Axadle - Leading News from Somalia and the Horn of Africa

Tuesday April 28, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — In a pointed appeal during a state dinner at the presidential palace on Monday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pressed Somalia’s traditional elders to throw their weight behind universal suffrage as the country moves through a fraught political transition. The event brought together elders from across Somalia at a moment when debate over the voting system and the shape of future governance has become increasingly intense. Hassan Sheikh lauded the elders for their longstanding…

A quarrel over access to a water well has spiraled into deadly interethnic violence in eastern Chad, leaving at least 42 people dead and 10 others injured. Such clashes, often rooted in farmer-herder tensions over scarce resources, are a recurring challenge across the country. Authorities said a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Limane Mahamat was dispatched to the area and that the situation is now under control. Conflicts over water and grazing land have become more frequent in Chad, with extreme weather…

Tuesday April 28, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — A new report handed to Somalia’s top human rights watchdog on Monday paints a stark picture of the pressures facing the country’s media, with the National Union of Somali Journalists warning that abuse of reporters remains widespread and rarely punished. NUSOJ presented its 2025 State of the Media Report to the National Independent Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), saying it had verified 72 violations of media freedom between January and December 2025. The union said the findings point…

Russia has moved to tighten its crackdown on LGBTQ activism, with a court declaring the country’s leading LGBTQ rights group “extremist” — a ruling that effectively bans the organisation and exposes its supporters to prosecution. The decision marks the latest step in a years-long campaign against LGBTQ organisations, one that has intensified sharply since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and deepened an already forceful conservative shift. A court in Saint Petersburg sided with a case filed by the…

As fallout mounted from the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington DC, US first lady Melania Trump called on ABC to act against host Jimmy Kimmel over a monologue he delivered before the violence erupted. "Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community," she said in a post on X. Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t…

Monday April 27, 2026   Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s political tensions deepened on Sunday after Senior Presidential Advisor on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Abdullahi Mohamed Nor resigned, saying his departure stemmed from disagreements with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over the country’s political course during a fraught transition. In a statement, Abdullahi said the split with the president reflected growing differences over how the government is managing the ongoing political process and the broader…

Ireland plans to push maritime security higher up the European agenda when it takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July, with Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence Helen McEntee saying she intends to place the country’s new maritime strategy front and centre. Speaking in Warsaw after bilateral talks with Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski and defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who both also serve as deputy prime ministers of Poland, Ms McEntee said the discussions…

Monday April 27, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — North Western State of Somalia authorities say they have intercepted weapons they allege were shipped from abroad and meant to stir clan violence in the western regions of Awdal and Salal. Interior Minister Abdalle Mohamed Arab told North Western State of Somalia state media in an interview aired Sunday that the territory has been under persistent foreign pressure, especially since North Western State of Somalia gained diplomatic recognition. He said the alleged interference has taken…

Monday April 27, 2026 Hargeisa (AX) — Israel has named its first ambassador to North Western State of Somalia, moving ahead with diplomatic ties months after becoming the first country to recognize the self-declared republic, the foreign ministry said Sunday. Michael Lotem, who currently serves as Israel’s roaming economic ambassador to Africa, will take up the post in North Western State of Somalia. He has previously represented Israel in Kenya, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Israel formally recognized North Western State of…

A landmark Vatican meeting brought together Pope Leo and Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally for the first time, as the heads of the Catholic Church and the Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed side by side in a powerful gesture of unity. At the Vatican’s ornate apostolic palace, Pope Leo — the first US leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics — received Archbishop Mullally, the first woman to become spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, in his formal office. The pair, whose churches split…