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

Britain will not owe Kigali a payout over the collapsed migrant-relocation plan after an international court sided with the UK, shutting down Rwanda’s bid for more than £100 million. Rwanda had claimed London breached its agreement when Prime Minister Keir Starmer axed the scheme shortly after taking office in 2024. First unveiled by Boris Johnson and later pushed by Rishi Sunak, the policy sought to fly asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda for processing and potential resettlement. The proposal became a…

Tuesday June 2, 2026 Djibouti (AX) — Djiboutian opposition figure Alexis Mohamed Gueldon has accused Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of eroding the country’s federal system, arguing that decisions from Mogadishu have widened political rifts and weakened confidence in federal institutions. In a Monday post on social media, Gueldon said constitutional amendments, political standoffs and strained ties between the federal government and some federal member states have hurt the credibility of Somalia’s federal model. He…

Namibia is preparing to overhaul the legal backbone of its migration system, with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security moving to review the 1993 Immigration Control Act as part of a broader push to modernise migration management, tighten border control and security, and encourage investment and travel. Director of Immigration and Border Control Danelie /Naris said the existing law no longer adequately addresses the complexities that now come with modern migration patterns and the demands of…

The Trump administration can, for now, keep transgender people from joining the US military, a federal appeals court has ruled, while stopping the government from removing those already in uniform as the legal fight continues. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the 2025 policy was unlawfully driven "by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group". Still, the court said the Pentagon holds sweeping authority to decide who may enlist, allowing the military…

Guinea has taken a significant step towards re-establishing its constitutional framework, as legislative and municipal elections unfolded in the country following the presidential election on December 28, 2025. Despite the peaceful nature of the double ballot, the voter turnout was notably low. Just five months post-presidential vote, nearly 7 million Guinean citizens participated in the elections aimed at solidifying constitutional order. This pivotal moment follows a transition period initiated by General Mamadi…

Tuesday June 2, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission has set June 10 as the date for Southwest State’s presidential election, laying out a tight sequence of votes that will first determine the regional parliament’s leadership. Under the timetable released Monday, candidates for speaker and deputy speaker of the Southwest State House of Representatives will begin registering on June 2. The commission said the list of contenders for parliamentary leadership will be published on…

Confusion deepened around US-Iran diplomacy after President Donald Trump insisted negotiations were still moving ahead, even as an Iranian state-linked report said Tehran had put indirect talks with Washington on hold. "Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post. Earlier, Iran's state news agency Tasnim reported that Tehran was suspending indirect negotiations with the US after Israel ordered its forces to advance further ‌into Lebanon. Speaking by…

Russia unleashed air attacks on several of Ukraine’s biggest cities, including Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 60, officials said, after days of warnings that Moscow was preparing a large-scale assault. The strikes came as the war, now more than four years old, continues to batter critical infrastructure on both sides. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power network and other vital facilities, while Ukraine has intensified attacks this year on Russian oil sites. Both sides…

Even before he arrived in Washington, Peter Mandelson was making a personal pledge: appoint him as Britain’s ambassador to the US, he wrote, and the government would “never regret” it. That assurance has now surfaced in a fresh cache of official papers released alongside thousands of documents about the controversial posting. The government published the second batch of records this afternoon, shedding more light on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to hand the high-profile Washington role to Mr Mandelson…

The threat of a wider war sharpened on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had warned US President Donald Trump that Israel would hit Beirut if Hezbollah kept up attacks on Israeli communities. "I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our towns and our citizens, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement from his office. "Our position on this issue has not changed. At the same time, the IDF will continue…