Obama to do 'everything I can' to close Gitmo

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• President Obama promised during his campaign in 2008 to close the military prison in Cuba
• But he has been unable to deliver in the face of opposition on Capitol Hill
• He said he still hopes to fulfill one of his first promises as president

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama says he plans to push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility during his final two years in office -- potentially fulfilling a major campaign promise that he hasn't yet accomplished.

"I'm going to be doing everything I can to close it," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley that aired Sunday on "State of the Union."
Obama: We're not going to be intimidated
Obama: I'm not being "rolled" by Putin

"It is something that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists around the world, the fact that these folks are being held," Obama said. "It is contrary to our values."

Related: Obama calls alleged North Korea hacking vandalism, not war

The President's comments follow a flurry of executive action at the start of what he called his "fourth quarter" in the Oval Office -- after Republicans walloped Democrats in November's midterm elections, taking control of both houses of Congress.

After the election, Obama quickly announced an overhaul of U.S. immigration rules and new regulations aimed at curbing environmentally-harmful emissions. He followed those moves this week with a deal that represented the biggest steps to thaw the economic freeze with Cuba in decades.

The Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility -- which Obama pledged to shut down as part of his 2008 campaign, but saw his plans thwarted when Congress passed a law prohibiting him from doing so -- could be another target ripe for executive action.

Obama's year-end message: North Korea Cuba and Congress

Obama has transferred many of the detainees housed at that facility to other countries in recent months, and said Friday he'll continue trying to do that, since Congress won't allow him to shift those detainees into federal Supermax facilities within the United States.

"We are going to continue to place those who have been cleared for release or transfer to host countries that are willing to take them," Obama told Crowley.

Related: Guantanamo detainees release

The toughest challenge, he said, is dealing with "some really hard cases" in which "we know they've done something wrong and are still dangerous."

Still, Obama said, he wants to shut the facility down. "I think that it does not make sense for us to spend millions of dollars per individual when we have a way of solving this problem that's more consistent with our values," he said.

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Muhammad Ali in hospital with pneumonia, his spokesman says

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has pneumonia
• The illness was discovered quickly, Ali's spokesman said
• He is expected to be out of the hospital soon
• Ali became heavyweight world champion for the first time in 1964

(CNN) -- Famed boxer Muhammad Ali was admitted to an undisclosed hospital Saturday with pneumonia, his spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

Ali's treatment prognosis is good, he said.

"Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, is being treated by his team of doctors and is in stable condition," Gunnell said in a statement.

The illness was caught early, and Ali, 72, is not expected to be in the hospital long.

Muhammad Ali at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, 2013.

"At this time, the Muhammad Ali family respectfully requests privacy," the statement said.

Ali was born Cassius Clay and won an Olympic gold medal as a light-heavyweight at age 18.

In 1964, he became world heavyweight champion in an upset victory against then champion Sonny Liston, according to Ali's official website.

Shortly thereafter changed his name to Muhammad Ali to reflect his conversion to Islam.

The boxer was also known for his protest against the Vietnam War and refusal to be drafted into service out of religious conviction.

He retired from boxing in 1981 and announced his diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease three years later.

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Obama: North Korea's hack not war, but 'cybervandalism'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• President Obama stands by his criticism of Sony's decision to cancel film's release
• But he said North Korea's alleged actions are acts of vandalism, not war
• Sony executive said he was "disappointed" in Obama's Friday comments
• Human Rights Foundation plans to drop copies of "The Interview" over North Korea

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama says he doesn't consider North Korea's hack of Sony Pictures "an act of war."

"It was an act of cybervandalism," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley that aired Sunday on "State of the Union."

But he stuck by his criticism of Sony's decision to cancel its plans to release the movie "The Interview," which includes a cartoonish depiction of the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, after the country threatened attacks against theaters that showed it.

Obama said in a Friday news conference that Sony made "a mistake," and that he wished the company had called him first. That led Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton to tell CNN that Obama and the public "are mistaken as to what actually happened." He blamed movie theater companies that opted not to show the film, saying they forced Sony's hand.

Related: Sony exec fires back at Obama

Investigators: Hackers stole Sony passwords

Obama shot back, saying: "I was pretty sympathetic to the fact that they have business considerations that they got to make. Had they talked to me directly about this decision, I might have called the movie theater chains and distributors and asked them what the story was."

The President told Crowley that his problem wasn't with Sony specifically, but with the precedent the company's decision set.

The FBI on Friday pinned blame on North Korea for a hack into Sony's computer systems. Obama said both foreign governments and hackers outside government present cyberthreats that are part of the modern business landscape.

"If we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber, a company's distribution chain or its products, and as a consequence we start censoring ourselves, that's a problem," Obama said.

"And it's a problem not just for the entertainment industry, it's a problem for the news industry," he said. "CNN has done critical stories about North Korea. What happens if in fact there is a breach in CNN's cyberspace? Are we going to suddenly say, are we not going to report on North Korea?

"So the key here is not to suggest that Sony was a bad actor. It's making a broader point that all of us have to adapt to the possibility of cyberattacks, we have to do a lot more to guard against them."

Lynton, speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, said he was "disappointed" in what Obama said Friday.

"We have not given in. And we have not backed down. We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie," Lynton said.

But that's not what the company initially said after canceling the film's release.

On Wednesday night, a studio spokesperson said simply, "Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film."

The nonprofit Human Rights Foundation is pushing a campaign called #HackThemBack, inviting "those who support freedom and democracy" to "help North Korean defectors amplify, refine, and intensify efforts to break the monopoly of information" that the regime imposes on its people.

The group also plans to buy copies of "The Interview" and include them in balloon drops over North Korea, founder Thor Halvorssen said.

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Elton John, David Furnish get married

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Elton John and David Furnish were married Sunday
• Same-sex marriage became legal in Britain this year
• The men previously had a civil partnership
• They have two children

 (CNN) -- Sir Elton John and David Furnish are now husband and husband.

The two married Sunday in Britain, where same-sex marriage became legal earlier this year.

They had a civil partnership ceremony in 2005, after 12 years together.

They have two children -- Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John and Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John.

The two men invited people all over the world to join them for the ceremony via Elton John's brand new Instagram feed.

Elton John, David Furnish wed

Elton John and partner David Furnish were married Sunday, and invited people around the world to join in the celebration via Instagram.

1. 

   The exchange of vows. #ShareTheLove

   Elton John

   ·

   3 hours ago
2. 

   Zachary grabs David's iPhone and takes a photo of his brother while we exchange our vows. #ShareTheLove

   Elton John

   ·

   4 hours ago
3. 

   That's the legal bit done. Now on to the ceremony! #ShareTheLove @DavidFurnish

   Elton John

   ·

   7 hours ago
4. 

   It's beginning!! The Registrar welcomes our guests. #ShareTheLove

   Elton John

   ·

   4 hours ago
5. 

   Good morning! Nice day for a wedding. #ShareTheLove

   Elton John

   ·

   10 hours ago
6. 

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Photo: Court jails fraudster for duping Australian $800,000

Find the EFCC Press statement below...

Justice Kudirat Jose of a Lagos High Court, has convicted and sentenced Promise Ntuen Ekemini to one year imprisonment, for hijacking the e-mail of a lawful owner of a property, located in Western Australia valued at $800,000 and attempting to sell the property. 

He was arraigned in April, 2014 on a 5-count charge bordering on conspiracy to defraud, attempt to obtain money by false pretences and forgery. Justice Jose found him guilty of all the charges and convicted him. His sentence will from the day of his arraignment. 

Ekemini got into trouble by impersonating Brian Roderick Daniel, owner of a property located at No. 143, Sprinaway Parade, Falcon, Western Australia and offering his property to buyers on the internet without the consent of the owner. The Australian Police alerted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to monitor a controlled delivery of some documents related to the transactions to Ekemini. He was arrested at the point of collection of the documents.

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A word for Professor Yemi Osinbajo (APC VP candidate) - by FFK

 

 Article from former Aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode...

    I am glad that the APC eventually took my advice and saw the wisdom in not fielding a muslim/muslim ticket for the 2015 Presidential election even though I hear that, right up till the last minute, they almost did.

    I congratulate my friend and brother Professor Yemi Osinbajo on his nomination as the Vice Presidential candidate of the APC and running mate to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

I have known Yemi for a number of years and I must say that he is not only a very pleasant and civilised person with a warm and gentle disposition but he is also a cerebal lawyer with a brilliant mind. I have immense respect for him.

Yet sadly ever since I heard about his nomination and announcement as Buhari's running mate I have felt nothing but sheer pity for him and a deep sense of pathos. My counsel and words for him are as follows:

Woe unto the children of light that secretly delight in darkness and that seek to thwart the counsel of God for their nation by joining hands with the sons of Boko and the daughters of Haram.

The bible says ''what fellowship is there between light and darkness?'' It says ''what does God  have to do with Belial?'' It says ''what profiteth a man to gain the world and lose his soul?''.

A respected Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a devout and committed Christian and an intellectually-sound, well-bred and well educated Professor of Law accepts to be running mate to a closet fundamentalist, a bloodthirsty, cruel and murderous military dictator and a die-hard believer in the philosophy of ''born to rule''? This is serious.

A gifted servant of God who is a favored spiritual son of Rev. Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God has jumped into bed with one of the most notorious troublers of the faith and one of the most consistent enemies of democracy and Nigeria? This is very sad.
Rev. Enoch Adeboye is undoubtedly one of God's greatest and most respected generals on the planet and one of the Church's most humble and best-loved precious gems, yet one of his spiritual sons has surely let him, and indeed the Kingdom of God, down by choosing to play ''man Friday'' and second fiddle to an individual that represents everything that is troubling, unsettling and repugnant to the modern world and to the 21st century? What a tragedy.

A learned Professor of Law and a senior member of the Nigerian bar who is the leading authority on the law of evidence and who has written numerous books on that topic chooses to play number two to a man that failed all his exams at military college and that never went to a decent school or to any university? Jumping Jehoshaphat.

It is only in Nigeria that this sort of thing can happen. Poor Yemi. Look at what the Haramites have done to him and look at what they have reduced him to. Is there anything that these creatures from hell will not do? Is there anyone that they will not use and is there any norm that they will not defile, pervert, debase, violate and corrupt in their ignoble quest for power and as a consequence of their insatiable lusts and manifest greed?

The truth is that each and everyone one of us, including my friend Yemi, will ultimately have to answer to God for the choices that we make and we must live with the consequences of those choices.  It is no wonder that the Redeemed Christian  Church of God has disassociated itself from a false claim that the Church and, by implication, Rev. Adegboye himself, was supporting the Buhari/Osibajo ticket. Thankfully they have come out to say clearly and categorically that this is not so. One can always trust Adegboye to do and say the right thing because he is a man that is truly ''after God's heart''. 

Yet the denial of an endorsement and tacit support from his Church is just the first of many shockers and unwelcome surprises that Yemi will be served with in the next few weeks. He will get shock after shock and surprise after surprise until the battle is over and circumstances compel him to go back to his very lucrative legal practice.

Yet before he does that he should learn a thing or two from one of his esteemed colleagues and yet another Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the courageous Pastor Bosun Emmanuel. Bosun said the following words in his famous sermon titled 'The Nigerian Church' which went viral just a few months ago.

He said, ''woe be unto any believer who joins hands with the enemies of God in an attempt to bury the Church and destroy the gospel''. This was a timely admonition and these are strong and wise words from a true servant of God who is under no illusion about what is going on in the politics of Nigeria and who is brave enough to say it as it is. 

Yet whether we choose to heed Bosun's words or not I am absolutely certain of one thing: those that have aligned with the servants of satan and the children of darkness and that seek to thwart God's counsel for our nation shall not prevail.
Boko Haram abducted 185 women in Borno state on December 18th and they killed no less than 52 innocent people. Despite that some people are still supporting Buhari and his army of desperate Haramites? What a people, what a country.
Those that say that Buhari has changed simply because he chose a Pastor as his running mate are ignorant. Did he not have a Pastor as his running mate in his last outing in 2011? Did he not still say that it was his intention to ''spread sharia throughout the country'' and that ''an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north''?

Did he not oppose a state of emergency in the north eastern states and say that it was unfair for the military to kill Boko Haram members? Did he not say that instead of killing them they should forgive them, pamper them and treat them in the same way that the Niger Delta militants were treated?

Did the spokesman of his party Alhaji Lai Mohammed not say that the proscription of Boko Haram by the Federal Government was ‘’unjust’’ and ‘’unconstitutional’’? How does the fact that Buhari has opted for a Christian running mate change any of these things?

In any case he only opted for a Christian running mate because he was compelled to do so as a consequence of the hue and cry that the prospect of a muslim/muslim ticket had already started to generate. Are those that cite the fact that he has a Christian running mate as evidence of his new-found love for Christians aware of the fact that during the American civil war a small, ignorant, misguided and deluded group of negro slaves actually fought on the side of the southern confederate forces in an attempt to keep slavery in place?

Did that suggest that the leaders of the southern confederate ‘’secession’’ states suddenly changed their minds and fell in love with the blacks that they had enslaved and treated like animals? Is Buhari's claim of not being partial to his own hausa-fulani tribe not a little far-fetched?  Did he not lead a northern delegation to Alhaji Lam Adesina, the late Governor of Oyo state, just a few years ago when some Fulani herdsmen were slaughtering Yoruba farmers on their own land and ask him ‘’why are YOUR people killing MY people?’’ Apparently Buhari believed that the aggressors that had invaded the land and farms of others and that killed all the occupants had a right to do so simply because they were fulani. Yet some people still claim that the man is not a tribalist.

Ignorance and lack of knowledge is a terrible affliction but in this context it is not only terrible but also very dangerous. Buhari’s choice of a Christian Pastor as his running mate means nothing and changes nothing about him or his entrenched views and ancient mindset.

It rather provides clear evidence of his sheer desperation to win power at all costs and it is a reflection of his obvious and deep-seated deceit. Let the truth be told even though the heavens may fall: Christian Vice President or no Christian Vice President, Buhari's heart remains as dark as ever.

We shall meet him in the field: let God's will be done.
 

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Luxury flying for much less...Maple Aviation Logistics is the solution

Like everything else around us the way we fly is also changing. As time becomes more costly there is a need to ensure we make the best use of it.

The biennial Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) Show 2014 took place in Dubai from Dec. 8th–10th 2014 at the World Trade Centre.

 

The MEBA Show is the foremost business aviation platform for the whole of the Middle East, Africa and Europe and offers aviation companies unrivalled access to the business aviation market in a highly focused environment.

The MEBA Show 2014 was held under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and CEO of Emirates.

Maple Aviation Logistic Limited (MALL), a foremost aviation company based in Lagos, Nigeria, was also in Dubai to interact with industry giants across the world. MALL has joined the league of business concerns offering private jet and helicopter hire services in Nigeria. MALL has been in the aviation business for years and, with continued drive, provides an excellent service to ensure they  meet their clients’ needs. They  have included in their offerings the private charter of airplanes and helicopters.

The Chief Executive Officer of Maple Aviation Logistics Limited (MALL), said during the show that the demand for aircraft charter services might soon outstrip supply unless more companies come into the business and existing ones expand their operations, adding that for equitable pricing of charter services, there should be competition in the market. He stated: “Nigeria is a growing economy that is expanding fast. That is why we established MALL. Maple Aviation Logistics Limited was formed to actively provide the highest level of professional hire services across all types of aircraft and helicopter hire.”

He further added that some Nigerians who own private jets are now realizing that it would be better to enjoy the services of a jet without the hassles associated with the maintenance, regulation and crew management and funding, noting that Maple has garnered experience in the aviation industry and is ready to provide the best service to its clients. The Management of the Company is headed by Mr Adefolarin Adesemowo, as Chief Executive Officer who has years of experience in the Travel industry. He also sits on the Board of Maple Travels Limited, a Travel company that specialize in the Local & International Tickets, Hotels, Cruises, Destination Wedding, Honeymoon Packages and a School of Travel 

You can Book any of their Services today by calling 01-4549800 , 08068920872,08035880220.                          Office: Plot 120/12 Bosun Adekoya Street, Off Lekki Alternative Road, Oniru, Lekki. 

Websites:www.mapleaviationlogistics.com , www.mapletravels.com

 Think Luxury, Think Comfort, Think Private , Think Maple Aviation.

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