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

A hantavirus outbreak tied to a cruise ship has left three people dead and six others confirmed infected, prompting a World Health Organization warning and plans to fly American passengers back to the United States. "As of 8 May, a total of eight cases, including three deaths (case fatality ratio 38%), have been reported. Six cases have been laboratory-confirmed as hantavirus infections, with all identified as Andes virus (ANDV)," it said in a statement. "WHO assesses the risk to the global population posed by this event as…

Saturday May 9, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — North Western State of Somalia stepped up its push for foreign investment on Thursday, as a delegation led by Trade and Tourism Minister Abdirahman Hassan Nur met with Israeli business representatives in Addis Ababa to explore deeper commercial ties. In a statement, North Western State of Somalia’s Ministry of Trade and Tourism said the discussions centered on broadening economic cooperation across agriculture, energy, technology, infrastructure, financial services and healthcare. The…

Wales’ political landscape has been jolted by a landmark defeat: First Minister Eluned Morgan has lost her Senedd seat in a crushing election for Welsh Labour. Her defeat makes history as the first time a sitting Welsh leader has been unseated in an election to the Welsh parliament. Labour has governed Wales since the Senedd was created as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and the party has remained the country’s largest political force for more than 100 years. Ms Morgan’s exit caps a punishing day for Labour in Wales…

A dramatic hostage ordeal at a bank in western Germany ended with a special police unit freeing two people from a vault unharmed, but the suspects had already vanished and remained at large, police said. When officers moved into the branch in Sinzig, they found no trace of the attackers, according to police. Investigators now believe that "immediately after locking the individuals in the vault, the perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene by means as yet unknown", authorities said in a statement. The incident began at…

Ireland would see it as a "big moment" if Iceland votes to resume negotiations on joining the European Union, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne has said, as Reykjavik moves toward a fresh decision on its stalled membership bid. The Nordic island nation is expected to hold a referendum on 29 August on whether to reopen talks on entering the EU. Iceland first applied for membership in 2009, before the accession process was suspended in 2015 after a change of government. Its current administration, which took…

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Fresh violence in the Strait of Hormuz has thrown a fragile US-Iran ceasefire into doubt, with Tehran accusing واشنگتن of violating the truce and both sides trading blame for an overnight confrontation in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways. "The action carried out last night was both a blatant violation of international law and a breach of the ceasefire," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, according to the ISNA news agency. "At the same time, the country's defenders delivered a 'major…

MOGADISHU, May 8 - Former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on Friday urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to put in place an inclusive electoral framework before his term expires next week, saying failure to reach consensus could deepen instability in the country. The appeal lands against the backdrop of an intensifying political standoff in the Horn of Africa nation, where the opposition and the federal government remain split over election procedures and proposed constitutional changes as the May 15 deadline…

South Africa’s top court has struck down Parliament’s 2022 move to halt impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa, ruling the decision unconstitutional in a judgment that immediately reshapes the political landscape. The Constitutional Court sided with opposition parties, which argued that lawmakers from the ruling party improperly shut down a process designed to test grave allegations against the head of state. The dispute traces back to an independent panel’s findings that the President had a case to…

A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a luxury expedition cruise in the Atlantic has triggered a global health response, but the World Health Organization says the episode does not signal the start of a new Covid-style emergency. "This is not the start of an epidemic. This is not the start of a pandemic," WHO epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters, insisting: "This is not Covid." The WHO said it expects the outbreak to remain "limited" provided countries enforce public…