AllAfrica.com: Nigeria: ‘Women Constitute 70 Percent of the Poor in Country’
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has disclosed that women make about 70 percent of the poor in Nigeria. Soludo provides some insight into why there is such a high incidence of poverty among women, suggesting that it may be due to illiteracy. “Even though primary/secondary school enrolment has almost 50/50 male/female proportion (and even slightly higher for females in some Eastern states), the male/female literacy rate is still at about 60/40,” Soludo said.

International Herald Tribune: Hemorrhagic fever reappears in Congo
The Ebola virus, which causes a deadly hemorrhagic fever, has surfaced for the second time in less than two years in south-central Congo, where there have been 36 suspected cases, 12 of them fatal. The World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and other groups have rushed into the region in hopes of stopping the outbreak by setting up isolation units for the sick and monitoring those who might be infected.

Reuters: Darling tells G20 to get tough on bankers
The stage is being set for April’s G20 summit in London when world leaders will meet to tackle the worst financial crisis in living memory. The British government called for tighter financial market regulation in advance of the meeting, which will be one of the first major international events attended by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven wealthy nations will meet in Rome on February14 under the Italian presidency of the smaller core group. Finance ministers from the broader G20 will meet in Britain a month later to prepare for the summit.

Xinhua: Italy prepares for G8 aid and agriculture meetings
Special meetings dedicated to agriculture and development aid will be held for the first time on the sidelines of the G8 summit this year, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday. The minister said food security would be the main topic at the agriculture meeting, while the global financial crisis had necessitated discussions on development aid because many countries had to cut back on contributions.

-Chandler Smith