Axadle - Breaking news and analysis from Somalia, the Horn of Africa, and across Africa.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has postponed a planned visit to Somalia that would have marked the first trip by a Chinese foreign minister to the country since the 1980s, Somali officials said Friday. Instead, Wang arrived in Tanzania for a two-day working stop on his annual New Year’s tour of Africa. Somalia had billed the visit as a significant diplomatic moment as Mogadishu navigates fresh pressures at home and abroad. Earlier this week, Israel became the first country to formally recognize the…

China postpones Wang Yi’s Somalia visit, cites ‘friendly negotiations’ on new date Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 MOGADISHU — China has confirmed that Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s planned stop in Mogadishu has been postponed, saying the change came after “friendly negotiations” with Somali counterparts and that both sides are working on a revised schedule. In a statement posted late Friday by the Chinese Embassy in Mogadishu, Beijing said it had adjusted the itinerary for Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party…

Australia declared a state of disaster in Victoria as fast-moving bushfires destroyed homes and scorched vast tracts of forest during a searing heatwave, with authorities warning dangerous conditions persist even as some fronts ease. Temperatures surged past 40C across the southeast this week, and hot, shifting winds fanned some of the most perilous fire weather since the Black Summer of 2019-2020. One of the fiercest blazes tore through almost 150,000 hectares near Longwood, a region known for dense native forests. Premier…

Donald Trump’s Greenland fixation has never been about maps or minerals. It is about possession — a muscular assertion of power for its own sake — and it now threatens to turn a long‑standing alliance into collateral damage. In a three-hour interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, the former president did what he so often claims to do: say the quiet part out loud. Asked why he wants to take over Greenland, he was disarmingly blunt. “Ownership is very important,” he said. Pressed on whether the world’s most powerful…

Irish officials have condemned X’s decision to put some of its Grok AI image-editing tools behind a paywall, calling the move “window dressing” that fails to address the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes, including images of children, on the platform. Niamh Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for AI, said X had informed her it would meet with her in the coming weeks after she requested talks earlier this week. But she said restricting image generation and editing to paying subscribers does nothing to stop…

Ireland’s minister for AI has condemned X’s decision to put parts of its Grok AI image tool behind a paywall, calling the move “window dressing” that fails to address the spread of abusive and illegal deepfakes. X said this week it has limited Grok’s image generation and editing features to paying subscribers. Users asking Grok to alter photos now receive a prompt stating those functions are “currently limited to paying subscribers,” with links to subscribe. The platform’s AI also told one user the change was “effective…

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she does not believe the United States will use military force to seize Greenland, warning that any such move would carry grave consequences for NATO and trans-Atlantic security. Speaking at her traditional New Year’s press conference, Meloni said a reinforced NATO presence in the Arctic could help address U.S. concerns about rival powers’ influence in the region and reduce the pressure for unilateral action by Washington. “I continue not to believe in the hypothesis that the United…

France, UK, Germany condemn ‘killing of protesters’ in Iran as internet blackout deepens unrest France, the United Kingdom and Germany condemned what they called the “killing of protesters” in Iran and urged authorities to exercise restraint, as sweeping anti-government demonstrations and a nationwide internet blackout disrupted communications and stoked uncertainty across the country. “We are deeply concerned about reports of violence by Iranian security forces, and strongly condemn the killing of protestors,” French…

MOGADISHU — China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, postponed a planned visit to Somalia’s capital on Friday after authorities imposed sweeping security restrictions across Mogadishu ahead of his expected arrival, Somali officials said. Wang Yi’s visit to Mogadishu was postponed Friday; no reason was given and no new date announced. Parts of the city were sealed off, with checkpoints and major road closures including routes to Aden Adde International Airport. The trip was slated to be the first visit by a Chinese foreign…

Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers will square off in Manhattan on Wednesday over whether a man accused of killing a health insurance executive could face the federal death penalty if convicted. Luigi Mangione, 27, is due in U.S. District Court for a hearing at 11 a.m. Eastern (4 p.m. in Ireland) before Judge Margaret Garnett. Mangione is charged in the December 2024 fatal shooting of United Health CEO Brian Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk, a killing that drew swift condemnation from public officials. Mangione…