Randy Jackson Attacks Michael Jackson's Will, Say The "Will Is Fake'

More than three years after Michael Jackson's death, his youngest brother continues to raise questions about the validity of the pop superstar's will.

On Twitter and cable TV, Randy Jackson has called the five-page document signed in 2002 a fake. The one place he hasn't made the claims is a courtroom, where legal experts say he faces almost insurmountable hurdles to invalidate the will and stiff odds against ousting the men who run the lucrative estate.

In a recent letter, Randy Jackson and three of his siblings called on Jackson's estate executors to resign and renewed claims that the will is a fake.

The letter states the family was too overwhelmed after the singer's death to meaningfully challenge the will that gave only family matriarch Katherine Jackson and Michael's three children — Prince, 15, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 10 — a stake in the estate.

"At that time we couldn't possibly fathom what is so obvious to us now: that the Will, without question, it's Fake, Flawed and Fraudulent," the letter originally signed by Randy, Jermaine, Janet and Rebbie Jackson states.

On Wednesday, Jermaine Jackson rescinded his support for the letter and said it never should have been made public.

The delayed challenge likely dooms any effort to invalidate the will. Even if it was thrown out, it would not alter the stake received by the King of Pop's three children, experts say and an appeals court has noted.

Randy Jackson has since posted on Twitter that he believes the estate is trying to isolate his mother to the detriment of her health. "It is my fear and belief, that they are trying to take my mother's life," Randy Jackson wrote last week.

The estate has denied the accusations. "We are saddened that false and defamatory accusations grounded in stale Internet conspiracy theories are now being made by certain members of Michael's family whom he chose to leave out of his will," it wrote in a statement.

Jermaine Jackson said Wednesday he still has concerns about the estate's operations but realizes "the way to address such matters is through the proper channels and via a private dialogue, not public conflict."

Almost from the moment it was filed, the will has been a topic of controversy for some members of the Jackson family. The pop superstar's father Joe Jackson attempted to get a stipend from the estate, but like his children, he was excluded from any share.

Katherine Jackson explored the possibility of challenging the executors and was given permission by a judge but settled before a full hearing was held.

The document is straightforward and simple, and many key provisions of how Jackson's estate is constructed are set out in a trust. That document has never been publicly released.

Many of the misgivings stem from the will's final page, which bears the signatures of three witnesses who claim Michael Jackson signed the document on July 7, 2002, in Los Angeles. Jackson's family points out that the singer was in New York on that day, a point the Rev. Al Sharpton recently bolstered by showing video of the "Thriller" singer appearing with him at an event in Harlem that day.

"I don't think that kind of extrinsic fraud would be enough to overturn the order admitting the will to probate," said Marshall Oldman, a probate attorney who represented Peter Falk's wife in a conservatorship proceeding.

He said the only valid argument of Jackson's siblings is that they did not receive proper notice that their brother's will had been accepted into probate. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff accepted the will in November 2009. Any challenge would have had to been filed within four months, Oldman said.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal noted in an October 2010 ruling against the singer's father that the period to challenge the will had already expired. Even if the will were thrown out, the court noted, California law would require the estate to benefit Michael Jackson's children.

"I don't see how you come in three years later, and say, 'oh, by the way, the will's a fraud, a forgery, because he wasn't in LA when he was purported to be,'" said Howard Klein, a probate attorney for nearly 50 years and partner in the Los Angeles firm Feinberg Mindel Brandt Klein & Kline. "It's something that should have been brought up a long time ago."

Randy Jackson, in comments on Twitter and to Sharpton on his MSNBC show last week, has repeatedly accused the estate's executors of criminal conduct. Both Klein and Oldman said even if the executors were charged with wrongdoing, it wouldn't open the door for more of Jackson's relatives to gain access to the estate.

Jackson's children are deemed his heirs without the will, and a 1997 version lodged with the court but never publicly released also doesn't name the singer's siblings as beneficiaries of his estate.

Klein said even if Jackson or other siblings try to challenge the document, their bid will likely be rejected because it is too late. The judge could also rule, as he did against family patriarch Joe Jackson, that because he isn't a beneficiary of the will, he isn't entitled to contest it.

"It would be a tough sell," Klein said of any effort by another Jackson relative to challenge the will now.

The executors recently informed a judge that there have been $475 million in gross earnings for the estate since Michael Jackson died in June 2009 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. Jackson died with more than $500 million in debts, but the earnings have been used to repay many of the singer's creditors and provide a spacious hilltop home for Katherine Jackson and the children along with private schooling, staff, security, vacations and other perks.

Katherine Jackson has requested and the estate is recommending approval of a nearly $35,000 a month increase in her stipend so she can retain her own attorney, accountant and homes in Indiana and Las Vegas, court filings show.

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Assange's mother fears death penalty for him in US

The mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is lobbying Ecuador to grant him asylum, says she is worried her son could face execution if extradited to the United States.

Christine Assange met Wednesday with President Rafael Correa, who is considering whether to grant political asylum to Assange.

The Australian campaigner took refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London in mid-June to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Swedish investigators want Assange to answer questions about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women in August 2010 after WikiLeaks began releasing classified US documents.

"I feel as a mother that he is not capable of the charges -- not even the charges, the allegations against him," his mother said in an interview with AFP at the Carondelet presidential palace after she met with Correa.

"There is absolutely no doubt that this is a political persecution, by the Swedish prosecutors and the police, with interference of the government," she said.

Christine Assange echoed her son's fears that Sweden would extradite him to the United States to face charges for releasing masses of US military and diplomatic documents into the public domain.

"The US government feels that it can seek to try my son for espionage, and possibly executing him simply for doing the job of a good investigative journalist, which is telling the truth about power," she said.

The United States has opened a criminal investigation into the leaks and is prosecuting US army private Bradley Manning in a military court. But it has not said whether it intends to bring charges against Assange as well.

Assange's mother declined to discuss the substance of her conversation with Correa, but she is counting on his sympathy.

"The president, and his ministers, are very knowledgeable intelligent and compassionate people, genuinely so, and they have a good understanding of the case," she said.
"It's not a secret that the president and his foreign minister believe this case to be political," she added.
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino has said that Ecuador will respond to Assange's request on August 12, after the London Olympics.

"The important thing is for Julian to be assured that Ecuador is considering his request with great responsibility," Correa told Assange's mother during their hour-long meeting.

Correa said his country has a "great humanist tradition and respect for human rights."

He added that he respects Britain, Sweden, and the people of the United States, and that the matter bears consultation, but that, ultimately, "Ecuador does not negotiate over its sovereignty."

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I Made N3,000 Daily Dressing Like Lady –15-Year-Old Boy

Moshood with items recovered from his bag
A 15-year-old boy, Teslim Moshood, has said he made about N3,000 daily by dressing like a lady to deceive unsuspecting men.

He said, “I dress like a lady to attract sympathy from men. I always tell people, especially men, that I am stranded and I need transport fare to travel.

“Initially, I was doing that as a boy and used to realise about N1,000 per day. But when I started dressing like a lady, I realise between N1,500 and N3,000 per day.

“I have been doing this for eight months. There are men that will approach me that they want to date me. I usually collect their telephone numbers but I don’t normally call them.

“There was a time a man came to meet me at my hotel room. It was when he was romancing me that he discovered that I am a boy. He then told me that he was going to sleep with me through my anus but I declined.”

Moshood, who goes about with a lady name of Oyinda Alarape, was arrested on Friday in Ibadan, by the men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Oyo State Command, who had earlier suspected his movement.

He told PUNCH METRO in Alesinloye, Ibadan, on Saturday that he devised the method so that his targets, mostly men, could assist him financially.

The teenager, who claimed to be an indigene of Iwo in Osun State, said he dropped out of school when he was in Junior Secondary School II and absconded from his home in Iwo to Ibadan.

He claimed he was lodging in a hotel located in Iwo Road, Ibadan, where he paid N1,000 per night.

Moshood confessed that he had at a time put up with some female students of the University of Ibadan on the campus and they did not know his true sex before he left.

His pictures as a lady also dotted his Facebook page.

At the time of his arrest, his hair was braided and a lady’s handbag recovered from him was full of items such as powder, lady’s sandals, toiletries and condom among others.

The state commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Bello Paiko, told our correspondent he would invite Moshood’s father and hand his son over to him.

Paiko added that if the father was not favourably disposed to the arrangement, he would hand him over to social workers with the aim of reforming him.

“But the first thing I am going to do is to take him to a barbing salon to cut that hair of his,” the NSCDC boss added.

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60-year-old Nigerian woman gives birth

A 60-year-old teacher in Lokoja, Kogi State on Wednesday, gave birth to a male child after several years of childlessness.

Christie, an Isoko woman from Delta, who is resident in Lokoja, was believed to be barren by her neighbours in Ganaja, a surbub in Lokoja, until she started developing a strange physique, associated with early pregnancy. The strange body development was later confirmed to be pregnancy by a medical doctor in one of the hospitals in the state.

The woman, who had been divorced by the estranged husband over her childlessness, threw a lavish party for friends and family members, to celebrate the miracle. Her house has also become a Mecca of sort, as people continue to troop into the place, not for merriment but to witness the wonder of God.

At the time of filing this report, the father of the child was not yet known to the public, as the teacher was said to be a divorcee. All effort to speak with her by our correspondent failed, as the celebrator was been held in the midst of her well-wishers and her relations.

But a man, Mr. Peter, who simply introduced himself as a neighbour to the new mother, said it was a very marvellous thing for a woman at her age, after menopause to be delivered of a baby.

Peter further disclosed that this has given hope to those who have never given birth, that they will one day receive the miracle.

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Drug Czar at 17 .....

A 17-year-old Ohio high school student accused of being a drug "czar" with six lieutenants admitted guilt Tuesday to the charges against him in juvenile court.

The thin, bespectacled teen had the choice to admit to or deny drug trafficking charges against him in Warren County Juvenile Court in Lebanon. Those options are the juvenile court's version of pleading guilty or not guilty. Judge Mike Powell warned the teen before he admitted guilt that he could potentially be in prison until he turns 21. The teen, whom The Associated Press isn't identifying because of his age, responded: "I admit my guilt." The Warren County Drug Task Force said the teen was a sort-of captain of a major drug ring based in the Cincinnati area and led by adults. The teen had six teenage lieutenants, and the group sold as much as $20,000 worth of high-grade homegrown marijuana monthly to high schools students in two affluent Cincinnati-area schools, task force Cmdr. John Burke said. Warren County prosecutor David Fornshell said the teen's demeanor and actions in court both showed that he was remorseful. "I think you saw a certain level of nervousness. You saw someone who was fairly soft-spoken and who did appear to recognize the gravity of what was going on," he said. "Anytime you come in for an initial appearance and admit guilt -- you typically don't see something like that happen. That in and of itself shows that he came prepared to accept the consequences of his conduct." The teen, who wore a crisp blue button-down and khakis, stood up every time he spoke to the judge and addressed him as "your honor." His mother sat quietly next to him and eyed reporters in the courtroom. Michael O'Neill, the teen's attorney, declined to say why the team admitted his guilt and declined to answer any further questions. The teen's next court appearance is set for Aug. 6. Seven adults have been arrested in the case and are facing felony charges of marijuana cultivation, possession and trafficking. The 17-year-old and his so-called lieutenants are answering to charges in the juvenile system. "He is his own little czar over this high school scenario with these lieutenants, but the people above him involved in growing the product are certainly higher up in the food chain," Burke said. The task force investigated the ring for more than a year before arresting its leaders and bringing charges against the juveniles this month. Authorities seized more than 600 hydroponically grown marijuana plants with a street value of around $3 million. They found $6,000 in cash in the teens' bedroom closet. Source

OBJ And IBBTeam Up To Help President Jonanthan Rescue Nigeria From Breaking Up

Contrary to insinuations making the round that he had teamed up with former President Obasanjo against President Jonathan, former military strongman, Gen.Ibrahim Babangida, has opened up about the initiative foappease spear headed by Obasanjo and himself. According to the former ruler, it was President Jonathan who called for the intervention of the two former rulers. It would be recalled that the duo of Obj and IBB had a public spat last year after Babangida criticized Obasanjo’s government as a failure in an interview to celebrate his 70th birthday. The quick witted Obasanjo had responded the next day calling Babangida a “fool at 70″ and a “fool to the grave”. But today all that has changed as they have kissed and made up. Babangida spoke a day after he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo issued a joint statement decrying the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria and urged the government to utilise the “ample opportunities” available to dialogue with the insurgents. He told a reporter yesterday that the government had called upon people like him who had once ruled this country to come together toward charting a course for lasting peace. “The president has called on us who were once head of government to come together toward working out modalities for lasting peace in the country,” he said. He said the invitation by the government informed his first meeting with former president Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja last week. He, however, declined to make further comment on the last meeting and the agenda for subsequent meetings, saying doing so was tantamount to pre-emptying the forum. “I am confident that in no distance future the present security challenge will be an issue of the past, because the federal government has started taking proactive measures towards the restoration of peace in the country”. Babangida appealed to Nigerians who have meaningful contribution to make for addressing the present security predicament to come forward and do so. Source

Kidnappers killed Police in attempt to rescue kidnapped Govt House staff

Mr. Duke Okeze, a staff of Due Process Office, Government House, Asaba, Delta State,and his son who were kidnapped weekend have been rescued by a combined team of SARS, STORM in Issele-Uku  division at Atuma Iga, Delta State.

However, one of the policemen, a Corporal ,  involved in the rescue mission was killed in the process by the kidnappers.

The victims of the kidnapped also received bullet wounds.

Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, in a statement, said that: “Three suspects, including a lady, were arrested and Mr. Duke Okeze's Toyota Corolla car was recovered.

The Police are on the trail of the other fleeing gang members.”