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

CPJ urges North Western State of Somalia to free journalist detained without charge since Feb. 22 Monday March 9, 2026 HARGEISA, North Western State of Somalia (AX) — The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for the immediate release of Ahmed-Zaki Ibrahim Mohamud, a Hargeisa-based reporter and founder of the online outlet Warrame Media, who has been held without formal charges since February 22 in North Western State of Somalia. CPJ said unidentified individuals raided Warrame Media’s offices in Hargeisa on the…

Soham double murderer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after being attacked inside the workshop of HMP Frankland, a maximum-security prison in Durham, authorities said. Huntley, 52, suffered severe brain trauma in the Feb. 26 assault and had been kept on life support after being struck repeatedly over the head with a metal bar by another inmate. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our…

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on “regime infrastructure” in central Iran on Monday, hours after clerics in Tehran named Mojtaba Khamenei as the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader, escalating a regional war already spilling across the Gulf and the Levant. The Israeli military said its forces had “begun an additional wave of strikes on Iranian terror regime infrastructure in central Iran,” a rare public description of targets inside the country. The announcement came shortly after Israel reported strikes on…

Oil surges past $90 as war in Middle East chokes Strait of Hormuz, rattling fuel costs worldwide Oil prices spiked and showed no signs of easing a week after the United States and Israel launched major attacks on Iran, tipping the Middle East into war and choking off one of the world’s most vital energy arteries, the Strait of Hormuz. Commercial tankers carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to safely pass through the narrow waterway bordered by Iran, as missile and drone…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Fuel prices in Somalia’s capital surged nearly 77% overnight on Sunday, intensifying pressure on households and businesses already strained by rising living costs and supply disruptions across the region. The price of gasoline jumped from about $0.65 to $1.15 per liter late Friday, according to traders and drivers. By rush hour, cars queued at multiple Mogadishu stations as motorists scrambled to fill up, while taxi and three-wheeler (Bajaj) operators warned they may have to raise fares to stay afloat.…

Somalia: President Signs New Constitution Amid Growing Political Tensions MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday signed Somalia’s new constitution into law at the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu, sealing a landmark step in the country’s drawn-out effort to formalize its governance — and triggering a fierce political backlash from regional leaders and opposition figures. The ceremony, attended by the speakers of both houses of the Federal Parliament, followed lawmakers’ approval of a package of…

Sunday March 8, 2026 Arusha (AX) — East African Community leaders on Sunday approved and swore in Somali jurist Abdiwahid Warsame Abdullahi as a judge of the First Instance Division of the East African Community Court of Justice, marking a milestone in Somalia’s integration into the regional bloc. The appointment was endorsed at the 25th Summit of EAC Heads of State in Arusha, where Abdullahi took the oath of office. His elevation brings Somali legal expertise onto the bench of the EAC’s principal judicial institution at a…

Somalia's President Signs New Constitution, Marking a Historical Shift On Sunday, Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed a new constitution into law, signaling the end of a decade-long provisional governance framework. This pivotal decision was made at a ceremony in Mogadishu, where the president emphasized the government's commitment to implementing the newly adopted constitution. Formal transition from a provisional to a permanent constitutional framework. Endorsement by the national parliament marks a…

China’s next five-year plan could rewrite African agriculture — if the continent seizes the moment China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) is more than a domestic blueprint. It is a signal of how the world’s second-largest economy intends to buy, process and secure the food that will feed a warming planet. For Africa — home to the largest share of the world’s uncultivated arable land and an emerging network of agribusinesses — the plan reads like an invitation. The opportunity is to move from being a supplier of raw crops to…

Beyond a Resignation: DP World, Doraleh and the Red Sea Port Power Play The resignation of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the longtime head of DP World, after revelations about his links to Jeffrey Epstein, has been cast as a move for accountability. In practice, it looks like a political firewall for a far larger enterprise: the United Arab Emirates’ projection of power through ports from the Horn of Africa to the Indian Ocean, with the Red Sea as a central fault line. DP World, the Dubai government–owned port operator, is…