are obviously currently conflicted. The Obasanjo that spoke at the Daily Trust event tried to project himself as a patriot who is more interested in national progress. Now that we know where Obasanjo stands in this matter, when next Professor Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana and others want to embark on another "Enough is Enough. To Save Nigeria" street march, they should remember to invite him along! But is Obasanjo now one of the progressives? Or he is merely playing to the gallery? Or he is trying to absolve himself of blame? Some of his friends have praised him for lending his voice to the calls for Yar'Adua's resignation.
There is nothing original in him position though. He is waking up to the truth, more than two years late. Is this not the same Obasanjo who only a fortnight ago pointedly refused to comment on the President's health? If it was not safe for him to pass a comment then, why is it now safe for him to do so? Or was he waiting for the right platform? Telling Yar'çdua to get out at an event in his own backyard, seems a clever way of loading a statement with appropriate weight. Or could it be that Obasanjo already knows something that is not yet public knowledge and which puts him in a safe position to fulminate? For a man who has been to jail and back, simply because he was critical of a sitting Head of State, and who himself does not suffer fools gladly when he wielded power, Obasanjo must be sure that it is only safe to step on a dead cobra's tail. So what are we dealing with? Opportunism? An attempt at self-ingratiation? Rather than applause, Obasanjo's statement, arguably his most poignant public statement, since he left office in May 2007 should invite more questions. President Yar'çdua's ill-health has set an invidious power game in motion and OBJ is trying to get on top of it. But not so fast, sir.
According to the former President, at the time he decided to support President Yar'çdua's candidacy, he was looking for three qualities: intellectual capacity, integrity and broad-mindedness. In 2007, Candidate Yar'çdua was not the only man in the PDP Presidential race who could boast of these three qualities. That was a fact. Another fact: Obasanjo and his agents had made up their mind that it was Yar'çdua that they wanted. He even told Nigerians at the time that he knew those who would not succeed him. One by one, those who showed interest in the race were arm-twisted, or frightened, out of it. Long before the PDP Presidential primaries, it was common knowledge that both the PDP Presidential ticket and the Presidency had been willed by the man in power to the then Governor of Katsina state.
Yar'çdua was a reluctant candidate, the most reluctant of all the candidates. Obasanjo also wanted Yar'çdua in order to spite Abubakar Atiku, his Vice President with whom he had serious problems. Atiku is a product of the General Shehu Yar'çdua political dynasty, and the leader of the late General's wing of the PDP; the once powerful People's Democratic Movement (PDM). In 2002/3, Atiku had made the mistake of boasting that it was he and the PDM machinery that he inherited that brought Obasanjo to power. At the PDP Presidential primaries in 2003, Atiku and his PDM supporters almost humiliated Obasanjo. He was forced to eat the humble pie. What better way to divide and demolish the PDM in 2007, than to hand over power to the junior brother of the founder of the PDM? Handing over power to Yar'çdua was a cold-hearted, Machiavellian move on Obasanjo's part. With due respect, it had nothing to do with all that rhetoric about intellectual capacity, integrity and broad-mindedness. How much of these three, now presented by OBJ as if they are divine imperatives, did we get from the eight years of the Obasanjo administration?
To all intents and purposes, former President Obasanjo wanted Umaru Yar'çdua as president because that was what would serve his own political interests then. Eye-witnesses to that campaign process will recall that it was President Obasanjo that did most of the campaigning. At several rallies, the man who wanted to be President was not allowed to speak. Obasanjo did all the talking, and subsequently, he would raise Yar'Adua's hand. At a point, there were comments about the need for Obasanjo to allow the PDP candidate to speak to Nigerians. The first time we heard of the seven-point agenda was on inauguration day! Yar'çdua became President without Nigerians really knowing him. Now, Obasanjo says don't blame me. He gave me a medical record which said he was in good shape. Obasanjo was Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. A Presidential aspirant gave him a sheet of paper certifying himself fit and he Obasanjo did not deem it necessary to entertain doubts!
The subtext of the Obasanjo comment is that Nigerians not he, made President Yar'çdua president. Nigeria 's big men are very good at revising history. In the light of available evidence, it seems to me that even if OBJ had full knowledge of the risk factors in making a man who had had a kidney transplant President, he would still have chosen Yar'Adua. If the man was so fit, why was Obasanjo the one selling him to Nigerians, instead of allowing him to do more of the talking? So grateful was the Yar'çdua family after the Presidential elections and the inauguration of Yar'çdua as President that three women from the Yar'çdua household including the brand new President's mother, and his late brother's wife went to Ota specially to thank Obasanjo. They did not issue a statement thanking Nigerians. They went to Ota! And now, Obasanjo ditches the same Yar'Adua.
The timing of his latest politics is suspicious but his outburst is understandable. The Atiku threat no longer exists. The PDM is in disarray. Atiku who wanted to replace Obasanjo and in the process became an issue in Nigerian Presidential politics has since gone to Obasanjo's home to pay homage. All the other candidates, North and South in the PDP who wanted to be President have been driven into their shells, with some of them still battling with the EFCC yoke that was slung around their necks. But Yar'Adua on whose behalf all that effort was made has shown no gratitude to former President Obasanjo. The Yar'Adua government began at the centre with a systematic assault on the Obasanjo legacy. Obasanjo and his spin-doctors used to boast that the dividends of democracy that Nigerians wanted so badly would fructify in the fullness of time on the altar of sustainability.
If they thought Yar'çdua would sustain Obasanjo's reform agenda and programmes, they made a mistake. These were the first set of pillars that the new government pulled down. Many Obasanjo boys who had worked tirelessly on the Yar'çdua-must-be-President agenda suddenly found themselves being treated as persona non grata. They have been chased out of government, into exile, or into EFCC detention centres. Under Obasanjo, there was something that assumed a political shape called Corporate Nigeria, the jet-riding set that donated money to political causes and strolled into the Presidential Villa at will. They owned the biggest businesses in town and they didn't hide the fact of their closeness to the President. More than two years later, the Yar'çdua government has successfully castrated this group.
The 24-hour gate passes to Presidential Villa that they used to brandish have been withdrawn! Some of them have lost their banks and are now struggling to stay out of jail. Even those who thought they knew Yar'Adua ( "he was my senior in secondary school"; "I know him") have all been shocked: if they thought they would prosper politically under him, the man gave them poisoned gifts. Obasanjo himself has not been spared. Yar'çdua and his team have not treated him as the Godfather of the administration. His position as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP has been rendered almost useless. He has been turned into a laughing stock in the company of those he once said would never be President. Ordinary Nigerians may regard President Yar'çdua as a weak leader because of his illness, but his power-politics has been very strong and he may have made great strides in that direction that could affect Nigeria in more fundamental ways than we may realise. But Obasanjo is smart. He is choosing his own time to strike back. But why strike a man when he is weak? Whatever may be Obasanjo's shortcomings, his voice still carries weight in Nigerian politics. By coming out against Yar'Adua, he will be setting off a chain of reactions that should be closely watched. What will be the Katsina response to the bomb from Ota? And why has Obasanjo suddenly become freshly voluble at the time when Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is said to be taking charge gradually at the Presidency?
It is a game of musical chairs, not yet an end game. Two or three newspapers have suggested that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua may show up in Nigeria next week, looking healthy and strong enough to carry on. Should that happen, it will be not necessarily a miracle, but a political masterstroke. Some people may have to leave town. For there could be serious reprisals from the Yar'çdua end which may not have demonstrated a capacity to keep promises, but remarkable adroitness in teaching ambitious men and women bitter lessons about the game of power. Even if the man does not return next week, with INEC poised to announce the time-table for the 2011 elections in March, the professional political class will see the need to engage in further mischief.
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Why "GET" SIX children when you cant STAY as a FAMILY !HOLLYWOOD golden pair Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have seen DIVORCE lawyers and signed a £205 million split deal, we can reveal.The world's most famous couple legally agreed how to divide their fortune and who gets custody of their six kids.The megastars have agreed to equally divide their vast fortune - and to SHARE their six children.Dynamite legal papers secretly signed by the couple this month detail how all their homes and assets will be carved up.The agreement gives them joint custody of the kids - but all six will actually live full-time with their mum.Preparations for a split began in early December when "Brangelina" visited a top Los Angeles divorce firm to begin thrashing out the deal.An announcement of their separation is expected to be made soon - ending months of speculation that the five-year relationship is on the rocks.A source told the News of the World: "The document was signed in early January. Both Brad and Angelina had signed it."The contract was like a tailor-made version of a pre-nuptial agreement except for an unmarried couple's split."It seemed clear they want the world to know they'll both play a part in the upbringing of the children."But Angelina will actually be the one who lives with them full-time."The divorce lawyer they consulted is based in Beverly Hills and has worked on a string of celeb divorces and splits. He is widely regarded as "the best in the business".Our source added: "There's no date for when the contract would come into effect."But the paperwork is already organised for a break- up - and for it to be as unmessy for them as possible. It is clear it's a case of when they break up rather than if."The troubled couple have not been photographed together in public in recent days. On Friday night, Brad, 46, was snapped backstage at the Hope For Haiti concert in Los Angeles without Angelina, 34.His ex-wife Jennifer Aniston was there - although not with him."Brangelina" fell for each other when they played a warring couple in Mr and Mrs Smith in 2004. They have three adopted children (Maddox, eight, Pax, six, and Zahara, five), and three biological kids (Shiloh, three, and 17- month-old twins Knox and Vivienne).Both stars have been through high- profile splits before. Brad shocked the world when he split from Hollywood golden girl Jennifer, 40, in January 2005. They had been married for 4½ years.He was first photographed with Oscar-winner Angelina three months after the split. Before Jen, he was engaged to actress Gwyneth PaltrowJolie has been divorced twice - from Monster's Ball star Billy Bob Thornton in 2003, and Trainspotting actor Johnny Lee Miller in 1999.Her joint fortune with Brad of $322 million (£205 million) includes mansions in France, California and New Orleans. But rumours have been circulating for months that the couple's relationship is doomed.Last week they failed to show at the Golden Globe Awards even though Brad's film Inglourious Basterds was up for a several gongs.Instead he went to watch the American football team New Orleans Saints, while Changeling star Angelina stayed in California. Also last week, Pitt bought the mansion next door to the family's LA home for £800,000.His pals Guy Ritchie and wife Madonna famously bought their next-door pad in London before their split so they could share living space with their kids but keep away from each another.Earlier this month, Angelina was snapped looking tense with an unsmiling Brad in New York.And last month she said fidelity was over-rated - and if she or Brad had an affair it would not be a problem.She told German magazine Das Neue: "Neither Brad nor I have ever claimed that living together means to be chained together. We make sure that we never restrict each other.INGLORIOUS - At the premiereINGLORIOUS - At the premiere"I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. It's worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterwards."Angelina, whose new film Salt is due in British cinemas this summer, also said: "The sparks fly at home if the nice Brad fails to see that he's wrong and reacts in a defiant way."Then I can get so angry that I tear his shirt."Also this month, best-selling American biographer Ian Halperin released a revelation- packed insight into the Jolie- Pitt relationship.He said when the couple first met they had 20-HOUR sex sessions.In his book Brangelina: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Ian writes: "Brad had never had such incredible sex."My sources say that they sometimes spent 18 to 20 hours a day in bed. But sex eventually wears off."She has brought a lot of good things to him - the children, for example."But he didn't know what he was getting into, and that's why I think they're going to split."We asked Brad, Angelina and the legal firm for their comments but they did not respond.
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Barely three months after the launch of Nigeria’s new polymer banknotes, fake versions of the notes have hit the Nigerian currency market, causing intense panic among traders and customers, NEXT has learnt. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials, say they have received reports and complaints on the fake notes but added that they are still working out answers on the notes, which were introduced and advertised for its presumed superior security features and life span.
“We are doing something but we cannot disclose it,” the bank’s spokesman, Mohammed Abdullahi, said. Across the country, major concerns lie in what factors to use in identifying the fake notes. The CBN has no answers to this either. “People should check the CBN website. The security features are all on our website,” Mr. Abdullahi said.
The CBN website however, does not display security features for any of the new polymer bank notes. While some banks claim that the serial numbers on the banknotes may be used to check the authenticity of the note, the Nigerian mint company, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC (NSPM) says otherwise. “The sequence number of the fake has six numerical digits while the real one has seven,” a banker with Spring Bank said to NEXT. Segun Oshatala, the General Manager, NSPM-Abuja Factory, said however, that the serial numbers on the banknotes cannot determine whether or not the note is fake.
“The six digits or the seven digits do not show whether or not the note is fake. The serial number is just to show the country that the note was printed. You know some of the notes are printed abroad and some in Nigeria,” Mr. Oshatala said in a telephone interview with NEXT. Mr. Oshatala also described some more reliable features to identify real polymer banknotes. “If you run your fingers on the banknotes, especially on the portraits, you will observe that it is embossed.
It has a ridge-like or a rough feel. The fake ones will not have that because that is a specialised security feature,” he said. He, however, explained that a more reliable method of verification would be beneath mercury bulbs, which are largely available in banks. “The CBN will be the ones to say whether or not the serial numbers indicate a fake note,” Mr. Oshatala added. Confusion While some traders in Lagos, responding to questions by NEXT, expressed concerns about the influx of fake polymer notes in the country, others passed off the questions as rumours. “Why will they waste money on the ink to print the 50 naira notes instead of 1000 notes?” was the retort by a trader who gave his name as Alhaji Bintu. Citizens, who have to spend the money, however, are not at ease as there is no ready way to identify the fake notes except they go to the banks.
A petty trader, who spoke to NEXT in Asaba, a town in the Niger Delta region, said that a bank had just rejected about 1000 naira in 50 naira bills gotten from her business activities from the day. The perplexed woman left the bank with the banknotes, identified as fakes by the bank cashier. The CBN however claims that there is good news in all these. “Something to note here is that our security system has worked because the banks were able to recognise the fake notes,” Mr. Abdullahi said. The polymer notes were introduced during the tenure of the former governor of Central Bank, Chukwuma Soludo. One of the reasons given then was the safety of the notes. Billions of dollars were spent to print the notes and ensure that it would be worthless to produce fake ones.
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