- The human rights situation in Mali significantly deteriorated in 2023, as attacks against civilians by Islamist armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and large-scale abusive counterterrorism operations by Malian armed forces and associated foreign fighters surged. Clashes between the Malian armed forces and a coalition of armed groups called the Coordination of Azawad Movements (Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad, CMA)—an alliance of mostly ethnic Tuareg rebel groups that have sought independence for the Malian northern desert region they call Azawad—put a 2015 peace deal between the two parties at risk.
- Washington (state) (Wikipedia)
Washington (/ˈwɒʃɪŋtən/), officially the State of Washington and often referred to as Washington state to distinguish it from the national capital, Washington, D.C., is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington Territory, which was ceded by the British Empire in 1846, by the Oregon Treaty in the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute. The state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, Oregon to the south, Idaho to the east, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Olympia is the state capital; the state’s largest city is Seattle.