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

President Félix Tshisekedi has ignited a political backlash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after saying he would consider a third term if citizens called for it, a statement that opposition leaders swiftly denounced. The constitution restricts presidents to two terms, and Tshisekedi said any modification would be decided by referendum. His critics counter that Article 220 expressly forbids changing presidential term limits, accusing him of laying the groundwork to prolong his time in office. The dispute…

Monday May 11, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Sunday said government forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators in Mogadishu’s Dayniile district, alleging that one person was killed and several others were injured. Speaking to reporters, Khaire said residents had assembled in Dayniile to voice anger over forced evictions and displacement when security personnel fired on the crowd. He expressed sympathy to the family of the person he said died and wished those wounded a swift…

A French woman who was aboard a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus and her health is worsening, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said. The woman was one of five French nationals on the vessel who have since returned to Paris. The other four passengers tested negative, though they will be tested again, Ms Rist told France Inter radio. She added that French authorities have so far identified 22 contact cases. In the United States, health officials said one of 17 American citizens…

Grace Eliza GoodwinMonday May 11, 2026 The search for two missing US soldiers off Morocco’s coast has taken a solemn turn: the Army says the body of one of them has now been found and identified as First Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr. The remains of one of the two service members who disappeared last week during a training exercise in Morocco were recovered, the US Army said. The Army identified the soldier as 27-year-old 1st Lt Kendrick Lamont Key Jr, a platoon leader and air defence artillery officer from Richmond,…

When the heads of the world’s two most powerful nations sit down together next week, the rest of the globe has reason to watch closely. Whatever China’s Xi Jinping and America’s Donald Trump decide in Beijing could carry consequences far beyond their own borders. The meeting comes amid intensifying debate over which country - China or the United States - will seize the commanding heights of this century’s defining technologies, especially artificial intelligence, and with them a decisive edge in global power. Hardliners in…

MOGADISHU, May 10, 2026 — Somalia’s long-running constitutional reform process has entered a new phase after the federal parliament approved a series of amendments to the Provisional Constitution and the president signed the revised text into law. The changes are aimed at locking in rules for governance and elections, but they also deepen political tensions ahead of the next electoral cycle. What Happened Somalia has been operating under a Provisional Constitution since 2012. Reform has been debated for more than a…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday cast doubt on the opposition’s decision to organize a planned protest in Mogadishu on the same day direct local elections were underway in SouthWest state and talks were scheduled in the capital. Speaking on the country’s political and security climate, Hassan Sheikh congratulated South West State residents for what he described as their calm participation in Sunday morning’s “one person, one vote” polls across several districts. He described the vote as…

Sarah JohnsonSunday May 10, 2026 The journalists said they were arrested and assaulted by counter-terrorism police in Mogadishu on Friday. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images A Somali journalist who reported on a woman’s claim that she was being tortured in prison was detained by authorities and beaten with pistols, along with two other reporters, in what media groups say is the latest sign of an escalating crackdown on press freedom. Mohamed Bulbul was arrested on Friday evening in a restaurant in central Mogadishu…

Iran has delivered its answer to a US-backed proposal designed to end a war now stretching beyond two months, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. IRNA said the proposal, relayed through mediator Pakistan, is for now centred on one immediate goal: stopping the fighting. People familiar with thinking on both sides have said the latest diplomatic push seeks a temporary memorandum of understanding that would pause the war and reopen traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while negotiators work toward a broader…

Sunday May 10, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — Somalia’s Southwest State opened a new chapter in its political history on Sunday as voters went to the polls for direct elections to choose members of the regional House of Representatives and district councils, a significant break from the country’s entrenched indirect voting system. The ballot was being conducted in 13 districts across Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions. The National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said 376,212 voters had registered to take part,…