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

Iran’s Assembly of Experts has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, to succeed his late father as supreme leader, cementing hard-line control more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported. The clerical body elevated the mid-ranking cleric, long seen as a power broker with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, following internal deliberations shaped by loyalty tests and wartime rhetoric. In a video message, council member Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir said the…

HRW says Israel unlawfully used white phosphorus in southern Lebanon, urges arms suspensions Human Rights Watch said Monday it has verified evidence that Israel used airburst white phosphorus munitions over a residential neighborhood in southern Lebanon this month, a practice the group says violates international humanitarian law and endangers civilians. In a new report, the New York-based group said it authenticated seven photos showing white phosphorus fired over Yohmor on March 3, with fires breaking out in at least two…

Nigerian Government Urges Mozambique to Release Detained Citizens The Nigerian government has called for the immediate release of 42 Nigerians allegedly arrested in Mozambique without any charges. The appeal was made by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa. She condemned the arrests and described the reported targeting of Nigerians at a spare parts market as a possible xenophobic act. Dabiri-Erewa urged Mozambican authorities to either release these individuals or formally charge…

Malawi has banned "dual practice" for health workers at all public clinics, hospitals, pharmacies and diagnostic centers in a sweeping move intended to stamp out corruption and restore confidence in the state health system, the government announced Monday. The directive bars public-sector health employees from holding concurrent jobs in private medical facilities. It also requires any health worker who owns or has a stake in a private clinic, pharmacy or diagnostic center to divest within 30 days or face dismissal and…

Israel struck a seafront hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, the first attack on the city’s core since the start of the new war with Hezbollah, as Lebanon’s health minister said nearly 400 people have been killed across the country in the past week. Lebanon’s Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said 394 people were killed over seven days of Israeli strikes, including 83 children and 42 women. Earlier, the ministry said an Israeli air attack hit “a hotel room” in Beirut’s city center, killing four people and wounding 10 others.…

CPJ urges North Western State of Somalia to free journalist detained without charge since Feb. 22 Monday March 9, 2026 HARGEISA, North Western State of Somalia (AX) — The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for the immediate release of Ahmed-Zaki Ibrahim Mohamud, a Hargeisa-based reporter and founder of the online outlet Warrame Media, who has been held without formal charges since February 22 in North Western State of Somalia. CPJ said unidentified individuals raided Warrame Media’s offices in Hargeisa on the…

Soham double murderer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after being attacked inside the workshop of HMP Frankland, a maximum-security prison in Durham, authorities said. Huntley, 52, suffered severe brain trauma in the Feb. 26 assault and had been kept on life support after being struck repeatedly over the head with a metal bar by another inmate. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our…

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on “regime infrastructure” in central Iran on Monday, hours after clerics in Tehran named Mojtaba Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader, escalating a regional war already spilling across the Gulf and the Levant. The Israeli military said its forces had “begun an additional wave of strikes on Iranian terror regime infrastructure in central Iran,” a rare public description of targets inside the country. The announcement came shortly after Israel reported strikes on…

Oil surges past $90 as war in Middle East chokes Strait of Hormuz, rattling fuel costs worldwide Oil prices spiked and showed no signs of easing a week after the United States and Israel launched major attacks on Iran, tipping the Middle East into war and choking off one of the world’s most vital energy arteries, the Strait of Hormuz. Commercial tankers carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely pass through the narrow waterway bordered by Iran, as missile and drone…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Fuel prices in Somalia’s capital surged nearly 77% overnight on Sunday, intensifying pressure on households and businesses already strained by rising living costs and supply disruptions across the region. The price of gasoline jumped from about $0.65 to $1.15 per liter late Friday, according to traders and drivers. By rush hour, cars queued at multiple Mogadishu stations as motorists scrambled to fill up, while taxi and three-wheeler (Bajaj) operators warned they may have to raise fares to stay afloat.…