The United States government recently formalized health agreements with a minimum of nine African nations, signaling a distinct shift in its global health funding strategy under the Trump administration. This new approach moves away from traditional aid models towards a framework based on negotiation and mutual benefits. Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda were among the first signatories to these agreements, which explicitly linked assistance to U.S. strategic priorities, with the aim of reducing direct aid while fostering greater self-sufficiency within partner nations. These agreements superseded earlier health arrangements that were part of the now-dismantled USAID programs. The transition has raised concerns, particularly given that U.S. aid reductions have previously been observed to weaken health systems across various African and developing regions, which historically relied on such funding for critical disease response initiatives.

In a separate and tragic incident, Libya’s army chief, Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, was killed in an air crash in Turkey. General Haddad and four other individuals were aboard a Falcon 50 jet traveling from Ankara to Tripoli when contact was lost on a Tuesday evening, approximately 42 minutes after takeoff, following an emergency landing request. The wreckage of the aircraft was subsequently discovered south-west of Ankara, near the village of Kesikkavak, prompting an immediate investigation into the precise cause of the fatal crash. Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh expressed profound sorrow over the deaths, characterizing them as a significant loss to the nation, and highlighted that General Haddad and his team had been in Turkey for crucial discussions aimed at strengthening military and security cooperation between Libya and Turkey.

Meanwhile, in the United States, a Kenyan national identified as Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 35, received a life sentence for his involvement in a 9/11-style terrorist plot. Abdullah, who has documented links to the Somalia-based extremist organization Al-Shabaab, was convicted on multiple terrorism-related charges. These included conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and meticulously planning to hijack a commercial aircraft with the intent to crash it into a U.S. building. Prosecutors presented evidence that Abdullah joined al-Shabaab in 2015, where he underwent military and explosives training in Somalia. He was later selected by the group for an international aviation plot designed to replicate the devastating September 11 attacks. Between 2017 and 2019, Abdullah trained at a flight school in the Philippines, with his studies financially supported by Al-Shabaab. Upon his arrest, he reportedly admitted his intention to execute the attack. U.S. authorities confirmed that coordinated international law enforcement efforts successfully thwarted the plot, preventing potential mass casualties and ensuring Abdullah would spend the remainder of his life incarcerated.

In Nigeria, the sentencing of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment on November 20, 2025, in Abuja, following his conviction for terrorism and other related offenses, has brought a decade-long legal saga to a close. Kanu was found guilty of leading a violent campaign advocating for an independent Biafran state, which the court determined violated Nigeria's constitutional integrity, although the judge notably declined calls for a death penalty. Kanu, initially apprehended in 2015, went into hiding after a 2017 raid on his residence, only to be rearrested in Kenya in 2021 and subsequently extradited to Nigeria. Throughout his legal proceedings, he consistently denied all charges and challenged the court’s jurisdiction. His sentencing has reignited intense debate regarding separatism in Nigeria's southeastern region. Supporters cite deep-rooted Igbo grievances concerning marginalization, while critics attribute widespread violence, economic disruption, and human rights abuses in the region to Kanu's rhetoric and the actions of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed faction. Analysts have cautioned that merely incarcerating Kanu without addressing the fundamental causes of the agitation could inadvertently pave the way for the emergence of new, potentially more perilous separatist movements.

Finally, a wave of public anger has swept across Malawi concerning a planned post-Christmas trip to the United Kingdom by Vice-President Jane Ansah, following reports about the alleged size and exorbitant cost of her accompanying delegation. Despite confirmation from her office that the visit was strictly private, leaked documents circulating in the media suggested that up to 15 individuals would accompany her, incurring costs amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This revelation sparked widespread public criticism, especially against the backdrop of ongoing national austerity measures. While the Vice-President's office refuted the authenticity of the leaked documents and disputed claims of state expenditure, it affirmed its commitment to transparency but did not offer clarification on the exact size of the entourage. The human rights group HRDC condemned the trip as deeply troubling and contradictory to the government's declared commitment to expenditure cuts, arguing that it exposed a stark double standard, where ordinary Malawians were urged to endure economic hardship while senior officials appeared exempt from such constraints.