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

After days of uncertainty at sea, two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba arrived in Havana yesterday, ending an overdue voyage from Mexico that had prompted a search-and-rescue operation. The nine crew members — among them American, French and German citizens, as well as a four-year-old boy — appeared healthy and upbeat as they docked in the capital beneath clear skies, smiling and flashing thumbs-up signs. The vessels delivered the last shipments of the Our America Convoy, an international aid campaign aimed at…

North Korea has taken another step in its weapons buildup, with state media reporting that leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw a ground test of an upgraded solid-fuel rocket engine, underscoring Pyongyang’s drive to sharpen its strategic arsenal. The launch test points to what appears to be Mr Kim’s continuing effort to expand and modernise a stockpile of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) designed to reach the United States mainland. The announcement came just days after Mr Kim used a speech to North Korea’s…

Sunday March 29, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday cut the ribbon on a newly rebuilt stretch of road connecting Mogadishu’s Dabka and Bakaara intersections, a flagship project carried out by the Benadir Regional Administration. Speaking at the ceremony, Mohamud cast the project as a visible sign of the capital’s recovery and of broader gains in security, governance, and economic life. “The reconstruction of this road reflects the revival and visible progress of the capital,…

Somalia: Southwest Presidency Rejects Claims of Dialogue Request with FGS After Laftagareen’s Re-election BAIDOA, Somalia — Southwest State’s presidency on Sunday moved quickly to quash reports that newly re-elected regional leader Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed, widely known as Laftagareen, had sought formal talks with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The denial from Baidoa came only hours after social media posts claimed Laftagareen had contacted…

A standoff at one of Christianity’s holiest sites upended Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, with the Latin Patriarchate saying Israeli police barred the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — an unprecedented interruption to ceremonies it said had not occurred in centuries. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Friar Francesco Ielpo as they walked toward the church, which stands on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - International partners are urging dialogue and restraint as tensions rise between Mogadishu and South West State, warning that the standoff could deepen Somalia's wider federal crisis. Calls for talks reflect the same kind of settlement logic usually associated with the National Consultative Council, where federal and regional leaders are expected to negotiate high-stakes disputes rather than escalate them. At its core, the confrontation is another test of Somalia's federal system and the limits of…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Major General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan on Sunday officially took charge of the Somali Custodial Corps, stepping into leadership of the country’s prison service at a handover ceremony held in Mogadishu. The changeover unfolded without the outgoing commander, General Mahad Abdirahman, who remains under house arrest in the capital. Even so, the ceremony went ahead, with senior correctional officials and government representatives present for the transfer of command. General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan now inherits a…

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said Iran has agreed to let 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a move Islamabad quickly framed as a significant breakthrough in one of the gravest energy crises in recent memory.

Somalia’s President to Raise Ethiopia Complaint in Diplomatic Briefing MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is set to convene a high-level briefing today at the Presidential Palace with members of the international diplomatic corps stationed in Mogadishu’s heavily secured Halane compound. Officials in the capital told the media that the president plans to give the envoys a detailed update on Somalia’s security and political climate. At the center of the discussion is expected to be a formal complaint over…

Live Explosions rock Iran’s capital in a series of blasts Middle East