Axadle Editorial Desk

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Iran’s delegation in the latest talks with the United States in Islamabad, said on X that Donald Trump had "made seven claims in one hour, all seven of which were false". "They did not win the war, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either with these lies," Ghalibaf added. Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, he warned that if the "continuation of the blockade" persisted, the waterway "will not remain open". His comments echoed earlier remarks…

Saturday April 18, 2026 Adan Gedi Mohamed sits in a neighbour's compound after his own house was destroyed in airstrikes/Muna Hussein/Ergo A wave of airstrikes on a farming community in southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region has driven hundreds of families from their homes, stripping many of food, water, shelter, and any dependable way to make a living. Since late March, the attacks have flattened houses, farms, and small businesses in Bulo-Khalif, a village where residents relied on the land to survive. Some families have…

by Sagal-Louise HaiderSaturday April 18, 2026 In Mogadishu’s historic Xamar Weyne district, Fakhr ad-Din Mosque endures as a medieval landmark with deep global roots — and mounting vulnerability. A photograph released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team shows a view of the Mogadishu fishing harbor from the Aruba Hotel, Mogadishu, Somalia, Aug. 6, 2012. (Photo courtesy of Sagal-Louise Haider) At the center of Somalia’s capital, Fakhr ad-Din Mosque sits almost in silence. Dating to no later than 1269,…

Friday April 17, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — After days of commercial strain in Somalia’s capital, authorities in Mogadishu moved on Thursday to enforce an order compelling traders to accept the Somali shilling. Banadir Regional Governor Hassan Mohamed Hussein Muungaab issued the directive in response to mounting complaints that refusal to take the national currency had disrupted everyday business and public transport across the city. Under the order, any trader who declines the Somali shilling will be regarded as violating the…

Friday April 17, 2026 A hard look at how political engineering, donor influence, and institutional frailty are shaping the future of the Somali state By Dr. Ali Said Faqi Two decades on, federalism in Somalia remains less a finished settlement than a work in progress — one whose contradictions now appear to threaten the stability it was meant to protect. Somalia officially embraced federalism in 2004 as a political arrangement designed to help rebuild a country shattered by collapse and civil war. It was widely viewed as a…

Friday April 17, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued a sharp rebuke of Israel’s decision to name a diplomatic representative to North Western State of Somalia, the self-declared region in northwestern Somalia. In a statement shared Thursday on social media platform X, the OIC said the move amounted to a breach of Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, while referring to Israel as the “occupying power.” The organization reaffirmed its full support for the Federal…

Friday April 17, 2026 Istanbul (AX) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Thursday in Istanbul, underscoring a relationship that has steadily widened beyond diplomacy into energy, trade and security. The talks took place at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office, according to Türkiye’s Communications Directorate. Erdogan said Ankara would keep moving to deepen ties with Somalia across a range of areas, with trade and energy at the forefront. He pointed to the start of operations…

Friday April 17, 2026 Tehran is floating a plan to settle Hormuz transit payments in its own currency, a move Iranian officials say could bolster the rial and unlock as much as $15 billion a year in revenue. / Reuters A proposed bill to formalise Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz is being framed in Tehran as more than a territorial assertion: it is also intended to give the rial a stronger foothold in regional financial dealings, according to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency. Ahmad Naderi, a member of…

AXADLE, Somalia — Puntland State has said Somalia has slipped into a constitutional vacuum, warning that the country’s political atmosphere is growing more fragile and urging immediate talks to avert deeper instability. In a statement issued Thursday, Puntland State’s cabinet said that under Article 60 of Somalia’s provisional constitution, the mandate of the Federal Parliament expired on April 14, 2026. It also said the term of the president of the Federal Government of Somalia will come to an end on May 15, 2026, in line…

Friday April 17, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia and India have signaled a renewed push to deepen their ties after a meeting in Mogadishu between Somalia’s foreign minister and India’s newly appointed ambassador. Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdisalam Ali, received the copy of credentials of Dr. Adarsh Swaika, India’s ambassador to Somalia, who is resident in Nairobi, at a ceremony on Wednesday at the ministry’s headquarters in Mogadishu. According to a statement from the ministry, the…