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

With oil markets rattled and the Strait of Hormuz still at the center of the crisis, US and Iranian negotiators met in Pakistan for their most senior talks in half a century, seeking a way to end a war that has already redrawn the region’s fault lines. At the same time, US President Donald Trump said American forces had sunk Tehran's mine-layers and begun reopening the strategic waterway. "We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favour to Countries all over the World," Mr Trump posted, saying…

MOGADISHU, Nov 17 — Turkey said on Saturday that its offshore drilling campaign off Somalia could begin yielding oil within six to nine months, after Ankara launched its first deep-sea energy project beyond its own waters. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar called the start of drilling a “historic” moment in Turkey-Somalia ties, saying it opens a new chapter in efforts to tap Somalia’s offshore energy resources. At a ceremony in Mogadishu on Friday to receive the Çağrı Bey ship, Bayraktar said the…

Haiti Couleurs stands on the brink of a rare slice of racing history, with Rebecca Curtis’s runner carrying Welsh hopes of ending a 121-year wait for a home-trained winner of the Randox Grand National. No horse prepared in Wales has won at Aintree since Kirkland in 1905, and Curtis believes the nine-year-old has a genuine chance to change that. He also has the opportunity to become the first horse to add the Merseyside showpiece to victories in both the Irish and Welsh Grand Nationals. "He seems really well in himself. I've…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Türkiye is preparing to launch its first deep-sea drilling project abroad, a milestone that Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Friday in Mogadishu will usher in a new era for the country’s energy ambitions. The Curad-1 well, located offshore Somalia, is the centerpiece of the effort. Situated about 372 kilometers from Mogadishu, the well will probe a geological formation flagged as promising after months of seismic work carried out by Türkiye's Oruc Reis vessel.…

In a region where almost every election is billed as a defining post-1989 moment, Hungary’s parliamentary vote appears to stand apart. That phrase — the "most important election since '89" — is often overused in Central and Eastern Europe, only to be recycled at the next trip to the ballot box. But Hungary’s vote tomorrow makes a strong case for the title. The outcome could shape not only the country’s political course, but also its standing inside the European Union. Tisza leader Péter Magyar, a 44-year-old lawyer and…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Djibouti (AX) — President Ismail Omar Guelleh has secured a sixth straight term in office after sweeping Friday’s presidential election with 97.81% of the vote, according to official results released by state media. His lone opponent, Mohamed Farah Samatar of the opposition Unified Democratic Centre (CDU), won 2.19% of ballots. Authorities said turnout reached 80.4% in the vote, in a country of about one million people with roughly 256,000 registered voters. Shortly after early results were…

After nearly 10 days in space, the Artemis II capsule carrying a four-astronaut crew tore back through Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, bringing to a close humanity's first journey to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years. NASA's gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, named Integrity, drifted under parachutes into waters off the Southern California coast shortly after 5pm PT (1am Irish time), ending a mission that carried its crew farther into space than any humans had travelled before. The…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Police officers walk towards bus for their deployment in Islamabad, Pakistan before planned US-Iran ceasefire talks With negotiators already on the move, the next round of US-Iran ceasefire talks has been plunged into fresh uncertainty. The United States delegation has left for Saturday’s planned discussions in Islamabad, Pakistan, while Iran’s government says its representatives have already landed. Yet even before the two sides sit down, Friday brought a new burst of friction that cast a shadow…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia and Türkiye took a major step Friday toward the country’s first offshore deep-water oil drilling project, as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar in Mogadishu. The talks centered on deepening the two countries’ strategic ties, with energy, natural resources and the blue economy high on the agenda. President Mohamud said the partnership had entered what he called a historic phase, underscoring the arrival of…

High in the mountains above Beirut, in the village of Aintoura, a former school has taken on a very different purpose. Classrooms no longer hold lessons; they now hold families driven from their homes. Inside, Omar Toni Azar works alongside his mother and father to manage the shelter they set up there. It resembles a family enterprise in one sense only: they do the work without pay. "There are around 160 people here now," Omar told RTÉ News. "I hope there will not be more, because some rooms are divided between two, three,…