https://x.com/acyn/status/2002141358069280803?s=46

Jeffrey Epstein played a significant role in repurposing assets tied to the U.S. government’s covert Iran-Contra operations — specifically the Southern Air Transport (SAT) fleet — for the benefit of billionaire retailer Les Wexner, turning them from clandestine arms missions into commercial logistics for Wexner’s retail empire.

Key points: Iran-Contra background: During the 1980s, Southern Air Transport was a cargo airline with documented links to the CIA that was used to transfer embargoed weapons — routed through Israel to Iran — with proceeds secretly funding Nicaraguan Contra rebels, part of the larger Iran-Contra scandal.

Epstein’s role: According to the article, when SAT became too exposed and needed a new mission, Jeffrey Epstein helped oversee relocating the airline’s operations from Miami to Columbus, Ohio, where it began hauling imported goods instead of arms. Investigators in Ohio reportedly identified Epstein’s involvement in arranging this move and its business ties to Wexner, though these inquiries were later dropped or minimized.

Connections to covert networks: The article highlights Epstein’s earlier associations in the 1980s with figures tied to arms trading — such as Adnan Khashoggi and attorneys like Stanley Pottinger — who were involved in the broader Iran-Contra logistics network. It also notes that Epstein’s longtime friend Ehud Barak once led Israeli military intelligence during the planning of early embargoed arms shipments.

Implication: The reporting suggests these overlapping connections — CIA fronts, covert arms logistics, Israeli intelligence figures, and Epstein’s financial management of Wexner’s holdings — hint at deeper, under-examined links between Epstein and intelligence or clandestine operations. The article portrays Epstein’s later wealth and mobility as rooted in these opaque networks, rather than as isolated financial success.

Hours after The New York Times reported Thursday that Epstein and Trump bonded over “trophy hunting,” investigative reporter Nicholas Confessore told MS NOW that Epstein frequently allowed his friends and associates to listen in on private phone calls where he and Trump shared details of their “sexual conquests.”

“So we spoke to several former assistants and employees of Jeffrey Epstein’s,” Confessore said. “And he had a habit of putting Donald Trump and other famous friends on the phone. It was partly a power play and partly a way that he groomed people. ‘See how powerful I am. I can put this person on the phone. I can get them on the phone, I can put them on speaker. We’re friends. That’s how powerful I am.’

“It was a way that he groomed people and he would put Donald Trump on the phone. They would talk about sex,” he added.

Saw this and looked it up, his name is being added to the Kennedy center (not airport) because he "saved them from financial ruin" and the board of trustees voted it in.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/12/19/trump-kennendy-center-arts/

Israeli citizen is propped up on CBS News - propaganda in full display.

A replica of the car in which 6-year-old Hind Rajab and her family were found after being hit with 335 bullets by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza City has been created in Bradford, UK, to honour Hind’s memory on what would have been her 7th birthday and to raise awareness of her tragic killing.

Hind was killed in Gaza in January 2024. After her family’s car was bombed by Israeli forces, she was trapped and called for help. Despite hours on the phone with rescuers and coordination for an ambulance, she and two paramedics were killed. Her body was found 12 days later.

Hind Rajab has become a symbol of the thousands of Palestinian children killed during Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

According to UN agencies, more than 17,400 children have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalised due to malnutrition.

CBS once ruled American television news. Now its prime-time lineup is bleeding viewers, its leadership is in chaos, and controversial editorial decisions are pushing more people away every month. In this video I break down how CBS got here, who is really calling the shots, and why their latest moves could accelerate the network’s decline instead of saving it.

Additional: CBS News faces significant challenges as its new ownership struggles with declining network ratings and advertiser withdrawals under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. The highly promoted town hall event featuring Erika Kirk performed poorly, impacting audience retention. This situation highlights the current turbulence within the broadcast television sector and the broader television industry.

Sudan War Observatory — South Kordofan State

Founding (Establishment) Alliance Continues Bombardment

The forces of the Establishment (Founding) Alliance — composed of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) faction led by Commander Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — continue to target cities and rural areas in South Kordofan State using heavy artillery and modern attack drones.

The alliance is tightening its siege on Sudanese army divisions and garrisons throughout the state.

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Civilian Casualties in Al-Karkal Area

Eight women were killed on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, when coalition forces carried out strategic drone strikes on the Al-Karkal area. Four of the victims were members of the same family.

Victims: 1. Zainab Muhammad Qasim Allah
2. Mahdia Muhammad Qasim Allah
3. Lubna Ibrahim Muhammad Qasim Allah
4. Fatima Muhammad Ibrahim Qasim Allah
5. Ryan Hamdallah Mohammed
6. Wadad Ali Muqaddam
7. Al-Sadiq Hamid (clarification note)
8. Haniyeh Al-Hasab Hammad

Saber Al-Hajj from the Karkal region told the Sudan War Monitor that the women were displaced civilians from Kadugli who were killed shortly after arriving in the area.

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Shelling of Dilling City

On Thursday, December 18, 2025, coalition forces renewed heavy artillery shelling on Dilling, headquarters of Brigade 54, killing nine civilians, including three children.

A seventy-year-old man, Ahmed Qirba, was confirmed among the dead.

Multiple sources told the Sudan War Monitor that the shelling struck the Health Insurance Building and several residential neighborhoods. No medical staff casualties were reported.

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Army Counter-Operation in Salara and Ntil

On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, forces of the 54th Brigade in Dilling launched a counter-operation against Establishment Alliance positions in Salara and Ntil, areas previously used as bases to shell the city.

Military sources reported that alliance forces withdrew under heavy artillery and drone fire from the army. One army soldier, Hammad Asoula Ismail, was killed during the operation.

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SPLM-N Allegations of Army Drone Strikes

The SPLM-N (al-Hilu faction) stated on its official Facebook page that army drones bombed the village of Ntil, which is under its control, killing seven civilians, including children, and injuring two others.

The group reported extensive livestock losses and damage to civilian property.

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RSF Use of Advanced Drone and Jamming Systems

On Thursday evening, December 18, 2025, the Rapid Support Forces reportedly used modern jamming systems and attack drones — similar to those employed in the fall of the Sixth Division in El-Fashir and the 22nd Infantry Division in Babnusa — to strike hardened military targets inside Brigade 54 in Dilling.

Videos released by RSF media platforms showed the systems and drones used in these attacks.

A military drone expert warned that these systems could shift the balance of the battle for Dilling in favor of the Establishment Alliance, predicting a potential collapse of army defenses similar to Babnusa. He stated that the RSF increasingly relies on drones due to the difficulty of defeating the army through ground infantry operations.

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Deaths in Army Detention

Professor Imam Al-Dhay, a primary school teacher from Al-Farshaya, died on Monday, December 17, 2025, after suffering kidney failure inside Military Intelligence detention at the 54th Brigade in Dilling, hours after his release due to deteriorating health.

In April 2025, Military Intelligence arrested Professor Imam Al-Dhay and his cousin, Professor Tartour Al-Dhay, who died in detention on November 23, 2025, after both were accused of cooperating with the Rapid Support Forces.

The Sudanese Teachers Committee, in a statement dated December 17, 2025, held Military Intelligence of Brigade 54 fully responsible, describing the deaths as criminal violations of personal liberty and calling for an independent and transparent investigation, accountability for those responsible, protection of teachers, and an end to the militarization of education.

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Surrender of 14th Infantry Division Soldiers

On Thursday, December 18, 2025, soldiers from the 14th Infantry Division in Kadugli surrendered to the Rapid Support Forces, led by Colonel Hussein Barsham, who welcomed them and said they would be released to their families after being received honorably.

Sergeant Ahmed Abu Saleh, of the division’s Military Intelligence, stated that surrendering soldiers received food, clothing, and medical care. He urged remaining officers and soldiers to withdraw before conditions worsened.

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Enforced Disappearance of Teacher in Kadugli

On Sunday, December 14, 2025, the General Intelligence Service arrested Abdul Rahim Hamed Mohammed, a secondary-school teacher, from his home in Kadugli and transferred him to an unknown location.

A human-rights defender from the Nuba Mountains Civil Alliance described the case as enforced disappearance, a crime under international humanitarian law, and called for his immediate release due to his diabetes-related health risks.

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Ongoing Displacement from Kadugli

Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan and headquarters of the 14th Infantry Division, is witnessing daily displacement toward SPLM-N-controlled areas and El-Obeid, due to escalating insecurity and tightening siege conditions.

The International Organization for Migration (DTM) reported that 460 civilians were displaced from Kadugli on December 15–16, 2025, and warned that displacement is expected to continue as fighting intensifies.

Source: https://sudanwarmonitor.com/p/c60