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

In a warning that cut through the usual techno-utopian rhetoric, Pope Leo XIV used his encyclical on the dangers of artificial intelligence last month to argue that AI must be "disarmed". "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity," he said. Addressing AI developers directly, the Pope said they carried an "ethical and spiritual responsibility" and urged them to ensure what they are building serves a "genuine good". Then on Thursday, Anthropic published an essay urging that…

By: Abdiaziz Khalif and Sonia PlazaSunday June 7, 2026 Outside Baidoa, in a camp for displaced families in Somalia, Fadumo Maxamed Ahmed begins her day by feeding the last surviving camel in her household with the dregs of her morning tea leaves. In Mogadishu, a woman selling milk may think of food safety in simpler terms: a spotless container, the right storage and the assurance that her product will arrive in good condition. For a livestock exporter, the stakes look different — reliable certification, healthy animals and…

Madrid surged to a standstill on Sunday morning as more than a million people crowded the capital’s streets and a landmark square for a fleeting look at Pope Leo XIV, who traveled to an open-air Mass set to become the biggest gathering of his week-long visit to Spain. Flags fluttered above the crowds and chants of “long live the pope” rang out as the pontiff rode in the popemobile along Madrid’s grand Paseo de la Castellana toward Cibeles Square, where he was scheduled to celebrate the Mass. As he entered the square, some in…

By Khadar AfrahSunday June 7, 2026 Somalia has long told itself a consoling tale about its own failure: that its troubles are always authored elsewhere. Colonial mapmakers, Cold War blocs, hostile neighbours, opportunistic donors and a parade of foreign conferences are cast as the chief culprits. Abdirahman Roble Ulayare’s recent Hiiraan Online essay, “Foreign interference and the struggle for Somali sovereignty,” sits squarely in that tradition. It is earnest. It is also evasive. Ulayare is not wrong about everything.…

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian forces of carrying out what he called an “extremely vile” strike on a spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Ukraine’s Chornobyl power plant, an attack that damaged the site but did not trigger a rise in radiation levels. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said it was briefed by Ukrainian officials, the strike caused serious damage to a fuel-reception building just metres from an area where “large amounts of nuclear material” are kept. Ukraine’s state…

By:  Yusuf Said HersiSunday June 7, 2026 For years, Puntland State has been cast as the “mother of federalism” in Somalia, a label earned through its early and forceful defense of a federal political order after the collapse of the central government. Like a parent preparing children for life in society, Puntland State positioned itself as a place where shared power, coexistence, and political balance could take root. From the outset, Puntland State emerged as one of the clearest champions of a federal Somalia built on…

Somalia’s planned elections after 2026 sit at the center of a wider political argument over constitutional rules, the timing of votes, and who has the legitimate right to lead the federal state. With the country’s political institutions already operating under contested changes and revised electoral plans, the post-2026 period is likely to be shaped as much by disputes over procedure as by the results themselves. Background: Elections, constitutional change, and power in Mogadishu Somalia has been moving through repeated…

By Adam Ahmed and A.A. JamahSunday June 7, 2026 After years of war and disruption, Somalia is moving to rebuild at pace, and that recovery is beginning to draw the attention of investors. Across multiple sectors, new openings are emerging as the country looks to reassert its place in the Horn of Africa and in global trade. One of the most significant prospects now on the table is the New Mogadishu Maritime Port (NMMP). Located about 35 kilometers north of Mogadishu, the planned port is being developed through the New…

Pope Leo XIV opened his first trip to Spain by confronting one of the Catholic Church’s deepest scars, saying sexual abuse remained “an open wound” as he prepared to meet survivors during the visit. The 70-year-old arrived in Madrid for the first papal state visit to Spain since 2010, beginning a week-long tour with an airport welcome from King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The Vatican said he will meet victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, and the Pope told reporters aboard the papal plane…

Washington is preparing a new pressure point in its confrontation with Tehran: channeling Iranian assets toward Gulf states to help pay for reconstruction after damage blamed on Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter, as Iran followed its strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain with additional drone launches. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has instructed a team to calculate the cost of damage already suffered by Gulf allies at Iran’s hands, the source said, adding that Washington is also weighing the use of Iranian…