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

Monday May 25, 2026 Las Anod (AX) — Police in Somalia’s Northeastern State moved quickly on Sunday, arresting five suspects and launching a search for a sixth person in connection with the rape of a woman in Las Anod. Sool regional police said the assault occurred on May 23, 2026. After the case was reported, officers carried out a follow-up operation that led to the detention of the five suspects. Police said the victim is a woman from Northeastern Somalia. They did not release her name, in line with standard practice in…

Artificial intelligence has moved to the center of the Vatican’s moral agenda, with Pope Leo XIV releasing his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, in a closely watched statement of intent from the new pontiff. The pope signed the document on 15 May, deliberately tying it to the 135th anniversary of the landmark encyclical issued by the last pope to take the name Leo - Pope Leo XIII. That document, Rerum Novarum, confronted the social and economic shocks unleashed by the Industrial Revolution in…

Monday May 25, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s intelligence service said at least five al-Shabab militants were killed in a carefully planned operation in Hiiraan region, where the group had reportedly gathered to prepare attacks. The National Intelligence and Security Agency said Sunday that the raid took place in the Tardo area, carried out alongside international partners after intelligence showed about 25 al-Shabab members, including fighters and officers, had convened there. NISA said the group was preparing activities…

A fragile sign of progress emerged in Garden Grove after authorities said they found a crack in a damaged tank holding toxic chemicals, a development that may be easing pressure as fears of an explosion have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes. Roughly 50,000 residents in the Garden Grove area of Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, were ordered to evacuate on Friday after the tank began leaking and sent fumes across a densely populated area about 8km from Disneyland. Federal regulators sent in a team of…

Zimbabwe’s opposition politics and civil society circles are mourning the death of Linda Masarira, an outspoken human rights activist and party leader, who has died aged 43. Masarira founded and led the Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) in 2019. Tributes have begun to pour in from those who worked alongside her. Close friend Abigale Mupambi remembered Masarira as a “comrade to many,” reflecting the breadth of her relationships across activism and political organising. Over the past decade, Masarira became…

Jake Wallis SimonsMonday May 25, 2026 Britain is overlooking a strategic prize in North Western State of Somalia, critics say — and, in doing so, is allowing military and commercial opportunities to drift into the hands of rivals. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the president of North Western State of Somalia, questions why Britain recognises the state of Palestine but not North Western State of Somalia Credit: AFP Perched in a gilded armchair inside his official palace, President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi presents the…

In a dramatic shift in the political landscape, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has removed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko from his post and disbanded the existing government, following a prolonged period of escalating tensions. This rift between the two leaders has intensified over the past few months, originating from their collaborative efforts to vanquish the candidate of the former ruling party during the March 2024 presidential elections. Despite the upheaval, no information has yet emerged regarding the selection of…

The United States will secure either a satisfactory agreement with Iran or confront Tehran “another way,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, as Washington sought to temper expectations of any immediate breakthrough in the three-month-old war. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Mr Rubio said the US would allow diplomacy every opportunity to work before turning to what he called “alternatives,” after President Donald Trump said yesterday that he had instructed his team not to hurry into an agreement with Iran. Rubio said…

by CYRUS OMBATIMonday May 25, 2026 Part of the recoveries made from an Al Shabaab camp in Wajir County Security officers in Fafi Sub-county, Garissa County, foiled a suspected militant assault on Kambios Police Post in the early hours of Saturday, in another reminder of the persistent threat along the border belt. Police said the attack happened at about 12:45 am on Saturday, May 23, when an unidentified number of suspected militants opened fire on the post, spraying several rounds of ammunition. Officers at the station…

With pressure building inside a tank of hazardous chemicals in Southern California, firefighters racing to stop an explosion or toxic leak have turned to outside specialists in a bid to avert disaster, as several nearby shelters filled up with evacuees. Evacuation orders stayed in force across a zone affecting tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove, a Los Angeles-area suburb. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County, while his office urged residents to comply with evacuation…