“And Let There Be Earth …”
Benson C Saili
THIS EARTH, MY BROTHER…
Moving past Saturn and onwards in the direction of Jupiter, Nibiru’s path was bent further inwards by the giant planet. That way, the fire-breathing Nibiru, “armed” with seven moons three of which it had grabbed from Uranus, was now set on a collision course with Tiamat, which the Epic of Creation describes as a “watery planet”. In these formative days, Tiamat was not exactly spherical; it had a kind of head-and-tail shape.
On this first encounter, however, Nibiru itself did not slam into Tiamat. It was its moons that did. One of Nibiru’s satellites – called the Evil Wind – smashed into Tiamat, “distending her body, making in her a wide cleavage”. In the words of the Enuma Elish, Tiamat was “badly wounded”. Of Tiamat’s 11 satellites, ten were splintered by Nibiru’s moons, dragged off, and forced into new orbital paths but in the opposite direction. In other words, in their new paths, the satellites, most of which now in fragments, travelled clockwise, like Nibiru, when in the past they had travelled anticlockwise, like Tiamat. The exact terminology the Enuma Elish used to describe this new stance on the part of Tiamat’s broken-up satellites is, “Trembling in fear, they turned their backs about”, meaning to say, they started moving in the reverse direction to what they used to do before – from a anticlockwise direction to a clockwise direction Nibiru-style. Tiamat’s moons thus became what we today call comets.
Even today, astronomers have been unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation as to how comets came about and why they behave in a way that is inconsistent with the rest of the celestial bodies of the Solar System other than Pluto. Their orbits are elongated instead of circular, as a result of which we see them once in several years to thousands of years. Halley’s Comet, for example, is seen only once in 75 years. Planets revolve around the Sun in the same general plane we call the ecliptic; on the other hand, comets go round the sun in distinct, multi-directional planes. And as stated above, comets take a clockwise direction around the Sun whereas planets take the opposite direction.
But the minds of astronomers need not boggle over the “abnormal” behavior of the comets and their “mysterious” origin. The Sumerian records explain it all for us. The comets all were once integral parts of the ten moons of a primordial planet known as Tiamat and when planet Nibiru invaded the Solar System and “locked horns” with Tiamat, the ten moons were smashed into pieces by Nibiru’s own moons. Furthermore, Nibiru’s moons imparted to these fragments their (the moons) own orbital characteristics and sent them into helter-skelter circuits around the Sun. These fragments are what we call comets.
Meanwhile, what was the fate of Kingu, Tiamat’s largest moon? Last time around, we saw that Kingu was about to upgrade from a moon of Tiamat to a planet in its own right. It was just about to detach from the immediate space surrounding Tiamat and found its own orbit in consequence of the gravitational tugs on her by the giant planet Jupiter mostly. In other words, it was about to become master of its own destiny both literally and figuratively as the term destiny in Sumerian also meant “orbit”. The arrival of Nibiru scupperred Kingu’s “plans”. The Enuma Elish says Nibiru took away from Kingu “the Tablets of Destiny”, meaning Kingu was prevented from founding its independent orbit, and “with fetters bound him (Kingu)” so that Kingu remained a satellite of Tiamat as before. Kingu’s promotion to an independent planet so that it becomes master of its own fate was “withdrawn” on the spur of the moment because Lord Nibiru did not “approve”. Furthermore, Nibiru reduced Kingu to a “DUGGAE”, a “pot of lead”. Exactly how this came about we shall explain at the appropriate time.
PLANET EARTH COMES INTO BEING
The above is what happened on the occasion of Nibiru’s first foray into the Solar System, where it had now been permanently caught up as the tenth planet and the 12th most eminent celestial member from the point of view of Earth as made plain in the Enuma Elish in these words: “He (Nibiru) crossed the heavens (Solar System) and surveyed the regions, and Apsu’s (the Sun) quarter he measured …”
About 3,600 years later, Nibiru returned as per its orbital timetable. This time around, it entered the lists itself in its confrontation with Tiamat as per this passage in the Enuma Elish: “The Lord (Nibiru) paused to view her (Tiamat, which had been “mortally injured” in the first encounter 3600 years before) lifeless body. To divide the monster (Tiamat), he (Nibiru) then artfully planned. Then, as a mussel, he split her into two parts.” Nibiru struck Tiamat, splitting it into two, whilst one of its moons, the North Wind, slammed into Tiamat’s severed upper half. It was the impact of the North Wind that thrust the severed upper part of Tiamat “to places that had been unknown”, that is, into another circuit – between Mars and Venus – where it assumed a new destiny as a new planet.
Says the Enuma Elish in the above regard: “The Lord (Nibiru) trod upon Tiamat's hinder (lower) part: with his weapon the connected skull (upper part) he cut loose. He severed the channels of her blood and caused the North Wind to bear it to places that have been unknown.” The new planet carried along with it its now lone satellite Kingu. The new planet became what we today call Earth, or Ki in the Sumerian records, and Kingu is its satellite we call the moon. What we learn, therefore, is that Earth did not begin as an original, own planet: it was once part of the body of the planet Tiamat, which is also known as Maldek. Then when Tiamat was destroyed by “The Lord”, or Nibiru, Earth resulted. Figuratively speaking therefore, it was Nibiru that created planet Earth.
Meanwhile, the stump, or tail, that had remained after the part that became planet Earth had been chopped off was not destined to stay in one piece. When Nibiru returned for its third circuit around the Sun 3,600 years later, it blasted this piece into millions of fragments of varying sizes to create what we call the Asteroid Belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter. The Enuma Elish describes this phenomenon thus: “The other half of her (Tiamat) he (Nibiru) set up as a screen for the skies. Locking them together (the millions of rock debris), as watchmen he stationed them … He bent Tiamat’s tail to form the Great Band as a bracelet.” This “Great Band” formed a canopy between the inner planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – and the outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. In the Sumerian records, the Asteroid Belt is referred to as RAKIA, meaning “hammered out bracelet”, whereas in GENESIS, it is called SHAMAIM, translated as “Heaven” or “Firmament” which separated the “waters below” (the the section of Solar System space where the inner planets are found) from the “waters above” (the section of Solar System space where the outer planets are found). SHAMAIM means “where the waters used to be”, that is, the place where Tiamat, a watery planet, once was found. The Old Testament book of JOB is clearly referring to the Asteroid Belt when it says, “The Heavens (Asteroid Belt) bespeak the glory of the Lord (Nibiru); the Hammered Bracelet (Asteroid Belt) proclaims his handiwork.”
The Sumerians designated Nibiru’s tempestuous destruction of Tiamat, its fashioning from it of a new Earth, the scattering of Tiamat’s moons to turn them into comets, and the creation of the Asteroid Belt as the Celestial Battle. The Celestial Battle is referenced in several passages of the Old Testament. JOB, for instance, says, “The hammered canopy (Asteroid Belt) stretched out in the place of Tehom (Tiamat as we explained at some stage). The Earth suspended in the void. … His powers the waters did arrest; his energy the Haughty One (Tiamat) did cleave. His Wind the Hammered Bracelet (Asteroid Belt) measured out. His hand the twisting dragon (Nibiru) did extinguish.” The prophet ISAIAH talks of an event in which “The Lord” (Nibiru) “carved the Haughty One (Tiamat), made spin the watery monster (Tiamat), dried up the waters of Tehom-Raba (Great Tiamat)”. In PSALMS it is said: “By thy (Nibiru) might, the waters thou didst disperse; the leader of the watery monsters (Tiamat) thou didst break up.”
A PLANET KNOWN AS “THE LORD”
The planet Nibiru has been called by several reverential names. In the Sumerian records, it is referred to, amongst other names, as the “Planet of the Gods” as well as the “Planet of the Throne of Heaven”. The term “Gods” of course stands for the Anunnaki, who created us, that is, genetically engineered us into existence through a fusion of their genes and that of Ape-Man 300,000 years ago. Nibiru was the planet of the throne of Heaven because every time Anu, the Anunnaki King, came to Earth on a state visit, he did so via Nibiru. Anu had a secondary throne on planet Nibiru although his main throne was based in the Sirius star system, a topic we shall dwell upon in detail at a later stage.
In the Old Testament, Nibiru is in precious many passages referred to as “The Lord” or “The Lord of Hosts”. Why is it called “The Lord?” Well, there are several reasons but the cardinal one is that it “created” the Earth from the primordial planet Tiamat by way of the “Celestial Battle” it launched 4 billion years ago. That way, it became the “Great Heavenly Body” and “The King of Gods”. In this latter context, “Gods” simply means the planets of the Solar System.
Since the Celestial Battle, Nibiru has been the supreme planet of the Solar System, as a result of which the Sumerians revered it even more than they did the Sun. Their records describe Nibiru as the "One Who Illumines"; "He who scans the heights of the distant heavens … wearing a halo whose brilliance is awe-inspiring …”; “He who scans the hidden knowledge”; “He who sees all the quarters of the universe”; “The monitor of all the planets”. The term “Illuminati”, which refers to elitists who possess special knowledge withheld from the rest of mankind, partly derives from their identification with the beings of the planet Nibiru, the Anunnaki. Also, the ubiquitous symbol of the All-Seeing Eye has a lot to do with Nibiru and the Anunnaki in light of the afore-mentioned characterisations of their planet.
Once every 3600 years approximately, Nibiru returns to the scene of the Celestial Battle, the place where planet Tiamat used to be, the only time Earthlings see it. Indeed, the figure 3600 was significant to the Sumerians. Pictographically, it was presented as a large circle. The number 3600 was known as shar in Sumerian. But shar was also one of the many epithets of the planet Nibiru. It meant “supreme ruler” as indeed Nibiru was, being the foremost planet of the Solar System. Shar also meant a “complete circle”, referring, in this context, to the 3600 Earth years Nibiru takes to make one complete turn around the Sun. “Planet/orbit/3,600 – it could not be a mere coincidence,” observes Zechariah Sitchin.
THE CROSS AND THE WINGED GLOBE
In Sumerian times, the everyday name of the planet Nibiru was exactly that – Nibiru. Nibiru means “the planet of the crossing”. This name we glean from a Sumerian text that reads thus: “Planet Nibiru: the Crossroads of Heaven and Earth he shall occupy. Above and Below, they shall not go across; they must await him. Planet Nibiru: planet which is brilliant in the heavens. He holds the central position. To him they shall pay homage. Planet Nibiru: it is he who without tiring the midst of Tiamat keeps crossing. Let ‘Crossing’ be his name – the one who occupies the midst.”
Nibiru was called the planet of the crossing because every time it returned to the ecliptic, the furthermost point it went was where the destroyed Tiamat used to be. It is at that point it crosses the ecliptic. When it crosses that passage (a journey that takes six years), it is said to “hold the central position” or “occupy the midst”. How so? Because it divides the Solar System’s main celestial bodies other the Sun into two equal parts – Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon and Mars on the one hand, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto on the other.
Charting the path of Nibiru as it approached, this is what the ancients said: “Planet Marduk: upon its appearance – Mercury; rising 30 degrees of the celestial arc – Jupiter; when standing in the place of the Celestial Battle – Nibiru.” What did the ancients mean when they so stated? Marduk was the name of Nibiru in Babylonian times, after the Sumerian era. Nibiru was first seen from Earth when it astronomically aligned itself with the planet Mercury and loomed even larger when it aligned itself with Jupiter. Its closest position to Earth was attained at the place where the original Earth used to be – the space between Mars and Jupiter, which the Sumerians also called the “Place of the Crossing”. At this point, it became Nibiru proper, Planet of the Crossing. The Sumerian mention of the planet’s 30 degree inclination to the ecliptic is confirmed by modern astronomers.
Obviously as a nod to its being a planet of the crossing, Nibiru was depicted as a radiating cross. As a cuneiform sign, the cross also stood for Anu, the Anunnaki King, and “divine”. The cross evolved to become the letter “Tav” in the Hebrew alphabet, which meant “sign”. Why sign? This was very much in keeping with how the ancients received the planet Nibiru. When it was seen, it was considered to be a harbinger of both good and bad tidings – floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, great advances scientifically and knowledgewise as well as in the standard of living in general, the arrival of the “God” Anu, etc.
But if there was one symbol that seemed to fascinate Sumerians the most, it was the Winged Globe. It was everywhere and anywhere, around them and about them. Observes Zechariah Sitchin: “Wherever the archeologists uncovered the remains of the Near Eastern peoples, the symbol of the Winged Globe was conspicuous, dominating temples and palaces, carved on rocks, etched on cylinder seals, painted on walls. It accompanied kings and priests, stood above their thrones, hovered above them in battle scenes, was etched into their chariots. Clay, metal, stone, and wood objects were adorned with the symbol. The rulers of Sumer and Akkad, Babylon and Assyria, Elam and Urartu, Mari and Nuzi, Mitanni and Canaan – all revered the symbol. Hittite kings, Egyptian pharaohs, Persian shar's – all proclaimed the symbol (and what it stood for) supreme. It remained so for millennia.”
The planet was depicted as a winged globe because when it is seen, it has a glow around it that extends sideways, giving it a fuzzy wings-shape.
NEXT WEEK: NIBIRU ON A SUMERIAN CYLINDER SEAL
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GONE FISHING
In recent years, using personal devices in working environments has become so commonplace it now has its own acronym, BOYD (Bring Your Own Device).  But as employees skip between corporate tools and personal applications on their own devices, their actions introduce a number of possible risks that should be managed and mitigated with careful consideration. Consider these examples:
Si-lwli, a small family-run business in Wales, is arguably as niche a company as you could find, producing talking toys used to promote the Welsh language. Their potential market is small, with only some 300,000 Welsh language speakers in the world and in reality the business is really more of a hobby for the husband-and-wife team, who both still have day jobs. Yet, despite still managing to be successful in terms of sales, the business is now fighting for survival after recently falling prey to cybercriminals. Emails between Si-Iwli and their Chinese suppliers were intercepted by hackers who altered the banking details in the correspondence, causing Si-Iwli to hand over £18,000 (around P ¼ m) to the thieves. That might not sound much to a large enterprise, but to a small or medium business it can be devastating.
Another recent SMB hacking story which appeared in the Wall Street Journal concerned Innovative Higher Ed Consulting (IHED) Inc, a small New York start-up with a handful of employees. IHED didn’t even have a website, but fraudsters were able to run stolen credit card numbers through the company’s payment system and reverse the charges to the tune of $27,000, around the same loss faced by Si-Iwli.  As the WSJ put it, the hackers completely destroyed the company, forcing its owners to fold.
And in May 2019, the city of Baltimore’s computer system was hit by a ransomware attack, with hackers using a variant called RobinHood. The hack, which has lasted more than a month, paralysed the computer system for city employees, with the hackers demanding a payment in Bitcoin to give access back to the city.
Of course, hackers target governments or business giants  but small and medium businesses are certainly not immune. In fact, 67% of SMBs reported that they had experienced a cyber attack across a period of 12 months, according to a 2018 survey carried out by security research firm Ponemon Institute. Additionally, Verizon issued a report in May 2019 that small businesses accounted for 43% of its reported data breaches. Once seen as less vulnerable than PCs, smartphone attacks are on the rise, with movements like the Dark Caracal spyware campaign underlining the allure of mobile devices to hackers. Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission released a statement calling for greater education on mobile security, coming at a time when around 42% of all Android devices are believed to not carry the latest security updates.
This is an era when employees increasingly use their smartphones for work-related purposes so is your business doing enough to protect against data breaches on their employees’ phones? The SME Cyber Crime Survey 2018 carried out for risk management specialists AON showed that more than 80% of small businesses did not view this as a threat yet if as shown, 67% of SMBs were said to have been victims of hacking, either the stats are wrong or business owners are underestimating their vulnerability. A 2019 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the latter, stating that the majority of global businesses are unprepared for cyber attacks.
Consider that a workstation no longer means a desk in an office: It can be a phone in the back of a taxi or Uber; a laptop in a coffee shop, or a tablet in an airport lounge. Wherever the device is used, employees can potentially install applications that could be harmful to your business, even from something as seemingly insignificant as clicking on an accidental download or opening a link on a phishing email. Out of the physical workplace, your employees’ activities might not have the same protections as they would on a company-monitored PC.
Yet many businesses not only encourage their employees to work remotely, but assume working from coffee shops, bookstores, and airports can boost employees’ productivity.  Unfortunately, many remote hot spots do not provide secure Wi-Fi so if your employee is accessing their work account on unsecured public Wi-Fi, sensitive business data could be at risk. Furthermore, even if your employee uses a company smartphone or has access to company data through a personal mobile device, there is always a chance data could be in jeopardy with a lost or stolen device, even information as basic as clients’ addresses and phone numbers.
BOYDs are also at risk from malware designed to harm and infect the host system, transmittable to smartphones when downloading malicious third-party apps. Then there is ransomware, a type of malware used by hackers to specifically take control of a system’s data, blocking access or threatening to release sensitive information unless a ransom is paid such as the one which affected Baltimore. Ransomware attacks are on the increase,  predicted to occur every 14 seconds, potentially costing billions of dollars per year.
Lastly there is phishing – the cyber equivalent of the metaphorical fishing exercise –  whereby cybercriminals attempt to obtain sensitive data –usernames, passwords, credit card details –usually through a phoney email designed to look legitimate which directs the user to a fraudulent website or requests the data be emailed back directly. Most of us like to think we could recognize a phishing email when we see it, but these emails have become more sophisticated and can come through other forms of communication such as messaging apps.
Bottom line is to be aware of the potential problems with BOYDs and if in doubt, consult your IT security consultants. You can’t put the own-device genie back in the bottle but you can make data protection one of your three wishes!
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“I Propose to Diana Tonightâ€
About five days before Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed landed in Paris, General Atiku, a certain Edward Williams was taking a walk in a woods in the Welsh town of Mountain Ash. Williams, then 73, was a psychic of some renown. He had in the past foretold assassination attempts on US President Ronald Reagan, which occurred on March 30, 1981, and Pope John Paul II, which came to pass on May 13, 1981.
As he trudged the woods, Williams  had a sudden premonition that pointed to Diana’s imminent fate as per Christopher Andersen’s book The Day Diana Died. “When the vision struck me, it was as if everything around me was obscured and replaced by shadowy figures,†Williams was later to reminisce. “In the middle was the face of Princess Diana. Her expression was sad and full of pathos. She was wearing what looked like a floral dress with a short dark cardigan. But it was vague. I went cold with fear and knew it was a sign that she was in danger.â€
Williams hastily beat a retreat to his home, which he shared with his wife Mary, and related to her his presentiment, trembling like an aspen leaf as he did so. “I have never seen him so upset,†Mary recounted. “He felt he was given a sign and when he came back from his walk he was deeply shaken.â€
The following day, Williams frantically sauntered into a police station to inform the police of his premonition. The officer who attended to him would have dismissed him as no more than a crackpot but he treated him seriously in view of the accuracy of his past predictions. He took a statement and immediately passed it on to the Special Branch Investigative Unit.
The report read as follows:
“On 27 August, at 14:12 hrs, a man by the name of Edward Williams came to Mountain Ash police station. He said he was a psychic and predicted that Princess Diana was going to die. In previous years, he has predicted that the Pope and Ronald Reagan were going to be the victims of assassination attempts. On both occasions he was proved to be correct. Mr Williams appeared to be quite normal.â€
Williams, General, was spot-on as usual: four days later, the princess was no more.
Meanwhile, General,  even as Dodi and Diana were making their way to the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel in central Paris, British newspapers were awash with headlines that suggested Diana was kind of deranged. Writes Andrew Morton in Diana in Pursuit of Love: “In The Independent Diana was described as ‘a woman with fundamentally nothing to say about anything’. She was ‘suffering from a form of arrested development’. ‘Isn’t it time she started using her head?’ asked The Mail on Sunday. The Sunday Mirror printed a special supplement entitled ‘A Story of Love’; The News of the World claimed that William had demanded that Diana should split from Dodi: ‘William can’t help it, he just doesn’t like the man.’ William was reportedly ‘horrified’ and ‘doesn’t think Mr Fayed is good for his mother’ – or was that just the press projecting their own prejudices? The upmarket Sunday Times newspaper, which had first serialised my biography of the princess, now put her in the psychiatrist’s chair for daring to be wooed by a Muslim. The pop-psychologist Oliver James put Diana ‘On the Couch’, asking why she was so ‘depressed’ and desperate for love. Other tabloids piled in with dire prognostications – about Prince Philip’s hostility to the relationship, Diana’s prospect of exile, and the social ostracism she would face if she married Dodi.â€
DIANA AND DODI AT THE RITZ
Before Diana and Dodi departed the Villa Windsor sometime after 16 hrs, General, one of Dodi’s bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones furtively asked Diana as to what the programme for the evening was. This Trevor did out of sheer desperation as Dodi had ceased and desisted from telling members of his security detail, let alone anyone else for that matter, what his onward destination was for fear that that piece of information would be passed on to the paparazzi. Diana kindly obliged Trevor though her response was terse and scarcely revealing. “Well, eventually we will be going out to a restaurantâ€, that was all Diana said. Without advance knowledge of exactly what restaurant that was, Trevor and his colleagues’ hands were tied: they could not do a recce on it as was standard practice for the security team of a VIP principal. Dodi certainly, General, was being recklessly by throwing such caution to the winds.
At about 16:30, Diana and Dodi drew up at the Ritz Hotel, where they were received by acting hotel manager Claude Roulet. Â The front entrance of the hotel was already crawling with paparazzi, as a result of which the couple took the precaution of using the rear entrance, where hopefully they would make their entry unperturbed and unmolested. The first thing they did when they were ensconced in the now $10,000 a night Imperial Suite was to spend some time on their mobiles and set about touching base with friends, relations, and associates. Â Diana called at least two people, her clairvoyant friend Rita Rogers and her favourite journalist Richard Kay of The Daily Mail.
Rita, General,  was alarmed that Diana had proceeded to venture to Paris notwithstanding the warning she had given Dodi and herself in relation to what she had seen of him  in the crystal ball when the couple had consulted her. When quizzed as to what the hell she indeed was doing in Paris at that juncture, Diana replied that she and Dodi had simply come to do some shopping, which though partially true was not the material reason they were there. “But Diana, remember what I told Dodi,†Rita said somewhat reprovingly. Diana a bit apprehensively replied, “Yes I remember. I will be careful. I promise.†Well,  she did not live up to her promise as we shall soon unpack General.
As for Richard Kay, Diana made known to him that, “I have decided I am going to radically change my life. I am going to complete my obligations to charities and to the anti-personnel land mines cause, but in November I want to completely withdraw from formal public life.â€
Once she was done with her round of calls, Diana went down to the hair saloon by the hotel swimming pool to have her hair washed and blow-dried ahead of the scheduled evening dinner.
THE “TELL ME YES†RING IS DELIVERED
Since the main object of their Paris trip was to pick up the “Tell Me Yes†engagement ring Dodi had ordered in Monte Carlo a week earlier, Dodi decided to check on Repossi Jewellery, which was right within the Ritz prencincts, known as the Place Vendome.  It could have taken less than a minute for Dodi to get to the store on foot but he decided to use a car to outsmart the paparazzi invasion. He was driven there by Trevor Rees-Jones, with Alexander Kez Wingfield and Claude Roulet following on foot, though he entered the shop alone.
The Repossi store had closed for the holiday season but Alberto Repossi, accompanied by his wife and brother-in-law,  had decided to travel all the way from his home in Monaco  and momentarily open it for the sake of the potentially highly lucrative Dodi transaction.  Alberto, however, disappointed Dodi as the ring he had chosen was not the one he produced. The one he showed Dodi was pricier and perhaps more exquisite but Dodi was adamant that he wanted the exact one he had ordered as that was what Diana herself had picked. It was a ploy on the part of Repossi to make a real killing on the sale, his excuse to that effect being that Diana deserved a ring tha was well worthy of her social pedigree. With Dodi having expressed disaffection, Repossi rendered his apologies and assured Dodi he would make the right ring available shortly, whereupon Dodi repaired back to the hotel to await its delivery. But Dodi  did insist nonetheless that the pricier ring be delivered too in case it appealed to Diana anyway.
Repossi delivered the two rings an hour later. They were collected by Roulet. On inspecting them, Dodi chose the very one he had seen in Monte Carlo, apparently at the insistence of Diana. There is a possibility that Diana, who was very much aware of her public image and was not comfortable with ostentatious displays of wealth, may have deliberately shown an interest in a less expensive engagement ring. It  may have been a purely romantic as opposed to a prestigious  choice for her.
The value of the ring, which was found on a wardrobe shelf in Dodi’s apartment after the crash,  has been estimated to be between $20,000 and $250,000 as Repossi has always refused to be drawn into revealing how much Dodi paid for it. The sum, which enjoyed a 25 percent discount, was in truth paid for not by Dodi himself but by his father as was the usual practice.
Dodi was also shown Repossi’s sketches for a bracelet, a watch, and earrings which he proposed to create if Diana approved of them.
DIANA AND DODI GUSH OVER IMMINENT NUPTIALS
At about 7 pm,  Dodi and Diana left the Ritz and headed for Dodi’s apartment at a place known as the Arc de Trompe. They went there to properly tog themselves out for the scheduled evening dinner. They spent two hours at the luxurious apartment. As usual, the ubiquitous paparazzi were patiently waiting for them there.
As they lingered in the apartment, Dodi beckoned over to his butler Rene Delorm and showed him the engagement ring. “Dodi came into my kitchen,†Delorm relates. “He looked into the hallway to check that Diana couldn’t hear and reached into his pocket and pulled out the box … He said, ‘Rene, I’m going to propose to the princess tonight. Make sure that we have champagne on ice when we come back from dinner’.†Rene described the ring as “a spectacular diamond encrusted ring, a massive emerald surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, set on a yellow and white gold band sitting in a small light-grey velvet boxâ€.
Just before 9 pm, Dodi called the brother of his step-father, Hassan Yassen, who also was staying at the Ritz  that night, and told him that he hoped to get married to Diana by the end of the year.
Later that same evening, both Dodi and Diana would talk to Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi’s dad, and make known to him their pre-nuptial intentions. “They called me and said we’re coming back (to London) on Sunday (August 31) and on Monday (September 1) they are
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RAMADAN – The Blessed Month of Fasting
Ramadan is the fasting month for Muslims, where over one billion Muslims throughout the world fast from dawn to sunset, and pray additional prayers at night. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to Allah, and self-control. It is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. As you read this Muslims the world over have already begun fasting as the month of Ramadan has commenced (depending on the sighting of the new moon).
‘The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for people, in it are clear signs of guidance and Criterion, therefore whoever of you who witnesses this month, it is obligatory on him to fast it. But whoever is ill or traveling let him fast the same number of other days, God desires ease for you and not hardship, and He desires that you complete the ordained period and glorify God for His guidance to you, that you may be grateful”. Holy Qur’an (2 : 185)
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars upon which the structure of Islam is built. The other four are: the declaration of one’s belief in Allah’s oneness and in the message of Muhammad (PBUH); regular attendance to prayer; payment of zakaat (obligatory charity); and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
As explained in an earlier article, fasting includes total abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking, refraining from obscenity, avoiding getting into arguments and including abstaining from marital relations, from sunrise to sunset. While fasting may appear to some as difficult Muslims see it as an opportunity to get closer to their Lord, a chance to develop spiritually and at the same time the act of fasting builds character, discipline and self-restraint.
Just as our cars require servicing at regular intervals, so do Muslims consider Ramadan as a month in which the body and spirit undergoes as it were a ‘full service’. This ‘service’ includes heightened spiritual awareness both the mental and physical aspects and also the body undergoing a process of detoxification and some of the organs get to ‘rest’ through fasting.
Because of the intensive devotional activity fasting, Ramadan has a particularly high importance, derived from its very personal nature as an act of worship but there is nothing to stop anyone from privately violating Allah’s commandment of fasting if one chooses to do so by claiming to be fasting yet eating on the sly. This means that although fasting is obligatory, its observance is purely voluntary. If a person claims to be a Muslim, he is expected to fast in Ramadan.
The reward Allah gives for proper fasting is very generous. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) quotes Allah as saying: “All actions done by a human being are his own except fasting, which belongs to Me and I will reward it accordingly.†We are also told by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that the reward for proper fasting is admittance into heaven.
Fasting earns great reward when it is done in a ‘proper’ manner. This is because every Muslim is required to make his worship perfect. For example perfection of fasting can be achieved through restraint of one’s feelings and emotions. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that when fasting, a person should not allow himself to be drawn into a quarrel or a slanging match. He teaches us: “On a day of fasting, let no one of you indulge in any obscenity, or enter into a slanging match. Should someone abuse or fight him, let him respond by saying: ‘I am fasting!’â€
This high standard of self-restraint fits in well with fasting, which is considered as an act of self-discipline. Islam requires us to couple patience with voluntary abstention from indulgence in our physical desires. The purpose of fasting helps man to attain a high degree of sublimity, discipline and self-restraint. In other words, this standard CAN BE achieved by every Muslim who knows the purpose of fasting and strives to fulfill it.
Fasting has another special aspect. It makes all people share in the feelings of hunger and thirst. In normal circumstances, people with decent income may go from one year’s end to another without experiencing the pangs of hunger which a poor person may feel every day of his life. Such an experience helps to draw the rich one’s conscience nearer to needs of the poor. A Muslim is encouraged to be more charitable and learns to give generously for a good cause.
Fasting also has a universal or communal aspect to it. As Muslims throughout the world share in this blessed act of worship, their sense of unity is enhanced by the fact that every Muslim individual joins willingly in the fulfillment of this divine commandment. This is a unity of action and purpose, since they all fast in order to be better human beings. As a person restrains himself from the things he desires most, in the hope that he will earn Allah’s pleasure, self-discipline and sacrifice become part of his nature.
The month of Ramadan can aptly be described as a “season of worship.†Fasting is the main aspect of worship in this month, because people are more attentive to their prayers, read the Qur’an more frequently and also strive to improve on their inner and outer character. Thus, their devotion is more complete and they feel much happier in Ramadan because they feel themselves to be closer to their Creator.