- World Report 2024: Niger (hrw.org)
The July 26 military coup drew global attention to the human rights situation in Niger, including restrictions on freedom of expression and the erosion of civic space. On that day, army officers of the self-proclaimed National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, CNSP) announced on national television the overthrow of the government of President Mohamed Bazoum. They dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions, and closed the country’s borders. They arrested Bazoum, his wife and son, and several other state officials, arguing that they were taking action because of Niger’s deteriorating security situation. On July 27, Gen. Abdourahamane “Omar” Tiani, head of Niger’s presidential guard, appointed himself head of the country’s new military government.
- Yesler, Henry L. (1810?-1892) (historylink.org)
Henry Yesler was a middle-aged man when he arrived at Elliott Bay in October 1852 and quickly established himself as the most important resident of the rain-swept little spot that would soon become Seattle. He had the first steam-powered sawmill on Puget Sound up and running within months, and for several years he employed almost every male settler in Seattle and a considerable number of Native Americans. His mill was early Seattle’s only industry, and without it the town’s development would have been greatly delayed. For the first 40 years of Seattle’s existence Yesler, joined in 1858 by his wife, Sarah Burgert Yesler (1822-1887), played a part in nearly every important civic event and undertaking and held several public offices, although he was largely uninterested in politics. Known as both a generous benefactor and a litigious rascal, such was the respect granted him by contemporaries that his less-admirable traits were largely ignored by chroniclers of the city’s early history. Yesler’s sawmills were only sometimes profitable, and success in other industries and commerce usually eluded him, but by the time of his death his large property holdings in what had become the city’s commercial core made him wealthy beyond all expectations.
- Niger (Wikipedia)
Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2 (490,000 sq mi), making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa and the second largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its predominantly Muslim population of about 25 million lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger’s southwest corner.
