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1.	Nigeria: Court remands 24 cripples over attack on governor’s aide
	Author: Lawan Danjuma Adamu	Date Written: 1 September 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: Daily Trust
	Secondary Category: Human Rights	Source URL: http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/
	Key Words: Nigeria, human rights, physical disability
	Summary & Comment: A judge has ordered the remanding of twenty-four disabled people who attacked the Special Adviser to Kano State Governor on Disabled Persons after the aide attacked one of them, making him fall from his wheelchair. "We just couldn’t stand by and watch him attack one of us," they said. They have been remanded for taking the law into their . . . [expand]
2.	Togo: President files more defamation suits against two newspapers
	Author: Kwame Karikar	Date Written: 31 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: Media Foundation for West Africa
	Secondary Category: Human Rights	Source URL: http://www.mediafound.org/
	Key Words: Togo, human rights, press freedom
	Summary & Comment: Togo’s President recently filed three more defamation suits against two privately-owned newspapers. These latest suits follow two articles published on August by L’Indépendant Express accusing government of mismanagement and corruption, and one article by Liberté headlined: "Handling of state affairs in Togo". JMPA/CJW ed.
3.	Niger: Small steps towards a sustainable future
	Author: IRIN,	Date Written: 26 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: IRIN
	Secondary Category: Economic Justice	Source URL: http://www.irinnews.org
	Key Words: Niger, economic justice, poverty, population
	Summary & Comment: It has been nearly 25 years since Niger identified population control as a priority in its fight against poverty. But convincing people to have fewer children by marrying later and using contraception is not an easy task. Organisations such as UNFPA now understood that without the sanction of men and religion, change is unlikely. JPMA/CJW ed.
4.	Togo bans paper over story on president’s half-brother
	Author: Press Release	Date Written: 26 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
	Secondary Category: Human Rights	Source URL: http://cpj.org/
	Key Words: Togo, human rights, press freedom
	Summary & Comment: The newspaper Tribune d’Afrique raised questions about the alleged involvement of a half-brother of President Faure Gnassingbé in drug trafficking. As well as a distribution ban, a judge ordered the newspaper to pay US$113,000 to Gnassingbé and slapped the editor, reporter and chief executive officer with fines of US$3,800 each. JMPA/CJW ed.
5.	Nigeria: Blow to amnesty program as militant leader feared killed in Port Harcourt
	Author: Ahamefula Ogbu	Date Written: 25 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: This Day
	Secondary Category: Human Rights	Source URL: http://www.thisdayonline.com/
	Key Words: Soboma George
	Summary & Comment: Mr. Soboma George, leader of a major urban guerrilla group called "Outlaws", is said to have been murdered in Port Harcourt. This seems to have led to the mobilisation of his supporters prepared to retaliate against anyone perceived to be linked to the killing. This could plunge the state into another orgy of violence which the government . . . [expand]
6.	Sao Tome and Principe at oil bonanza crossroads
	Author: Megan Iacobini de Fazio	Date Written: 24 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: Inter Press Service News Agency
	Secondary Category: Resource Extraction	Source URL: http://www.ipsnews.net
	Key Words: Sao Tome and Principe, resource extraction, economic justice
	Summary & Comment: More oil reserves have been discovered in the small archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe. But the lack of administrative transparency and openness has meant revenues from oil business benefit only a tiny percentage of the country’s population. Amnesty International has put forward some recommendations to help the country change the status quo. JM/C . . . [expand]
7.	Nigeria: Zoning guarantees nothing
	Author: Editorial	Date Written: 17 August 2010
	Primary Category: Western Region	Document Origin: Vanguard
	Secondary Category: Economic Justice	Source URL: http://www.vanguardngr.com
	Key Words: Nigeria, politics, zoning, development, resource extraction
	Summary & Comment: The political parlance in Nigeria today is zoning, at other times it was federal character, balancing, geo-political interests. But the question is, what would zoning guarantee? At best, it would create advantages for some politicians. In worse circumstances, it would further polarise the country, which is the effect at the moment. JMPA/CJW

News from Additional Sources

West Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE

1. AFRICA: ‘Welcome to My Taxi – Let's Do Business with My Cell Phone'
   In cities across Africa, being an entrepreneur requires no office, business card or investors. All it takes is a cell phone, according to Adele Botha, a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.
2. Mali Nomads Flee Drought
   Nomadic communities in northern Mali's desert regions are facing one of the most serious droughts of the last twenty years.
3. Burkinabé Women's Economic Empowerment Key to Girls' Education
   An initiative to keep girls in school by supporting income-generating activities for their mothers is bearing fruit in Burkina Faso, where poverty and cultural values still deprive many girls of an education.
4. Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis
   In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds.
5. DEVELOPMENT-NIGER: Selling Sand to Survive
   It's a trade that requires no capital, only courage and endurance. A group of 200 women are making ends meet - sometimes even a bit more - by selling sand.