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

Monday June 1, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Military Court on Sunday opened proceedings in a case involving two Ethiopian nationals accused of ties to al-Shabab, prosecutors said. Military prosecutors named the defendants as Hamza Ibrahim Ali, also known as Abuu Irshad, and Nasri Abdirahman Ali, also known as Abuu Safiya. Both men are from Harar, Ethiopia, and are fluent in Somali, according to prosecutors. Security officials said the pair were detained in Baidoa, the capital of Bay region, during a planned operation…

A birthday celebration for America’s 250th anniversary has become a political flashpoint after US President Donald Trump urged organizers to scrap a planned concert series and replace it with a rally led by him. "We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain," Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding: "Cancel it." The call came after several performers withdrew soon after…

Colombia’s presidential race is headed for a high-stakes runoff, with right-wing outsider Abelardo De La Espriella poised to face leftist Ivan Cepeda after first-round results showed a razor-thin margin between the two men, while Mr Cepeda and his allies said they would hold off on accepting the outcome until the count is formally confirmed. Less than two percentage points separated the candidates, according to data from the country’s national registry office, in an election shaped by anxieties over security, a struggling…

Fears that central Africa’s Ebola outbreak could ripple beyond the region sharpened after Brazilian health officials said they are tracking two possible cases in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In Sao Paulo, authorities said a 37-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — the center of the current outbreak — "exhibited symptoms such as fever, meeting the definition of a suspected case" of Ebola, according to a state government statement issued yesterday. Although initial tests did not detect the Ebola…

The war’s reach stretched deep into Russian territory again as Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in the south and a pumping station hundreds of kilometres from the front, according to Kyiv, with Russian officials also acknowledging attacks in the targeted areas. Now in its fifth year, the war has seen Ukraine intensify its campaign against Russian infrastructure, targeting sites far from the battlefield, including locations near the Urals in recent weeks. Ukraine’s military said the operation hit a "dispatch station of a…

Sunday May 31, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — The Banadir Regional Education Directorate on Sunday released the schedule for Grade 8 certificate examinations for the 2025-26 academic year, setting the stage for thousands of students across the region to take part. Officials said all preparations have been finalized and that tighter safeguards are in place to uphold transparency, fairness and quality during the testing process. The directorate also appealed to school leaders, teachers and parents to stand behind students as they…

Trust, Iran’s chief negotiator made clear, remains in short supply. Tehran will not sign off on any agreement with Washington, he said, unless it can prove that Iranian rights are fully protected. The comments from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf came as fresh reports suggested US President Donald Trump had returned a more hardline peace proposal to Iran, highlighting just how much distance still separates the two sides. Any further revisions to the draft risk slowing an already fragile push to formally end the Middle East war and…

ANKARA – Turkey on Saturday said Israel could be brought into a wider Middle East security and cooperation architecture, but only if it recognizes an independent Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders, according to remarks published in a Nikkei Asia interview. In the interview, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a durable settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could open the door to a new regional framework rooted in security, economic cooperation and mutual respect among neighboring countries. Fidan…

Sunday May 31, 2026 Ilhan Omar celebrates her relection to Congress at the DFL watch party on November 5, 2024. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal Minneapolis (AX) — U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has officially entered the race for another term in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, setting up a bid to continue representing Minneapolis and a ring of nearby suburbs. The Democrat, who has emerged as one of the most recognizable progressive figures in Congress, confirmed the filing in a Facebook video posted Saturday. “I am…

MOGADISHU – A Somali military court on Tuesday examined a case involving two Ethiopian nationals accused of ties to the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, judicial officials said. The men, named by prosecutors as Hamza Ibrahim Ali Abu Irshad and Nasri Abdirahman Ali Abu Safiya, appeared before the First Instance Court of the Somali Armed Forces, where military prosecutors detailed allegations that they were connected to the al Qaeda-linked insurgency. Prosecutors said both suspects were born in Harar, Ethiopia, and speak…