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

Rwanda Closes 10,000 Churches in Major Crackdown on Religious Organizations The Rwandan government has reportedly closed about 10,000 churches across the country for failing to comply with a 2018 law regulating faith-based organizations. This sweeping action underscores an increasingly stringent approach to religious oversight and governance within the nation. According to the 2018 legislation, places of worship are mandated to meet strict health and safety standards, submit annual activity and financial reports, and…

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Analysis: Why Ukraine’s peace push keeps stalling as Putin digs in and Washington’s back channel loops Ten months into a U.S.-led effort to halt the war in Ukraine, talks have lurched from promise to paralysis. A draft framework now appears within reach, but the gaps that matter—territory and credible security guarantees—remain where they were at the start, while Moscow hardens its terms and presses the battlefield narrative of inevitability. For Ukrainians, the negotiations have unfolded against a relentless tempo of drone…

The Malawian government is facing growing pressure to explain its silence over the cost and justification of Vice President Jane Ansah’s private trip to the United Kingdom, a controversy that has intensified as citizens are braced for austerity and deep cuts in public spending. Leaked documents circulating in local media allege that as many as 15 people would accompany Ansah and that the trip could cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The documents have not been independently verified. Ansah’s office confirmed the…

U.S. bars visas for ex-EU tech regulator Thierry Breton, four NGO leaders, escalating rift over online speech rules The U.S. State Department said it will deny visas to former European Union commissioner Thierry Breton and four prominent figures in the digital-speech arena, accusing them of trying to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. “These radical activists and weaponised NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and…

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed the mandate of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) for another year, extending operations through December 31, 2026, in a vote on Tuesday that underscored broad international backing for Somalia’s security transition. The UK-drafted resolution passed 15-0 and also set an end date for the United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNTMIS), with all UNTMIS operations to conclude by October 31, 2026.…

New York — The United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed the mandate of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, extending AUSSOM through Dec. 31, 2026, in a resolution adopted Tuesday that also set a timetable to wind down a separate U.N. mission. The resolution, tabled by the United Kingdom, passed 15-0 and keeps in place international backing for Somalia’s security transition amid persistent attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab insurgency. It also decided to terminate the United…

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said a new 20-point plan aimed at ending Russia’s invasion would freeze the current front line and open the way to possible troop withdrawals and demilitarized zones, while dropping a requirement that Kyiv legally renounce its NATO aspirations. Zelensky said the latest draft, agreed by U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators, is now being reviewed by Russia. He acknowledged some provisions are unpalatable to him and warned that the Kremlin is unlikely to abandon its hardline territorial demands.…

Somalia’s Parliament approves $1.39 billion 2026 national budget in joint session MOGADISHU — Somalia’s bicameral Federal Parliament on Tuesday approved the National Budget for the 2026 fiscal year, endorsing a $1,386,807,242 spending plan during a joint session held in Mogadishu. The budget’s passage, by an overwhelming majority, sets the federal government’s financial framework for the coming year. According to parliamentary results, 174 lawmakers voted in favor, four opposed, and one abstained, signaling broad…

Libya's army chief, General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, was killed when the Falcon 50 jet he and four others were traveling in crashed in central Turkey, Turkish authorities and Libyan officials said. The aircraft was en route from Ankara to Tripoli when contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff. Officials said the jet had requested an emergency landing before it went down; searchers later found wreckage southwest of Ankara near the village of Kesikkavak. An investigation into the cause of the crash has been…