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

Wednesday April 29, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — South West State’s elections for the House of Representatives and local councils have been pushed back after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission granted political parties more time to complete candidate submissions. In a statement released Tuesday, the commission said parties had requested an extension on April 23 to finish the registration process for candidates. It added that it met with party leaders on April 25 at its headquarters to discuss the request. The…

A dispute over allegedly looted Ukrainian grain has pushed Kyiv and Israel into a sharp diplomatic clash, opening another front in the international fallout from Russia’s war. Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, has for months accused Russia of shipping out agricultural goods taken from occupied areas seized after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion. "Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement on…

A new indictment has thrust former FBI director James Comey back into the legal and political spotlight, accusing him of threatening US President Donald Trump’s life just five months after an earlier case against the longtime Trump critic was dismissed. Handed up by a grand jury in North Carolina, the indictment centers on an Instagram post Mr Comey, 65, shared in May last year showing the numbers "86 47" arranged in seashells. At the time, Mr Trump told Fox News that "86" was slang for kill and that "47" pointed to his…

Monday April 27, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — As tensions persist between Somalia’s federal government and opposition leaders, civil society groups are backing a familiar force in Somali politics: traditional elders. At a press conference in Mogadishu on Sunday, Osman Moalim Shatax, chairman of a coalition of non-state actors, said civil society supports appeals from both sides to bring elders into the mediation process. Shatax said the elders are in a strong position to help restore confidence and steer the country toward a…

By CORRESPONDENTTuesday April 28, 2026 A political aspirant from Garissa County is in police custody after being accused of stoking violence in the wake of the deadly Tseikuru attack in Kitui County that claimed seven lives. She was arrested on Sunday after a video spread online showing her allegedly calling for revenge over the killing of a taxi driver in Garissa earlier last week. In the five-minute recording, she is heard making remarks about religion and urging action if authorities failed to deliver justice. According…

Australia is moving to tighten the screws on the world’s biggest tech companies, unveiling draft laws that would tax Meta, Google and TikTok unless they voluntarily reach payment agreements with local news publishers. The proposal lands as traditional media organisations worldwide fight to stay afloat while audiences increasingly turn to social media for headlines, updates and breaking news. Canberra’s position is straightforward: if major digital platforms share articles that help draw users to their services, local…

Tuesday April 28, 2026 A cargo ship is seen in a port in central Mogadishu Suspected pirates have seized a cargo vessel off Somalia, according to officials and maritime security groups, in what appears to be the latest sign that insecurity is returning to waters once notorious for such attacks. The reported hijacking on Monday was the second off Somalia in less than a week. The target was the Sward, a St Kitts and Nevis-flagged ship carrying cement from Suez, Egypt, to the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. The incident comes at…

South Sudan is sliding deeper into a hunger emergency, with nearly two-thirds of the population — about 7.9 million people — facing acute food insecurity as fighting flares again between government and opposition forces. The heaviest violence has gripped Jonglei State, where troops loyal to President Salva Kiir have been fighting militias aligned with his longtime rival, Riek Machar, since December. The renewed clashes have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in a nation already ranked among the poorest and most corrupt…

Somalia Unveils $35 Million World Bank-Funded “Bulsho” Project MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs, and Reconciliation has rolled out the “Bulsho” project, a wide-reaching program designed to improve public services in some of the country’s most isolated communities. The World Bank-backed initiative carries a budget of more than $35 million and is aimed at expanding infrastructure and delivering essential services to marginalized populations through a joint effort by the federal government…

By Margaret KalekyeTuesday April 28, 2026 A Somali national has been convicted and jailed for belonging to the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Abdikarim Hassanow Hassan, also known as Ali, was sentenced on Monday by the Kahawa magistrates’ court after the Director of Public Prosecutions called four witnesses. The court handed Hassanow 10 years’ imprisonment for membership in Al-Shabaab, and a further 10 years for organising a meeting in support of a terrorist group. He was also given 10 years for radicalisation, another 10…