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

A fragile truce in the Middle East was given more time on Thursday after Israel and Lebanon agreed at the White House to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, while US President Donald Trump signalled he was willing to hold out for what he called “the best deal” to ⁠end his conflict with Iran. Mr Trump brought together Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Moawad, in the Oval Office for a second round of talks mediated by the United States. “The Meeting went very well!…

Warner Bros Discovery cleared a major hurdle in its proposed $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance after shareholders approved the transaction, even as they signaled sharp unease over the executive pay arrangements tied to the deal. Those compensation plans drew a clear rebuke in an advisory vote. Under the proposed packages, CEO David Zaslav stands to collect as much as $887 million if the sale goes through. Proxy adviser ISS had described Zaslav's possible payout as "extremely large". "Management now faces a twofold…

A head-on collision between two commuter trains near the Danish capital left five people critically injured and 13 others hurt, authorities said, in a crash that sent emergency crews rushing to a wooded rural area north of Copenhagen. Police said they could not yet say what caused the accident, which happened near a level crossing about 40km north of Copenhagen, close to the town of Hillerod. "Eighteen people have been injured in the accident. Of these, five are currently considered to be in critical condition," police said…

A promotional stunt for Drake’s upcoming album Iceman came to an abrupt end in Toronto, where firefighters took apart a massive ice sculpture after swelling crowds around the display raised safety concerns. Hundreds of people flocked to the installation, turning the scene chaotic as some fans climbed onto the structure and others tried to chip away at it in hopes of revealing the album’s release date, which Drake had said was concealed inside. Accounts from the scene said one person arrived with a sledgehammer, while others…

A sweeping shift in US drug policy is underway after the Department of Justice said it would immediately ease restrictions on some marijuana products and speed up the long-running effort to treat the drug as less dangerous under federal law. The Trump administration said FDA-approved marijuana products and state-regulated medical marijuana would be moved at once from a category reserved for highly addictive drugs to one considered to carry a low to moderate risk of abuse. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the federal…

Hanna Tetteh, head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, warned that momentum toward national elections and the creation of unified institutions is faltering, and that the public’s patience is being tested by sluggish progress. She cautioned that some key actors are ignoring the "expectations of the public" about their role in the political process, undermining hopes for timely reform. “There are both national and regional risks to any continued inaction and foot dragging on the implementation of the roadmap and we believe it…

BRUSSELS — The European Union and its member states have signed off on a €75 million contribution to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, cementing the bloc’s position as the mission’s biggest financial supporter. The latest package lifts total EU assistance to a string of African Union-led operations in Somalia over the past 20 years to nearly €2.8 billion, highlighting the bloc’s enduring investment in security efforts across the Horn of Africa. Bankole Adeoye, the AU commissioner for political…

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has lodged a formal protest with his South African counterpart after widely shared videos purportedly showing xenophobic assaults on Ghanaian nationals sparked outrage online. Calling the footage “extremely disturbing,” Ablakwa pressed South African authorities to act swiftly. “The South African Foreign Minister has expressed empathy with the victims and promised full-scale investigations into these depressing incidents,” Ablakwa said on social media. He added that…

Rodrigo Duterte is set to stand trial at the International Criminal Court after judges cleared the way for proceedings over crimes against humanity tied to his so-called "war on drugs." In a statement, the ICC said pre-trial judges had "unanimously confirmed all the charges... against Rodrigo Roa Duterte and committed him to trial." The case marks a first for the court: Mr Duterte will become the first former Asian head of state to go on trial before the ICC, which is tasked with prosecuting individuals accused of the…

By Mohamed OladThursday April 23, 2026 With Ethiopia’s 7th National Elections just days away, the political temperature in the Somali Regional State is rising fast. In that charged atmosphere, old networks tied to the Abdi Iley era — including some of his former close advisers — and a diaspora faction of the ONLF have turned to smear politics as their chosen weapon. Their campaign against President Mustafa Omer has grown increasingly loud, multilingual, and contradictory, revealing more about the tactics of its authors than…