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

Party donations meant for the Scottish National Party were instead used to buy a motorhome and even a robotic lawnmower, the High Court in Edinburgh has been told. Judges heard that former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell embezzled £400,310.65 from the party’s main bank account, which prosecutors said was under his control. Murrell, 61, the former husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon, is due to be sentenced later in June. Setting out the prosecution narrative on Wednesday morning, Alan Cameron KC said the money held…

The Trump administration may, for now, keep transgender people from newly joining the US military, a federal appeals court ruled, while also drawing a firm line against removing those already in uniform as the legal fight continues. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the 2025 policy was unlawfully driven "by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group". At the same time, the court said the Pentagon retains sweeping authority to decide who can enlist,…

An independent watchdog is expected to report within three months on why British police handcuffed murder victim Henry Nowak as he lay fatally wounded, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, as pressure mounted for answers in a case that has shocked the country. Nowak, an 18-year-old student, was restrained by officers after he was stabbed by a Sikh man wielding a ceremonial knife. When police arrived at the scene in Southampton on 3 December 2025, his attacker, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, claimed he had been targeted in a…

Yvette Cooper has said Peter Mandelson should "never have been appointed" ambassador to the United States, while sidestepping a direct question over whether Keir Starmer is a strong and effective leader. Speaking during a visit to Beijing, the British foreign secretary called the release of messages linked to Mandelson's appointment an "unedifying process", after the government published a second batch of documents running to more than 1,000 pages. Among the disclosures were messages awkward for ministers, including for Mr…

Mozambique announced on Tuesday that five of its citizens lost their lives in what it described as "xenophobic attacks" in South Africa over the weekend, and efforts are currently underway to bring hundreds more home. In contrast, South African police confirmed only two Mozambican nationals had died in the violent events that unfolded in Mossel Bay, a coastal town in the south, marking the first recognized fatalities amid the recent surge in anti-migrant demonstrations. A South African teenager was also reported…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOTuesday June 2, 2026 Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi delivering his remarks at Wajir Stadium during the Madaraka Day celebrations./PCS Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has said the people of Wajir, speaking through their council of elders, will present President William Ruto with 100 camels as a symbolic show of gratitude for what he described as the President’s steadfast support for development, inclusion, and empowerment in Northern Kenya. The pledge was made on Monday during the 2026 Madaraka Day…

Warm waters spreading across the tropical Pacific are driving the buildup of a major El Niño, the World Meteorological Organisation has confirmed, sharpening fears of higher global temperatures and a fresh surge in extreme weather and heavy rainfall in the months ahead. The agency said its forecasting models show an 80% chance that above-average temperatures will be recorded across almost the entire globe from June to August. It also said there is a 90% probability that El Niño’s warming influence will persist and strengthen…

In response to alarming reports of armed bandits allegedly attacking various communities with a specific focus on school children, police in Lagos are taking decisive steps to reassure the public. A recent police statement highlighted the serious repercussions of circulating false security alerts, which have already resulted in a “tragic and avoidable loss of life” following an incident where a group of youths killed a motorcycle rider. The police emphasized their commitment to accountability, declaring, “Individuals found…

Thousands of people filled the streets of Tirana on Tuesday as anger mounted over a proposed coastal tourism development tied to US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, with opponents warning that protected wetlands and lagoons are being put at risk, media reports said. The demonstrations have sharpened in Albania amid claims that officials are clearing the way for large-scale construction in environmentally sensitive zones. Protesters say the project threatens protected land and…

By Moses KinyanjuiTuesday June 2, 2026 President William Ruto on Monday moved to immortalise a revered Wajir political figure by endorsing a request to rename the newly completed Wajir Stadium as the Ahmed Khalif Wajir Stadium. The proposal came during the 63rd Madaraka Day celebrations in Wajir County, where Governor Ahmed Abdullahi urged the President to use the landmark as a lasting tribute to the late leader, whom he described as one of the region’s most distinguished sons and a man who rose to the country’s highest…