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/ 16 November 2004
Voting began on Tuesday morning in the vast north-west African desert state of Niger, where nearly half the population of 11-million is being called on to elect a president. Polling stations opened at 8am, and Interior Minister Abouba Albade said half an hour later that voting was going ahead ”without incident”.
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/ 21 October 2004
The competition between energy and environmental needs in Niger has taken centre stage of late, with authorities seeking to promote the use of coal in a bid to halt deforestation in the North African country. ”If we don’t take steps now, we will be short three million tons (three billion kilograms) of firewood in 2010, or 2,5 times the present sustainable supply, and our forests will disappear.”
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/ 15 September 2004
Colonel Daouda Malam Wanke, a military commander who ruled for eight months after a 1999 coup in the West African country of Niger, died on Wednesday of cardiovascular trouble, family members said. He was 58. Wanke had been in poor health for years, suffering from high blood pressure.
North African neighbours Chad and Niger on Tuesday appealed for international aid to battle an infestation of desert locusts, warning their already compromised populations could suffer food shortages. Millions of the finger-length insects have deluged the desert nations at the height of their crucial planting seasons
Niger’s Prime Minister, Hama Amadou, was unhurt when a military helicopter he was travelling in crashed on Wednesday in the east of the country, a source close to him said. Amadou was on a campaign tour for July 24 municipal elections when the crash occurred at Magaria, about 100km south of Zinder.
Fire ripped through the Wadata marketplace on the outskirts of the Niger capital, Niamey, early on Monday, firefighters and local officials said. More than 90% of the market was destroyed by the fire, which broke out before dawn, according to city officials and a grouping of shopowners.
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/ 19 February 2004
A car crash in the remote desert of Niger killed French film director Jean Rouch, whose pioneering 1960s work in the documentary-style filming known as cinéma-vérité inspired filmmakers in France and the United States. Rouch helped pioneer cinéma-vérité, known for blurring boundaries between fiction and reality, director and subject.
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/ 14 November 2003
The government of Niger and the local Red Cross have opened a specialist out-patient clinic and public awareness centre for HIV/Aids in the capital Niamey. Officials said the Ministry of Health hopes to set up more HIV/Aids treatment centres across this landlocked and largely desert country.
Traditional chiefs in conservative areas of northern Niger have agreed to spread messages on HIV/Aids in an attempt to curb its spread in this landlocked Sahelian country. Unicef has said it has received a positive response from chiefs, helping it reach more people with different health messages.
A military revolt in Niger spread to the capital on Monday, with mutinous soldiers trying to seize three garrisons in Niamey.
Heavy weapons fire was heard early on Monday in the capital of Niger as mutinous soldiers continued their rebellion in this West African Sahara Desert nation.