The Louverture Project (TLP) collects and promotes knowledge, analysis, and understanding of the Haitian revolution of 1791–1804. This unique history project follows the example of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, and is committed to creating a vast, accessible, and useful open content resource. Like Wikipedia, The Louverture Project is built and maintained by a community of users, all of whom have access to and responsibility for editing the 454 pages (and growing) currently online.

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Someone began a text message earthquake scare on the 18th in Ghana, causing panic amongst thousands. Ghana's National Security agency has vowed to get to the bottom of the rumors, which claimed the BBC was reporting that NASA had told them a quake was about to hit Ghana. Of course no one, especially the US Space Agency, can predict earthquakes. Finger pointing has ensued, with the NDC party blaming rival NPP activists of starting the scare to divert attention from the ongoing NDC national congress. But the attention gained from Haiti has stirred both wide charity work by Ghanaians and a look at their own readiness. Ghana has recorded major quakes back to the 1600s, with a 6.3 quake hitting in 1939. Small tremors have hit as recently as 2005. Yet the Ghana Geological Survey Department reports it's only seismographs are broken: one in Accra, installed in 1988, broke down two years ago while the one at Kukurantumi, fixed in 1923 is said to have gone out of order many years ago.

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Le Corrier of 21 January reports "Tentative de «tazartchisation » de l’ANDP: Amadou Bagnou pris la main dans le sac". They bring us up to date on the just ended congress on the ANDP Zaman Lahiya, party of the recently deceased Tandja rival and member of the Dosso ruling house, Moumouni Djermakoye Adamou. In seeking a new leader for the, the party ended its congress on the 17th split, with a 6 month interim leadership going to Kindo Hamani. But the day after, one Amadou Bagnou appeared on government TV and newspapers claiming to be the new head on the party. Bagnou HAD been a member of the party in 1993, when he was Prefect of Tillaberi. But he left the party and joined the ruling MNSD, becoming sub-prefect of Boboye. More recently he was MNSD prefect of Loga under Tandja. Le Courrier suggests he's been re-inserted by Tandja's people to bring the ANDP into government. Odd, as the ANDP formed in 1991 as a split from MNSD when Tandja beat Moumouni Djermakoye for it's leadership.

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The APA reports two Nigerien Police officers and one Gendarme are presumed dead in Haiti. They were part of the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in Haiti, and their deaths were reported by the government in Niamey.

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An Ivorian court has ruled that a previously unknown NGO should get all compensation, not the victims. '…a senior partner at Leigh Day, the British law firm that has been representing claimants, said that following Friday's ruling, "the prospect of our clients receiving their compensation look somewhat remote… Thirty thousand Ivoirians have been looking to get the compensation due to them to alleviate their lives. Now there is a very real chance they will not see a penny." Another Leigh Day lawyer, Kouame Klement, said only his firm knew the identity of those due to be paid, and that he was worried Mr Gohourou's group would create fictional lists of names. Leigh Day said in a statement that it was concerned there was a "Mr Big" behind Mr Gohourou… Amnesty International is among those concerned that the money could be stolen if passed to Mr Gohourou's newly created non-governmental organisation.'

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Adam Thaim, chief editorialist for Bamako's Le Republicain, reflects on a Mali being caught in an international conflict over drugs and terrorism. In short, Malian's must solve this smuggling problem, before the West drags them into a "war on terror" and "war on drugs" from which they will benefit little. He notes a gang fight over cigarette smuggling at Batal – 15 km from Gao – last week that left one man dead, and another shot through each hand in punishment. Thaim fears the tie up in international conflicts will turn people against one another, and "Malians will soon assume every northerner is a bomber and any rich man is a drug dealer" While Malian's must pull together, the greater fear is from the perceptions of outsiders. "We are not owners of these conflicts and therefore it is not we, ultimately, who can gain from them. But rightly or wrongly, the link between this activity [the drugs trade] and the AQIM has been made and this will not win us the next Nobel Peace Prize."

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"L’Afrique peut-elle se développer? TANDJA a osé !" shouts the headline. A suck-up piece about how President Tandja dares to reject colonial notions of "democracy" in favor of real "African" traditions. This is the same crap we've been fed for decades: cult of personality dressed up as liberation. What's interesting is that the byline is Ousseini Lawali in "La nation" N°00 of 13 January 2010. Yes, Number Zero of a brand new paper in Niamey, bravely printing the stories other refuse to tell of how great the President is. And so last week's meetings of the government press authority (CSC) come into focus. While the CSC was founded in 1993 to protect journalism, it is now a government controlled censorship agency. Last week it announced a vague "refoundation" of press laws and journalistic standards in Niger. So we we likely see the vibrant, if little distributed, independent newspapers gagged in coming months, to be replaced by "independent" papers like "la Nation".

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This week's presidential decree: the rescinding of the "Journée continue" law of 2007. Much in vogue in the last decade across the Francophone world, the 2007 law mandating the elimination of the two or three hour lunch break was inspired by similar laws in Burkina and Mali. Government offices were expected to be open from 7:30 to 16:30 five days a week. But complaints continued that staff would leave on their short lunch at noon and just not come back. One can assume that this is a bone to administrators, as they will likely see pay cuts due to sanctions. Whatever the rights or wrongs, the initial change was made by the National Assembly, the government and the President, but in this new age, the stroke of Tandja's pen undoes it without public notification.

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This is the offer which has been floating around opposition circles for several months: a transition to a seventh republic which resembles the 5th. Tandja, like General Ali Saibou during the transition from the 2nd to the 3rd Republics, would become a figurehead to a constitutional convention with executive power, and then retire to his farm. Tandja will not accept this willingly. ::

The important thing to note here: neither side is really about to compromise, especially Arzika for the government, who's position is entirely dependent of the dictatorial powers of the new constitution. Both sides are positioning themselves to win ECOWAS's support when the talks end. The opposition hopes that strong ECOWAS sanctions will split the regime and overturn Tandja. The government hopes that ECOWAS will be frustrated, make some statements, and eventually — quietly — accept Tandja's rule as a fait a complis.

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Reuters Alertnet describes nine national and international crises which are likely to appear in the headlines over the next 12 months. Their prediction that somewhere in the rural Sahel chronic malnutrition, heightened by national poverty and market dominated agriculture, will break out into Famine is a safe if depressing bet.

"Here is a selection of some of the under-reported humanitarian emergencies at risk of deteriorating this year. The list is by no means exhaustive nor is it any kind of ranking."

Thailand's Restive South / Violence In The Philippine Mindanao / Food Shortages In Nepal / India's Maoist Rebellion / Hunger In Guatemala / Ogaden Crisis In Ethiopia / Malnutrition In West And Central Africa / Conflict In Central African Republic / Chad's Wild East

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