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

Somalia: Defense Minister Threatens Military Action Against Federal States MOGADISHU — Somalia’s Defence Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi has warned that the federal government may resort to military force against federal states that resist national directives, saying the Somali army will assert its authority throughout the country. Speaking in a recent address, Fiqi took aim at leaders of some federal member states, accusing them of opposing the deployment of national forces and treating the presence of the military as a threat.…

Tuesday April 14, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s Federal Parliament reached the end of its four-year mandate on Tuesday, April 14, closing a term that has anchored the country’s post-transition political order since lawmakers were sworn in on April 14, 2022, under Article 60 of the Provisional Constitution. The bicameral legislature played a pivotal role in the months that followed, providing the legal basis for the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on May 15, 2022, and the formation of the federal government…

PORT SUDAN, 14 April 2026 – As Sudan passes the three-year mark of its conflict, an average of three infants have been born into war every minute, Save the Children warns, painting a stark picture of mothers and newborns facing life-threatening conditions amid collapsing health services and repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure. New analysis of data from Sudan’s Ministry of Health shows roughly 5.6 million babies arrived between April 2023 and April 2026 — more than 5,000 births per day on average, or at least three…

Somalia: Ex-President Warns of Leadership Vacuum as Parliament Mandate Expires MOGADISHU, Somalia — Former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on Tuesday said the Federal Parliament’s constitutional mandate expired on April 14, 2026, warning that Somalia is sliding into a period of "rising political uncertainty." Farmaajo said parliamentary business "can only resume after new elections are held," pushing back against a one-year extension announced by the leadership of the House of the People. His intervention gives…

Tuesday April 14, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somali national forces, working alongside regional security units and international partners, killed 27 al-Shabab fighters in a major offensive across the Middle and Lower Juba regions, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. According to the ministry, the strikes focused on militant positions in areas under the districts of Jilib, Hagar and Afmadow as ground troops pressed forward against the al-Qaida-linked group. “During the course of these ground operations, airstrikes supported by…

A corruption case involving Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, has escalated sharply after a court formally charged her following a criminal investigation that has stretched on for years, according to a judicial ruling. The inquiry is among several corruption cases touching the Socialist prime minister’s inner circle, including relatives and former close allies, and it has intensified pressure on his fragile minority coalition government. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado launched the investigation in April…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia was thrust into a constitutional deadlock on Tuesday after the Federal Parliament’s mandate formally lapsed, prompting a string of resignations from lawmakers even as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud began his final 30 days in office. The four-year terms of both the House of the People and the Upper House expired on April 14. Yet Speaker of the House Adan Madobe had already announced that Parliament would remain in place for another year, a decision meant to support the federal government’s push…

By Dr. Ali Said FaqiTuesday April 14, 2026 Somalia is approaching a defining crossroads. The possibility of offshore oil and gas development by the Turkish firm could open a route to economic independence and lasting stability. For a nation long dependent on outside assistance, it is an unusually promising chance to shape its own economic destiny. Yet promise by itself will not deliver results. Around the world, resource-rich countries have learned that without sound governance, natural wealth can deepen instability instead…

Diezani Alison-Madueke, the former Nigerian petroleum minister, has made headlines as she stands trial in London, vehemently denying allegations of bribery and luxury accommodations linked to government contracts. Accused of enjoying opulent stays and extravagant spending sprees in the UK, she asserts that these claims are baseless. In her testimony to the jury, Alison-Madueke maintained her innocence, stating she never misused her position to solicit or accept bribes, despite facing six serious charges under the UK Bribery…

Donald Trump has declined to apologise for attacking Pope Leo XIV, escalating an extraordinary public clash after the pontiff renewed his call for an end to the violence in the Iran war. "There's nothing to apologise for. He's wrong," Mr Trump told reporters, doubling down a day after a social media post and public remarks aimed at the US-born pope. "Pope Leo said things that are wrong. He was very much against what I'm doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran," said Trump, who also argued that Leo was…