Saudi Arabia has launched air strikes on separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Yemen as the rift between the two Gulf states deepens.
Saudi warplanes bombed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in Yemen’s central Hadhramaut province on Friday, new images show.
On Saturday, Riyadh said it would back Yemen’s government in any military confrontation with separatist forces and urged them to withdraw “peacefully” from contested areas.
Saudi Arabia supports the internationally recognised government in Yemen, while the STC, which wants the portion of the country that was historically South Yemen to secede, is backed by the UAE.
The STC said that the Saudi bombardment was of “serious concern” and that it served “no constructive purpose in any dialogue”.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said: “We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution.”
There was no comment from Riyadh.
Two weeks ago, the STC captured the two oil-rich governorates of Hadhramaut and al-Mahra, which borders Oman, with little resistance from Yemeni government forces.
Riyadh made an appeal to the STC to withdraw from the two provinces, but that was rejected by the group, which said it would continue to shore up its control over the areas.
The Saudi ministry of foreign affairs said that unilateral actions damaged Yemen’s unity and said the kingdom “remains hopeful that the public interest will prevail through ending the escalation by the Southern Transitional Council”. It added that it “stresses the importance of cooperation among all Yemeni factions and components to exercise restraint”.
Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi defence minister, said: “It’s time to let reason prevail by withdrawing from the two provinces and doing so peacefully.”
Hadhramaut, Yemen’s biggest and richest region, has close ties to Saudi Arabia, and the STC’s advance there was perceived as a threat to the kingdom’s national security interests.
“The Southern Armed Forces’ movement came in response to calls from our southern people to confront security threats represented by terrorist groups and to cut off supply and smuggling lines,” the STC said in defence of its move.
The UN has also warned that the STC’s advance risks wider escalation and puts security in the region at risk.
Saudi Arabia is firmly committed to a unified Yemen. This is primarily because the two share a 400-mile border, and its security is key to the security of Saudi Arabia.
By partnering with the rebel STC, the UAE gains control over key southern ports, including Aden, and strategic islands such as Socotra and Mayun. This allows Abu Dhabi to secure vital shipping lanes through the Bab al-Mandab strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is essential for global trade.
The STC have pushed back the internationally recognised government from huge swathes of southern Yemen this month in a fast-paced advance which has handed the separatists control over nearly half of Yemen’s territory in the eastern regions.
It is thought to be unlikely that the STC would have launched the offensive without the UAE signing it off.
Farea al-Muslimi, from the Chatham House think tank in London, told AFP that the STC had crossed Riyadh’s “red lines” and that the situation could quickly get worse.
“It is one bad thing to humiliate Saudi Arabia. And it is another much worse thing to humiliate Saudi Arabia publicly. And that’s exactly what they did,” he said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE, traditionally allies, are vying for regional power status, and both have strategically intervened in local conflicts in order to advance their interests.
Although the two powers have made an effort to present a united front, their diverging interests on the ground could put pressure on their alliance against the Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that controls much of Yemen, including its capital, Sanaa.
Europe has expressed concerns that divisions within the south could deflect attention from the effort to oust the Houthis.
On Saturday, Prince Khalid posted an open letter on X to “our people in Yemen”, calling on the STC to “prioritise the voice of reason, wisdom, the public interest, and unity of ranks by responding to the Saudi-Emirati mediation efforts to end the escalation”.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also increasingly at odds over the civil war in Sudan.
The UAE has been accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have faced allegations of genocide, while Saudi Arabia is considered a supporter of its main rival, the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Abu Dhabi has denied providing arms to the RSF. Saudi Arabia sees Sudan as crucial to national security.
Yes, it is possible to be in government and not steal, but that doesn't apply to the Tinubu family which has a documented history of industrial level fraud and graft.
Fekumzi123: Ok, they were in government and they stole. Is it possible to be in government and not steal? Jonathan even said stealing is not corruption because he knew you must steal. If you doubt me, why not work hard and become governor, maybe you can change the narrative.
These are excerpts taken from an interview Sheikh Gumi's father granted in 1987 to a magazine called Quality:
Quality: Now you say Nigerian press is also very free?
Gumi: Yes.
Quality: Some of the papers have attacked you on some issues. Has it ever worried you?
Gumi: No, I was not worried because they did not know what they were doing. If they come and ask me what is this you are doing. If you know that what you are doing is from your heart, whatever criticism comes against you, you don’t feel, because the man who is acting doesn’t know what he is doing, if he knows what he is doing, he comes and ask you.
Quality: Apart from Islam, how much of this attitude would you say “my family has influenced me.” How much of it is from your family?
Gumi: Now I don’t think I got this from the family because since I left my family, I join the school and I was learning and practising according to my life and my father died when I was young and I have no elder brothers, I only have elder sisters who were married in their houses, so I was free since I was young and I did everything according to how I learnt from the book.
Quality: But even now, you have your own family. How much influence do they have on you?
Gumi: They have freedom of coming to ask me why. Freedom of asking me their rights and if I have I give them and if I don't have, until the time is right, this is the position.
Quality: They understand? Gumi: Yes they understand.
Quality: On all issues? Gumi: Everything, I don’t conceal anything.
Quality: Now we go back to politics again. Gumi: Yes.
Quality: One of Nigeria’s problems is that of unity, how much can Islam help in bringing about the so much talked about Nigerian unity?
Gumi: Nigerian unity, if I am to do my best, is to try to convert christians and non-moslems as much as possible. Until the other religions become minority and they will not affect our society. Quality: So that is the way you can help? Gumi: Yes.
Raised in Iran and now Australian, Tawhidi defended UAE's tolerant Christmas celebrations against Nigerian Muslim @Cool_Ustaz, who saw greetings as endorsing Christian beliefs like God begetting a son.
Tawhidi warned such views could violate UAE hate speech laws, which carry fines up to $272,000 and deportation, while UAE leaders like Sheikh Mohamed routinely send holiday wishes amid public trees and lights for its 80% expatriate population.
Nigerians online praised Tawhidi for challenging what they call extremist Islam linked to groups like Boko Haram, highlighting Islam's diverse interpretations from Gulf coexistence to global conservatism.
The body of Cletus Iwuagwu, a 71-year-old doctor reported missing exactly one month ago, was recovered Thursday afternoon from a pond in the Stone Oak area, according to Lucas County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jon Leach. People who were walking in the area reported seeing the body in the pond.
A drone was deployed and Springfield Fire assisted in retrieving Iwuagwu's body. The Lucas County Coroner's Office has identified the body and Iwuagwu's family was notified, Leach told WTOL 11 at the scene.
In a press release on Thursday, the coroner's office said no foul play is suspected in Iwuagwu's death, and that the cause and manner of his death are still under investigation. An autopsy examination on his body will be conducted on Friday.
Iwuagwu was reported missing on Nov. 25 by his daughter, according to police documents, launching an extensive search of the Springfield Township and Holland area.
Leach had previously told WTOL 11 that there had been many tips regarding Iwuagwu's whereabouts, including from a clairvoyant in Florida. Authorities had used aerial and underwater drones, tracking and cadaver dogs, foot searches and sonar equipment in the Stone Oak area, but were unable to locate Iwuagwu before Thursday.
His family and the community held multiple search parties. He was last seen Nov. 25 on a home camera. Iwuagwu had not been seen or heard from since.
“The family has been beyond cooperative, particularly considering what they have been going through," Leach told WTOL 11, one week after Iwuagwu was reported missing. "We’re hoping we can give them a resolution. We’re hoping that he simply walks out of the woods and that he just wanted to clear his head.”
Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to wish for Vladimir Putin’s death in his annual Christmas address to Ukraine.
“Today we all share one dream. And we make one wish, for all of us: may he perish,” the Ukrainian president said.
The comment was widely understood to refer to the Russian president, who has continued to bombard Kyiv during ongoing peace talks.
“We ask for peace for Ukraine. We fight for it. And we pray for it. And we deserve it. That every Ukrainian family may live in harmony,” Mr Zelensky continued.
“That every Ukrainian child may rejoice in a gift, smile and preserve that so very important childlike faith in goodness and in miracles.”
Mr Zelensky also condemned “godless” attacks on Ukraine a day after Moscow launched a barrage of almost 700 missiles and drones, which killed three people and wounded 12 others.
“This is how the godless strike. This is how those act who have absolutely nothing in common with Christianity or with anything human,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader has previously said Putin “will die soon”, and his death would usher in the end of the conflict.
As Ukraine prepares to mark its fourth Christmas at war, Mr Zelensky unveiled a new 20-point peace plan backed by the US which indicated he would be willing to cede territory.
Although the document is more favourable to Ukraine than a previous 28-point proposal drafted by Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, and Russia’s representative Kirill Dmitriev, the revised plan still contains significant concessions from Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he was prepared to relinquish control of the eastern Donbas region to create an “economic free zone” that would serve as a demilitarised buffer against Russia.
The US has backed an “economic free zone” as a compromise between Ukraine and Russia, which demanded Kyiv surrender the Donbas in its entirety along with several other regions illegally annexed by Moscow.
The 20-point deal also proposed a less strict limitation on the size of Ukraine’s armed forces and ironclad security guarantees for Kyiv if Russia were to launch another invasion.
Even as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, let us remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering tribulation in the hands of the satanic and the ungodly.
Sarah Achi, the wife of Venerable Edwin Achi, remains held captive for over 57 days now. She was kidnapped alongside her husband, who was tragically killed by the bandits while in captivity.
Shockingly, the kidnappers have posted mocking images of her and their daughter on social media, including on Facebook. Where is the action from our elite security units?
Where are @HQNigerianArmy @PoliceNG @OfficialDSSNG? It's time to prove your capabilities, do not let us down. Rescue Sarah Achi and bring her home immediately.
Have you heard of a movie called "The Shawshank Redemption"? Please watch it and tell us if your opinion on American jail is still the same
badaru911: ..Good, free transport to the airport, free plane to the USA , free accommodation with free food ( no stony beans and white soup) in a highly secured home (prison) .. all his expenses will be paid freely by US government.. Woaw, what many men are wishing for...
Education is your best friend. The US visa restrictions on Nigeria were introduced for 2 reasons: High Visa overstay and insecurity.
Even your president agrees that there is massive insecurity in Nigeria otherwise he wouldn't have introduced a state of emergency.
The Visa ban won't affect Christian victims of Islamic jihadist attacks, after all, many of the Chibok girls have relocated abroad and are doing well with their lives.
Burob: Very funny pikin, Trump is coming to help u abi, I thought he would have at least given una temporary residents permit to reside in Alaska, since vast unoccupied land still full the state.
Instead na visa & entry restrictions e put on the Christian genocide wailers.
E never even finish with una yet, more is still coming from Oga Donald J Trump.
Two Islamic State extremists are facing life in jail after they were found guilty of plotting a suicide attack on Manchester’s Jewish community, with Christians killed “as a bonus”.
The plan would have resulted in “the deadliest terrorist attack in UK history”, according to Rob Potts, the assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, the former owner of an Italian restaurant in a Norfolk seaside town, “hero-worshipped” Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed, Preston crown court was told.
He sold up, moved north and used part of the proceeds from his house sale to pay €5,000 (£4,400) as an initial payment for four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 1,200 rounds of ammunition as he planned a marauding gun attack in revenge for Israeli attacks on Gaza.
His target was the same part of Manchester where the terrorist Jihad al-Shamie later stabbed a worshipper to death outside a synagogue on October 2.
Saadaoui conducted a surveillance trip around the area with an undercover officer called “Farouk” and told him he wanted to target schools and gatherings, adding: “Young, old, women, elderly, the whole lot, killing them all.”
He was caught “red handed” by police after an undercover sting operation as he took delivery of the first shipment of weapons, supplied and deactivated by police, from the boot of a rented Lexus.
Video from police bodycams showed him running 20 yards across the car park of a Lancashire spa hotel before he was grabbed by armed officers and brought to the ground on May 8 last year.
MI5 believe that Saadaoui had previously been in contact with an extremist called Hamid al-Masalkhi from Cardiff who had left Britain to join Isis in 2013, sources say.
Saadaoui planned the attack with Amar Hussein, 52, a former Iraqi soldier who had claimed to be from Kuwait when he arrived in the UK in 2006. Hussein, who had a previous conviction for carrying a knife, lived in an upstairs room at the appliance store where he worked in Bolton.
The men planned to recruit two others, dress in Jewish clothing and move from place to place on an extended shooting spree that also targeted police and emergency responders.
At the home he shared with his wife and children in Abram near Wigan, Saadaoui kept bees and green birds, a symbol of paradise in Islam. He used his hobby to come up with a code for the purchase of firearms for the attack, calling the weapons “goldfinches” and the ammunition “bird seed” in messages to the undercover officer.
Saadaoui and Hussein twice posed as tourists at the White Cliffs National Trust nature reserve near Dover to observe the security checks at the port below, believing the weapons would be imported from France by the undercover officer.
Harpreet Sandhu KC, for the prosecution, told the jury it “hardly had the innocence of a teddy bears’ picnic”.
Saadaoui, a former hotel entertainer originally from Tunisia, married an English woman called Jane and moved to Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, in 2012 and then to Great Yarmouth. He worked in the shop at the Haven Holiday Park and later bought the Albatross restaurant. Advertisement
In 2023 he moved to Wigan with his second wife, Michelle, and two young children. He worked briefly at a discount store, then gave up work, claimed universal credit and regularly posted statements from Isis on Facebook.
He started emptying his bank accounts, withdrawing £88,500 in cash, wrote a will and made approaches to criminal contacts in an attempt to get hold of a firearm.
His posts drew the attention of MI5 and on November 28, 2023, they initiated Operation Catogenic, described by police as the “largest scale and most complex covert counterterrorism investigation ever conducted in the northwest”.
Investigators believe Saadaoui was already preparing to launch an attack. Farouk, the undercover officer, told his bosses he feared Saadaoui would “kill a lot of people” if they did not intervene.
In a voice note to the undercover police officer sent on Christmas Day 2023, Saadaoui said: “These matters of running someone over with a car or using a knife is ineffective; what is needed is an automatic gun. We want to do the same as what Abaaoud done, god willing. We must run rivers of their impure blood.”
On February 15 Saadaoui met Farouk in Queen’s Park in Bolton to discuss their plans to smuggle weapons into the country. Saadaoui told Farouk he wanted to rub the blood of his victims on his body and added: “If we were to carry out this operation, we target the Jews. We start with the Jews and if there are any Christians caught in the act, that is a bonus, but we start with the Jews.”
Saadaoui and Hussein were on trial alongside Saadaoui’s younger brother, Bilel, 36, from Hindley, Greater Manchester, who was said to have turned down the opportunity to take part in the attacks but received a copy of his brother’s will and the key to a hidden safe containing money for his brother’s family. He was found guilty of failure to disclose information about an act of terrorism.
It was Southerners who led practically ALL the anti colonialist and indeoendence movements in Nigeria.
From Herbert Macauley to Zik, to Obafemi Awolowo to Anthony Enahoro who moved the first motion for Nigerian independence in 1956 which ironically was opposed by the Northern Region.
DeLaRue: Same way many Southerners kowtow to Americans, Europeans, and Israel.
It is an ingrained sense of less worth and inferiority.
The President of Dangote Group, Dr Aliko Dangote has given a Kaduna based businessman Kailani Mohammed a 7-day ultimatum to retract a libelous publication made against him and his business or face N100Bn suit.
Dangote, in a letter to the businessman demanded immediate public explanation, retraction and unreserved apology from the Kaduna businessman for accusing him of engaging in an unclean business especially in 1980s in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Dangote’s letter was served on the Kaduna businessman by his lawyer Dr Ogwu James Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria of Onoja law firm in Abuja.
In the letter dated December 20, 2025, Dangote complained that the Kaduna businessman defamed him, lowered his reputation and tarnished his business engagements with the accusation that he engaged in unclean business in Port Harcourt and also queried his source of wealth as the richest man in Africa.
The offending remarks were said to have been made by Engr. Kailani Mohamed during an interview aired on Wednesday December 17th, 2025 on TrustTV news in reaction to his petition against Dr Farouk Ahmed submitted to independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission ICPC.
The letter is titled “Demand for public explanation, retraction and unreserved public apology on your libelous publication against Alhaji Aliko Dangote, GCON” and signed by Dr. Ogwu James Onoja SAN.
It[b] read “We are solicitors to Alhaji Aliko Dangote and we write pursuant to his express instructions regarding grievously libelous statements broadcast by TrustTV news and uttered by you during an interview aired on Wednesday, 17th December, 2025 in reaction to the petition submitted by our client to Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).” [/b] “Our client is a widely reputable international businessman. He is the richest black man on earth and he has the largest business conglomerate in Africa.
“Our client, through dint of hard work, integrity, diligent and perseverance over the years earned for himself the reputation and honour he is reckoned with all over the world.
“Our client’s attention has been drawn to statements made by you during the televised broadcast on TrustTV on the aforementioned date in reaction to our client’s petition submitted to Independent Corrupt Practices and the other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate and possibly prosecute Engr. Farouk Ahmad if found wanting, wherein you made false, reckless, malicious, scandalous and libelous publications concerning our client as a man that has monopolistic tendencies, corruptly enriched himself in business and engaged in economics cerbutach.
“Your statement also portrayed our client as a very cruel businessman whose stock in trade is vendetta and campaign of calumny to bring down others and exert monopolistic powers.
Among others you started as follows: “Can Dangote tell us the source of his money in the 80s when he was in Port Harcourt. Who is clean? Every time you want to monopolize, you bring allegations against people. Let him come and prove it. In the 80s we are aware of what happened in Port Harcourt and how he got his money. Nobody came out and said all these things”.
“These statements are false, scandalous and gravely deliberately impute unlawful or morally questionable conduct to our client and are calculated to expose him to public hatred, ridicule, suspicion and odium.
“By your reckless and unguarded defamatory statement and assertions, our client’s reputation has been greatly lowered in the sight of reasonable members of the International Community, including his business partners, associates and various governments of nations of the world where our client carries on business.
“Take Note that our client categorically states that at no time in his life has he carried out any business, commercial activity or wealth generating enterprise in Port Harcourt, whether in the 1980s or at any other period whatsoever as you alleged.
“Your assertion are therefore entirely fictitious, unfounded, malicious and without doubt, render you susceptible to both civil and criminal defematory action.
“In view of the gravity and depth of the allegations made by you against our client, you are hereby demanded to do the following within 7 days upon receipt of this letter:
“That you publicly explain on the same TrustTV platform and to the same audience, when, where and in what capacity our client was allegedly involved in any unclean activity or any activity whatsoever in Port Harcourt as claimed by you.
“That in the absence of verifiable facts capable of substantiating your assertions, you immediately and unequivocally retract the said statement in their entirety.
“That you issue a full, clear and unreserved public apology to our client which must be broadcast with equal prominence as your original publication.
“To pay our client the N100Bn only in damages for loss of reputation, character defamation and public redicule our client has been subjected to since the said statements were published.
“That you give a written undertaking to desist from making or publishing any further false or defamatory statements concerning our client.
“Be advised that allegations of this nature made without proof on a national media platform are indefensible in law and amount to a gross abuse of the right to freedom of expression which will culminate in both civil and criminal liability.
“Take further notice that should you fail to comply with the conditions stated above and within the time frame, our client shall, without further recourse to you, institute a legal action at a competent court of law against you and claim aggravated damages.
“This is without prejudice to our client’s right to make a formal report against you to the law enforcement agencies for your investigation and and prosecution for criminal defamation,” the letter said.
United Arab Emirates named as Elbit's mystery $2.3 billion customer
The UAE is the mystery customer in Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems' huge new $2.3 billion deal signed last month, the "Intelligence Online" website reports.
Similar to a previous deal Elbit signed in August with Serbia, worth $1.63 billion, the company chose to remain vague about the content of the agreement and the purchasing country, and in this case, even refrained from specifying on which continent it is located.
In its original announcement, Elbit said that the deal would be carried out over eight years, but did not specify which systems were involved.
From drones to intelligence capabilities
The same agreement with Serbia, which is expected to be delivered over five years, includes the supply of long-range precision artillery rocket systems and a wide range of unmanned aerial combat systems for surveillance and combat, including individual drones.
Elbit will also provide Serbia with advanced intelligence (ISTAR) capabilities, including COMINT, SIGINT, and electronic warfare systems. The agreement includes the supply of intelligence collection and processing systems, advanced electro-optical (E/O) systems, night vision, and upgrades to combat vehicles and defense systems.
The latest deal is considered to be of historic scope, and joins a series of huge deals signed by Israeli defense companies in recent years.
At the top of the list is the sale of the Arrow 3 system by Israel Aerospace Industries to Germany in 2023, for $3.5 billion.
In addition, at the end of June, Rafael won a tender from the Romanian Ministry of Defense for the purchase of a short-range and extremely short-range air defense system (V/SHORAD), in a deal worth an estimated $2.2 billion.
Prior to the Arrow 3 sale to Germany, IAI's record deal was the sale of Barak 8 systems (MRSAM) to India in April 2017, for $1.6 billion. About a month later, the naval version of the Barak 8 missiles was sold to India in another deal, for approximately $630 million. Elbit has so far declined to respond.
Freshtruth: My parents have been very happy and surprised I took church serious since this new pastor came. They were also amaze I choose to sit on the front sit. And the number of new male souls tropping into our church now is something else. The pastor Sabi preach ennnnn!
Am the one on white long sleeve sitting on the front row
These files were obtained by the Justice department in 2019, and remained unreleased throughout the 4 years of Joe Biden's presidency from 2020 to 2024.
This is the same D.O.J that brought several law suits against the same Donald Trump to get him a criminal conviction which would disqualify him from running for office again.
Why didn't Biden simply release the incriminating evidence of Trump and destroy his career once and for all?
Dogalmighty17: As at this morning, Donald Trump had his justice department redact and black out over 550 pages out of the files released so far. Who is Donald Trump protecting? Or is he trying to suppress the truth that we have known for a while now?
Donald Trump is a child rapist. A Pdfile is in the whitehouse. The person Christians worldwide support is a sick, immoral and debased sexual assaulter. In one of the pages released, they forgot to redact one page entirely and in it we see where Trump paid 25,000 dollars to sleep with a 14 year old.
There are over 300,000 pages yet to be released and this is several months after Donald Trump and his crooked FBI put thousands of agents to work overtime to scrub off the name of Donald Trump and republican donors from the files. Some of the FBI agents are said to have been so sickened by what they saw that they resigned.
Trump raped children and he is doing everything he can through the FBI and the justice department to cover it up. Those are not the actions of an innocent man.
Donald Trump fought the release of the Epstein files for as long as he could before eventually bowing to pressure from his own supporters to reveal all.
What embarrassments could he be hiding?
When the documents finally dropped on Friday evening, they included a photograph of a president in a hot tub wearing nothing but a tight pair of swimming trunks.
But it wasn’t the man currently in the White House.
“Oh my!” posted Karoline Leavitt, Mr Trump’s press secretary, as she shared the photograph of Bill Clinton.
Although early analysis reveals that Mr Trump, once a close friend of the late paedophile, gets a handful of mentions in the files, it is Mr Clinton who emerges as one of Epstein’s closest associates.
There he is in a swimming pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. There is a second woman with them, but her face is blacked out.
In other photographs, he poses in a red hoodie with a clenched fist beside another woman with her face obscured.
He visits Winston Churchill’s War Rooms with Maxwell and actor Kevin Spacey.
He sits at dinner with Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stone, and poses with Epstein, both men dressed in loud silk shirts.
And there he is, one arm around Michael Jackson, the king of pop, and Diana Ross on his other side.
White House aides revived an old nickname, originally coined for Mr Clinton’s polished but slippery style.
“Slick Willy!” posted Steven Cheung, director of communications, alongside the hot tub picture. “@BillClinton just chillin, without a care in the world. Little did he know…”
In contrast, Mr Trump is notable almost for his absence. He appears tangentially: a name on a giant cheque and an image of one of his books (Trump: The Art of the Comeback) on a bookshelf.
Mr Trump was once a neighbour of Epstein’s in Palm Beach, and they moved in the same moneyed circles in New York before falling out 20 years ago. The president has never been accused of any wrongdoing in the cases against Epstein and maintains that he never knew about Epstein’s crimes.
Yet the Epstein files and their secrets have loomed over the president all year. During the campaign he promised to release all the documents as conspiracy-minded allies claimed that they hid details of a powerful circle of abusers who had been protected by the authorities.
But once in office he tried to brush off the whole affair.
He has flashed irritation at reporters’ questions about his relationship with Epstein. And on Friday, hours before publication of the files, he ended a White House event on drug prices by saying “this is such a big announcement ... I really don’t want to soil it up” by taking questions, “even questions that are very fair questions that I’d love to answer”.
Mr Trump rarely misses a chance to joust with reporters, suggesting rare presidential nerves on what might come out of the files.
He need not have worried.
It was his department of justice after all that was in charge of the release, and it quickly emerged that only a fraction of the files were being published. Officials will continue to scrutinise documents in order to redact details of victims, and the releases are likely to continue for weeks more.
It means the delivery can be carefully managed.
On Friday, the strategy was clear. The White House “flooded the zone” with news.
Mr Trump announced plans to slash drug prices for the government’s Medicaid programme and for cash payers.
A sign went up at the Kennedy Center, Washington’s premier arts venue, renaming it The Donald J Trump and The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, infuriating liberal opponents of the president.
And an hour-and-a-half after the Epstein dump, Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, announced strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after three Americans were killed last week.
Meanwhile, it was Mr Clinton who appeared in all the headlines.
Even the White House chief of staff gave the game away with indiscreet comments in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Although the president has for years claimed that Mr Clinton visited Epstein’s private island, Susie Wiles said “there is no evidence” of that.
Is there any incriminating evidence against Mr Clinton in the files? No.
Most states with the fewest universities are in the North East and North West, regions that also have the lowest literacy rates (avg 49.2%), showing a strong link between university access and literacy outcomes.
Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their fight in Miami
Anthony Joshua inflicted a knockout on Jake Paul after enduring frustrating early rounds against the YouTube star in Miami.
Britain's two-time world heavyweight champion struggled to pin down Paul in the early rounds but finally ended the fight with a huge right hand in the sixth round.
Paul, who had found it hard to keep his footing throughout the fight, toppled down by the ropes and the referee waved it off as he rose unsteadily to his feet.
But Joshua admitted afterwards that it "wasn't the best performance", with the 36-year-old widely expected to stop his novice opponent much sooner in the bout, which had been scheduled to go eight rounds at the Kaseya Center.
The YouTube star had made a typically brash entrance, sporting sunglasses as he was joined by a rap artist on his ring walk, but Paul exuded nervous energy when the first bell rung, back peddling for much of the first round.
Paul did land a solitary left hand to the delight of the American crowd as Joshua pushed out probing jabs while attempting to find his range.
Joshua displayed more aggression in the second round, landing a crunching shot that drew a rueful smile from Paul, and then unloaded a swift combination as the YouTuber sought refuge on the ropes.
But Joshua, who had not fought since a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, was struggling to land his power punches and had to withstand a cheeky uppercut from Paul in the third.
A looping hook from Paul caught Joshua by surprise in the fourth, causing fleeting embarrassment rather than pain, but it was Paul who was left wincing after he took a low blow.
Paul's resistance unravelled in the fifth as he wilted to the canvas after a flurry of punches from Joshua and the referee issued a count.
Joshua moved in menacingly and a right hand dropped Paul more heavily, with the bell sounding as Joshua swung in spiteful punches.
But Paul was ruthlessly halted by Joshua in the next round as he toppled to the canvas following another exchange and then, when Paul clambered to his feet, Joshua delivered a fight-ending right hand.
Speaking in the ring afterwards, Joshua told Netflix: "It wasn't the best performance.
"The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down, and hurt him. That has been the request and that was on my mind. Took a bit longer than expected but the right hand found the destination.
"Jake Paul has done really well tonight, I want to give him his props. He got up, time and time again. It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way through.
"You have to give Jake his respect for trying, trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month lay-off."
Paul: I've broken my jaw
Paul insisted he can still succeed at the sport's highest level, despite his defeat, and believes he suffered a broken jaw.
"I'm feeling good, that was fun, I love this sport," he told Netflix.
"Anthony is a great fighter and I got beat but that's what this sport is about.
"I have already won in every way of life. This sport has helped me so much.
"I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke but man, that was good.
"I'm going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point.
"I just got tired to be honest. He did amazing and hits really hard".
Saturnalia: Employing their usual stale tactics that have been bursted several times again.
That T-pain Account is not Hausa. An igbo person is using that account to masquerade as an Hausa/Fulani just to fool themselves, thinking they are fooling others.
Look, any time you see any account on Twitter with number extensions like that T-pain account whose handle is “Abubakar54649591”, just know that they are being operated by the Obidients to mislead or scam or stalk or bully people.
How did I know? I follow Reno Omokri on Twitter and always retweet most of his posts bursting Peter Obi’s lies, then suddenly I see a lot of fictitious accounts following me. I block them instantly. (See the attached images).
For example, Look at that Ibrahim Garba in the first attached image whose handle is “M15168”. They usually use those type of accounts to conduct their fake polls on X just to sway the votes in Favour of any of their candidates like Peter Obi.
Then they would come on Nairaland and create a thread, saying “Look at what an Hausa man or a Northerner said on Twitter or See what Arewa said about Tinubu” .
I have said it times without number that these people think they are smart & intelligent but in reality, the reverse is the case.
In conclusion, my only consolation is that, I know and I am certain that inspite of all their lies & propaganda, Peter Obi will never become the President of Nigeria.
Will he throw stones across the Atlantic ocean to hit his children in the US? He's helpless to exercise control over them because they're grown adults living their lives independently of him.
AMINDA: I thought the narrative was that Elrufai was an extremist? How come he tolerates his children's choices? Shouldn't he be stoning them to death? Often times, a lie is already halfway across the world before the truth gets its shoes on but the truth will always overtake it.
Foreign Affairs › Re: Saudi Arabia Commences Bombing Campaign In Yemen by BlackViper(op): 6:14pm On Dec 28, 2025*. Modified: 6:35pm On Dec 28, 2025
