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

Trump dismisses newly released Jeffrey Epstein photos as ‘no big deal’ WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed off the release of new photos showing him with Jeffrey Epstein, telling reporters the images were “no big deal” and insisting the late financier appeared in countless pictures with prominent people long before his 2019 death. “Everybody knew this man,” Trump said at the White House. “He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. I mean, almost — there are hundreds and hundreds of people…

Somalia’s Southwest state executes police officer over $2 extortion killing in Baidoa BAIDOA, Somalia — The Southwest Somali administration on Saturday executed a member of its special police force after a military court convicted him of killing a civilian during a dispute over a $2 extortion demand, authorities said. The soldier, identified as Abdisamad Hassan Madnuur, was sentenced to death by the 60th Division Military Court for fatally shooting a traveler in late November in Berdale district of the Bay region, according…

Mogadishu (AX) — Sweden will continue deporting Somali nationals whose asylum claims have been rejected, Migration Minister Johan Forssell said, defending a bilateral return agreement that has come under intensifying political and public scrutiny over funding channels and oversight. Forssell said the cooperation with Somalia has delivered “clear results” and forms part of a broader effort to enforce asylum decisions. He added that Sweden intends to expand similar arrangements with additional countries, signaling a tougher…

South West State executes police officer over $2 extortion killing in Baidoa BAIDOA, Somalia — The South West State administration on Saturday executed a member of its special police force who was convicted of fatally shooting a civilian during a $2 extortion dispute, according to officials and court records. The soldier, identified as Abdisamad Hassan Madnuur, was sentenced to death by the 60th Division Military Court for killing a traveler in late November in Berdale district of the Bay region. Court documents state the…

Saturday, December 13, 2025 MOGADISHU — Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre dismissed two cabinet ministers and named their replacements on Saturday in a targeted reshuffle intended to speed up government operations and reinforce delivery of services, according to a decree issued by his office. Ambassador Jamaal Mohamed Hassan was appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry, replacing lawmaker Mahamud Geesood. Senator Ayuub Ismail Yusuf was named Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction, taking over from Dr. Elmi…

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Two people were killed and eight others were critically injured in a shooting at Brown University on Friday, prompting a campuswide shelter-in-place order as police launched a manhunt for the gunman, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said. Shots were fired inside Barus and Holley, Brown’s main engineering building on College Hill, while exams were underway. The university issued an emergency alert at 4:22 p.m. local time reporting an “active shooter near Barus and Holley Engineering,” and urged students,…

Turkey starts building Somalia spaceport, a strategic equatorial launch site drawing global scrutiny Turkey has begun constructing a satellite and rocket launch site on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast, a bold step that Ankara says will accelerate its space ambitions and that outside observers say is already drawing intense attention from rival powers. The spaceport — publicly backed by Baykar chairman Selçuk Bayraktar — is being developed under Turkish state authority on a roughly 30-by-30-kilometer coastal tract. Turkish…

Cambodia shuts border crossings with Thailand as Bangkok denies Trump claim of ceasefire Cambodia has closed all official crossings with Thailand amid days of cross-border clashes, hours after Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul contradicted former U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the two countries had agreed to halt fighting. The Interior Ministry in Phnom Penh said it would “suspend all entry and exit movements at all Cambodia-Thailand border crossings” effective immediately, following new fatalities along…

OP-ED: Trump’s Appraisal, Somalia’s Test: Leadership, Reform, and Global Perception Somalia once again finds itself judged by a sound bite. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent remarks — widely criticized as dismissive — have stirred fresh debate not just about global perceptions of Somalia, but about the country’s own leadership and the substance of international engagement. That debate matters. Language shapes policy, donor priorities and public attention. But rhetoric is not destiny. Somalia’s future will be…

MINNEAPOLIS — The takedown happened in seconds: masked federal agents sprinting toward a 20-year-old Somali American as he stepped from a restaurant, forcing him through a doorway and pinning him against a metal gate. “Why are you running?” one demanded in the bystander video, despite footage showing he had stopped. Moments later, as snow gathered on his jacket, an arm slid around his neck and he was shoved into an unmarked gray SUV while neighbors shouted that he is a citizen. The man, who asked to be identified as Mubashir…