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In major developments across Africa: Ethiopia concluded a fragile peace agreement with a faction of the Amhara FANO forces; Sudan and Libya coordinated the mass return of Sudanese refugees; and Burkinabè authorities detained Nigerian troops amid rising regional tensions. 

Meanwhile, President Trump has released a new national security strategy that softens its rhetoric toward China even as it reveals deeper strategic contradictions.

Read more below ⤵️

Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇻🇪 🇺🇸 US seizes Venezuelan oil tanker: The US seized a large oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, with President Trump confirming the operation while offering few details and suggesting the oil would be retained, prompting Caracas to denounce the move as “international piracy.” With public support for military intervention low and international concern mounting, the tanker’s seizure marks a significant step in a confrontation increasingly defined by sanctions, covert operations, and the threat of open conflict.

2️⃣ 🇨🇩 🇷🇼 🇺🇳 Rwanda-backed M23 advance triggers mass displacement in eastern Congo: Around 200,000 people have fled in the DRC as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels push toward the strategic border town of Uvira, just days after Donald Trump hosted the Rwandan and Congolese presidents to herald a supposedly “historic” peace deal. The UN reports at least 74 civilians killed amid intensified clashes with Congolese forces and Wazalendo militias, while M23 fighters seize new territory despite publicly affirming support for Qatari-led negotiations.

3️⃣ 🇲🇲 Hospital targeted by Myanmar junta air strikes: At least 30 people were killed and around 70 wounded after Myanmar’s military bombed a crowded hospital in Mrauk U, Rakhine state, reducing the facility to rubble despite the absence of active fighting in the area. With more than 2,000 air strikes carried out this year, the attack marks another grim milestone in a civil war that has raged since the 2021 coup.

4️⃣ 🇧🇫 🇳🇬 🇧🇯 Burkinabe authorities detain Nigerian troops after unauthorised military landing: Burkina Faso is holding eleven Nigerian military personnel after a Nigerian C-130 made an unapproved landing in Bobo Dioulasso, an incident the Alliance of Sahel States denounced as an “unfriendly act” and a breach of its airspace. Nigeria insists the aircraft was forced to land due to technical problems and says the crew has been treated well, but the episode comes amid heightened regional tensions—just a day after Nigeria joined ECOWAS-aligned strikes to help foil an attempted coup in Benin.

5️⃣ 🇺🇸 🇸🇩 🇨🇴 🇦🇪 US sanctions network recruiting Colombians for RSF militia: Washington has sanctioned four individuals and four entities accused of recruiting former Colombian soldiers, including children, to fight for the UAE-backed Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, as Secretary of State Rubio pressed Egypt and Saudi Arabia to help revive stalled mediation. The Treasury said the network has enabled RSF atrocities and contributed to a war that has killed tens of thousands since 2023.

Major Story

🇺🇸 🇨🇳 TRUMP’S NEW SECURITY STRATEGY SOFTENS CHINA TONE WHILE EXPOSING STRATEGIC CONTRADICTIONS

The Trump administration’s long-delayed National Security Strategy (NSS), released on 5 December, was reportedly rewritten to soften its language on China in a shift driven partly by the looming 2026 midterms and Trump’s desire to avoid economic turbulence that could harm key domestic constituencies. Keen to preserve stable trade flows and nurture his personal rapport with Xi Jinping, Trump’s updated vision presents U.S.-China ties as a relationship between “near-peers”, a notable departure from the confrontational framing of his 2017 NSS.

Strategic aims vs. strategic realities

The Asia chapter, “Win the Economic Future, Prevent Military Confrontation,” reaffirms familiar pillars such as a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and backing for the Quad, but it also reflects Trump’s transactional worldview. This produces a series of contradictions: the NSS rejects “global domination” while citing the maintenance of U.S. “economic dominance and military superiority” as essential, and it warns against the rise of “dominant adversaries” even as it signals tolerance for great-power spheres of influence.

Gaps, inconsistencies and implications

The document also sidesteps how U.S. policy undermines its own goals. It urges allies to join Washington in forming an economic counterweight to China, yet many partners still recovering from Trump’s tariff regime now view both Washington and Beijing as strategic liabilities that require de-risking. Most strikingly, the NSS concludes that avoiding war with China hinges on America “winning” a long-term economic and technological contest, but offers no definition of what victory looks like or whether it is even plausible given its own assessment of China’s rising power.

Other News

1️⃣ 🇪🇹 Ethiopia signs fragile peace deal with faction of Amhara FANO forces: Ethiopia has secured its first formal ceasefire in the Amhara conflict with an agreement between the regional government and one FANO faction, brokered by the African Union and IGAD. While officials hail the deal as an opening for stability after two years of fighting, analysts warn its impact will remain limited unless Addis Ababa addresses the deeper federal power struggles and brings rival FANO factions into an inclusive political process.

2️⃣ 🇺🇳 🇸🇩 🇱🇾 Sudan and Libya coordinate mass return of Sudanese refugees: Sudan and Libya have agreed to work with the UN’s International Organization for Migration to facilitate the voluntary return of nearly 500,000 Sudanese who fled to Libya after war erupted in April 2023, alongside tighter joint border controls to curb smuggling. Khartoum blamed the RSF for driving displacement and trafficking, arguing that restoring security inside Sudan is essential.

3️⃣ 🇺🇳 🇱🇧 🇮🇱 UNIFIL rejects Israeli claims of Hizbollah rearmament south of the Litani: UNIFIL commander Diotto Abagnara said he has seen no evidence that Hizbollah is rearming south of the Litani River, directly contradicting Israeli claims used to justify ongoing airstrikes in Lebanon, which he described as clear ceasefire violations. Citing Israel’s continued presence along the Blue Line as a breach of UN Resolution 1701, he confirmed that while the Lebanese army is dismantling infrastructure, the UN mission itself has no mandate to carry out disarmament.

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