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

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,…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — U.S. Africa Command, working with the Federal Government of Somalia, carried out airstrikes against ISIS-Somalia on April 6 and 7, officials said. In a statement released Friday, AFRICOM said the strikes hit targets in the Golis Mountains, about 55 to 75 kilometers (34 to 47 miles) southeast of the port city of Bossaso in northeastern Somalia. AFRICOM said the mission was intended to weaken ISIS-Somalia’s capacity to plan and launch attacks that could endanger the U.S. homeland,…

The Artemis II crew has already etched its place in spaceflight history with a lunar flyby, extraordinary views of the Moon and a trove of mission data. But for NASA, the moment that matters most in the ten-day voyage still lies ahead: bringing the astronauts safely home. Earlier this week, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Jeremy Hansen, travelled farther from Earth than any humans before them. The mission is widely seen as a pivotal step toward future crewed landings on the Moon…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — More than 500 young athletes crowded into Mogadishu on Friday for Somalia’s annual short-distance marathon, a race officials are using to scout the next generation of competitors for the international arena. The capital-hosted event drew open participation from aspiring runners across the country, with no restrictions based on age or competitive experience. Organizers said the broader goal is to widen Somalia’s athletics pipeline and give the country a stronger foothold in global…

Friday April 10, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia marked a major energy breakthrough on Friday as Turkey’s deep-sea drilling vessel Çağrı Bey arrived off Mogadishu’s coast, setting the stage for the country’s first offshore deep-water oil exploration project. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, senior government officials and other dignitaries gathered at Mogadishu port to استقبال the vessel, which will anchor the opening drilling campaign under a bilateral energy agreement between Somalia…

After nearly 10 days in space, the Artemis II capsule carrying four astronauts tore back through Earth's atmosphere and splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, closing out humanity's first journey into the moon's neighborhood in more than 50 years. NASA's gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, named Integrity, drifted under parachutes into the ocean off Southern California shortly after 5pm PT (1am Irish time), bringing to an end a mission that carried its crew farther into space than any people had traveled before. Covering…

Türkiye’s deep-sea drilling vessel Çağrı Bey has reached Mogadishu, setting the stage for Somalia’s first offshore oil drilling campaign, officials from both countries said Friday. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar described the mission as “historic,” saying it would “open a new chapter in Turkish energy history.” The work stems from a hydrocarbon agreement signed in 2024, which gave Türkiye’s state-owned energy company TPAO the right to explore three offshore blocks, each covering about 5,000 square…

BAFTA has issued an "unreserved" apology to black and disability communities after a racial slur was heard during its 2026 film awards, as an independent review concluded the organisation’s planning for the ceremony contained "a number of structural weaknesses". In a statement published on Friday, the BAFTA board of trustees said its apology extended not only to the black community over the racist language broadcast during the event, but also to the disability community, which it said had been subjected to "unfair judgement"…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali Member of Parliament Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame has sounded the alarm over Somalia’s oil exploration agreement with Turkey, warning that the deal could leave the country with little control over its own resources as the drilling vessel Çağrı Bey moves into Somali waters. Warsame said the arrangement is "deeply imbalanced" and argued that its structure appears to tilt overwhelmingly in favor of one party. According to his assessment, more than 90 percent of the benefits would go to a single…