Axadle - Leading News from Somalia and the Horn of Africa

Pentagon puts 1,500 Alaska soldiers on alert for possible deployment to Minnesota amid immigration protests The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota as protests mount over a deportation crackdown and the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, two U.S. officials said. The U.S. Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case unrest escalates in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, the officials…

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday condemned threats by former U.S. President Donald Trump to impose new taxes on allied nations, including the United Kingdom, over a dispute involving Greenland, calling the measures “wrong” and a risk to alliance relations. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Starmer said he had told Trump directly that the tariff threats were unacceptable and jeopardized transatlantic solidarity at a time when unity among NATO allies matters. He warned that coercive economic…

Libya rescues more than 200 migrants from underground prison in Kufra as abuse allegations mount TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan security forces have rescued more than 200 migrants from a clandestine underground detention site in the southeastern town of Kufra, where authorities say victims were held in brutal, degrading conditions for months and, in some cases, years. Security officials said the migrants were discovered in an improvised prison nearly three meters (about 10 feet) below ground, allegedly run by a Libyan trafficker.…

Donald Trump threatened to levy sweeping tariffs on key European allies unless the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a transatlantic confrontation that EU leaders say violates existing trade understandings and challenges the sovereignty of the Danish realm. In a post on his social media platform, Mr. Trump said Denmark had “not been able to do anything to get the ‘Russian threat’ away from Greenland,” adding: “Now it is time, and it will be done!” He claimed “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years,”…

Somali president offers talks with North Western State of Somalia but rules out secession LAS ANOD, Somalia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday reaffirmed that the country’s territorial unity is not open to negotiation, saying the federal government is ready for dialogue with all Somali parties but will not entertain discussions on secession. Speaking at the inauguration of the leadership of a newly established administration in the city of Las Anod, Mohamud said Mogadishu is prepared for “dialogue at all…

Senegal conquered Africa again on Sunday night, defeating host Morocco 1-0 after extra time in Rabat to win the Africa Cup of Nations and ignite raucous celebrations from the Atlantic shore to the Sahel. Fireworks crackled above Dakar, horns blared and flags waved as the Teranga Lions claimed their second continental crown in four years behind a dramatic winner from Pape Gueye and a performance that withstood a chaotic finish. What to know: Score: Senegal 1, Morocco 0 (after extra time) Match-winner: Pape Gueye for Senegal…

Trump threatens tariffs over Greenland push; EU weighs retaliation, calls emergency summit WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS — Former U.S. President Donald Trump escalated a brewing transatlantic clash by vowing new tariffs on key European allies unless the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, drawing swift coordination in Brussels and an extraordinary EU leaders’ meeting set for Thursday. Trump said Denmark had failed to counter what he called a “Russian threat” in Greenland, the autonomous Arctic territory of the Kingdom of…

MINNEAPOLIS — The corridors of Karmel Mall, usually a hive of bargaining and chatter, were hushed on a recent afternoon. Steel shutters rolled down over rows of storefronts. A bakery still perfumed the air with fried dough, the central heating hummed, and low recitations from the Quran drifted from a few open doorways. Mostly, though, vendors waited alone. “It’s been like this for three weeks now,” said Abdi Wahid, who works at his mother’s convenience store inside the sprawling Somali business complex in south Minneapolis.…

Trump’s latest tariff threat — a 10% levy on select European nations, rising to 25% by June unless he “gets control of Greenland” — has turned a running spectacle into a high-stakes test of transatlantic relations, Federal Reserve independence and political resolve in Washington. The move over Greenland, paired with a drumbeat of domestic legal offensives, signals not a passing provocation but a strategy designed to force binary outcomes: he wins or he loses, Europe wins or it loses. There is little middle ground left. For…

Irish citizen with dual Russian nationality detained in Russia over phone messages, wife says An Irish citizen with dual Russian nationality has been detained in Russia since August after authorities found messages on his phone that expressed anti-Russian sentiment, according to his Ukrainian wife, who is appealing to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for help. Daria Petrenko, who fled Ukraine at the start of the war and now lives in Claregalway, Co Galway, said her husband, 49-year-old Dmitri Simbaev, was stopped…