U.S. Inks Health Agreements with Nine African Nations
The U.S. government signed health agreements with at least nine African countries as part of a new global health funding approach under the Trump administration, shifting from traditional aid to deals based on negotiations and mutual benefits. Countries including Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda were among the first to sign agreements under the new framework, which tied assistance to U.S. priorities and aimed to provide less aid while promoting self-sufficiency. Some signatory countries had been affected by U.S. aid cuts or had separate arrangements with Washington to host third-country deportees, though officials denied any connection. The agreements replaced previous health arrangements under the dismantled USAID, even as U.S. aid cuts weakened health systems across Africa and other developing regions that had relied on the funding for critical disease response programmes.
Libya’s Army Chief Killed in Turkey Plane Crash
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Libya’s army chief, Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, was killed in an air crash in Turkey. Haddad and four others were on board a Falcon 50 jet flying from Ankara to Tripoli when contact was lost on Tuesday evening, about 42 minutes after take-off, following an emergency landing request. The aircraft’s wreckage was later found south-west of Ankara near the village of Kesikkavak, and an investigation was launched into the cause of the crash. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh described the deaths as a great loss to the nation, noting that Haddad and his team had been in Turkey for talks to strengthen military and security co-operation between the two countries.
Kenyan National Sentenced to Life for 9/11-Style Plot in US
A Kenyan national linked to the Somalia-based extremist group Al-Shabaab was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for plotting a 9/11-style terrorist attack targeting American civilians. Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 35, was convicted on multiple terrorism-related charges, including conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organisation and planning to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a U.S. building. Prosecutors said Abdullah joined al-Shabaab in 2015, received military and explosives training in Somalia, and was later selected for an international aviation plot aimed at replicating the September 11 attacks. He trained at a flight school in the Philippines between 2017 and 2019, with his studies funded by the group, and admitted after his arrest that he intended to carry out the attack. U.S. authorities said the plot was thwarted through coordinated international law enforcement efforts, preventing mass casualties and ensuring Abdullah would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Can Nnamdi Kanu’s Life Sentence End the Biafra Agitation?
On 20 November 2025, a Nigerian court in Abuja sentenced separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of terrorism and several related offenses, bringing an end to a decade-long legal battle. Prosecutors accused Kanu of leading a violent campaign for an independent Biafran state, which the court found violated Nigeria’s constitution, though the judge rejected calls for the death penalty. Kanu, who was first arrested in 2015, fled after a 2017 raid on his home, was rearrested in Kenya in 2021 and extradited to Nigeria, consistently denied the charges and challenged the court’s jurisdiction. His sentencing reignited debate over separatism in Nigeria’s southeast, with supporters citing long-standing Igbo grievances of marginalisation, while critics blamed his rhetoric and the activities of IPOB and its armed wing for widespread violence, economic disruption and human rights abuses in the region. Analysts warned that imprisoning Kanu without addressing the root causes of the agitation risked the emergence of new, potentially more dangerous movements.
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Anger in Malawi Over VP’s Alleged High-Cost UK Trip
There was growing anger in Malawi over a post-Christmas trip to the UK planned by Vice-President Jane Ansah, after reports emerged about the size and alleged cost of her delegation. Although her office confirmed the visit was in a private capacity, leaked documents circulating in the media claimed up to 15 people would accompany her at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, sparking public criticism amid ongoing austerity measures. The vice-president’s office denied the authenticity of the documents and disputed claims of state expenditure, insisting it remained committed to transparency, though it did not clarify the size of the entourage. Human rights group HRDC described the trip as troubling and contradictory to the government’s pledge to cut spending, arguing it exposed a double standard as Malawians were urged to endure economic hardship while senior officials appeared exempt.
