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

A last-minute diplomatic tussle has grounded Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s planned trip to Eswatini, with Taipei accusing Beijing of leaning on other nations to deny overflight permissions—an action it condemned as a breach of international norms and a risk to aviation safety. Taiwan said Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar withdrew Lai’s flight clearances under “intense pressure” and economic coercion from China. Beijing rejected the coercion claim and instead lauded the three Indian Ocean countries, saying it held…

Thursday April 23, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia has renewed its sharp condemnation of Iran’s recent attacks on Arab countries, voicing unequivocal backing for Gulf and regional governments and urging a united front to safeguard Middle East stability. Deputy Foreign Minister Hasan Mohamed Ali set out Somalia’s position at an extraordinary ministerial session of the League of Arab States, held by videoconference on Tuesday. The meeting focused on a draft resolution put forward by Bahrain over Iran’s actions and its…

In a move that escalates a bitter political standoff, the Zambian government says it has taken custody of former president Edgar Lungu’s body—10 months after his death in South Africa—despite the family’s objections. The clash revives a long-running feud between Lungu and his successor, Hakainde Hichilema. The family has responded by filing an urgent application in a South African high court, seeking an order to return the former president’s body to the funeral home where it was originally kept.

Iran moved to tighten control of the Strait of Hormuz by seizing two ships, escalating pressure in the strategic waterway just after US President Donald Trump said he was indefinitely shelving planned attacks and with peace efforts still stalled. The fate of a ceasefire that began two weeks ago and was due to expire earlier this week was still uncertain. Only hours after warning of renewed force, Mr Trump abruptly shifted course on Tuesday, appearing to declare unilaterally that the US would prolong the truce while it…

Before a crowd estimated at about 100,000, Pope Leo XIV delivered a pointed message at a national service attended by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the country’s leader and the world’s long-serving president. Leo called on citizens to work together to forge a society “capable of engendering a new sense of justice,” one with “greater room for freedom” where “the dignity of the human person always may be safeguarded.” He also addressed the nation’s troubling record on human rights and the stark imbalance in how the oil-rich…

Thursday April 23, 2026 Garowe (AX) — Puntland State has moved to tighten its grip on the region’s coastline, announcing a sweeping crackdown on illegal fishing and warning that Somali and foreign operators caught violating maritime rules will face firm legal consequences. In a statement released Wednesday, the Puntland State Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources said it would step up patrols and inspections to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a practice officials say is degrading marine…

Thursday April 23, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia and China on Wednesday opened a new research center dedicated to Chinese modernization, a move officials say will broaden cooperation between the two countries and deepen the exchange of ideas. The Center for Research on Chinese Modernization was inaugurated at the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation during a ceremony that brought together senior government officials and diplomats. Permanent Secretary Hamza Haadow and China’s…

Russian oil has resumed flowing through the Ukrainian stretch of the Druzhba pipeline after a stoppage that lasted months, officials said, clearing the way for Hungary to drop its veto on a €90 billion EU loan Ukraine says it urgently needs. Since a Russian drone strike damaged the line in western Ukraine and cut off deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia, the Druzhba pipeline has stood at the centre of one of Europe’s most politically sensitive energy disputes. Hungarian oil group MOL said Ukraine had notified it that shipments…

Europe moved on Thursday to blunt the immediate shock of an energy crisis set off by the US-Israel war on Iran, with the European Commission unveiling a package of emergency and medium-term steps aimed at shielding households, businesses and heavy industry from surging costs. At the heart of the response is a temporary easing of EU state aid rules, giving member states more room to deploy public money to soften the blow of higher energy prices for consumers and industry. That support could take the form of price controls,…

In a sweeping test of El Salvador’s hardline anti-gang campaign, a Salvadoran court has opened a collective trial for 486 alleged gang members, marking one of the largest mass proceedings yet under President Nayib Bukele’s controversial use of emergency powers. According to prosecutors, the case against the alleged Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, members covers more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend of bloodshed that became El Salvador’s deadliest since the end of its civil war. Those…