A tropical cyclone that barreled into the Mozambique Channel now has intensified into a major storm with winds of 167 kilometers per hour, and gusts of 200 km/h, as it heads toward a likely landfall in Madagascar. Cyclone Belna was no longer a threat to Mayotte as of late Sunday,…
A tropical cyclone threading its way into the Mozambique Channel has intensified into a major storm with winds of 185 kilometers per hour as it heads toward possible landfall in northern Madagascar. Cyclone Belna still has time to grow stronger, according to Météo France Reunion, the regional authority for cyclones…
There are at least 11,000 children working in Madagascar’s southern mica mining region, where poverty means that sometimes entire families are exposed to dangerous health and safety conditions. That’s according to a new report from human rights advocates at Terre des Hommes, which found that between 56 and 62 percent…
China’s Vice Premier Sun Chunlan headed to Namibia on Thursday, the second stop of a three-nation African tour that runs through November 13. Sun arrived in Windhoek to meet with her counterpart, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, after meetings in Madagascar with President Andry Rajoelina and Prime Minister Christian Ntsay. Rajoelina noted that…
Pope Francis has returned to the Vatican after completing a three-nation tour of southern Africa, and some of his most compelling insights may have been on the plane ride home from Antananarivo. The pope held a press conference with journalists aboard the flight, wrapping up his thoughts on his journey…
Scientists from across the globe are placing some pressure on President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar to ensure he makes biodiversity conservation a priority of his five-year term. The researchers from 16 different universities and organizations, including the University of Antananarivo, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Madagascar and the International Union…
The new president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, appealed for unity after Monday’s high court ruling confirmed his victory in the island nation’s December 19 elections. “I’m the president of all the Malagasy,” said Rajoelina, who received 56 percent of the vote. “They chose patriotism and development. … Now let’s get…
Andry Rajoelina is poised for the official win in Madagascar’s presidential elections, with final results in the second round runoff expected on Thursday. Rajoelina, above, has 55.6 percent of the vote while Marc Ravalomanana of the opposition Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM) party has 44.4 percent, according to numbers released by…
It’s down to the wire in Madagascar as the country ended its campaigns Monday, in preparation for Wednesday’s runoff election to determine who will become president – or in this case, president again. Both candidates in the island nation’s election have served in the top office before. Marc Ravalomanana of…
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Russian government have signed a new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of cooperation, the latest evidence of Moscow’s interest in the African continent and its development. SADC head Stergomena Tax and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed the document as African leaders…
There’s new concern over plague in Madagascar, where another six suspected cases were reported this week in the village of Iakora, which saw dozens of fatalities during a seasonal outbreak in 2016. The deaths all occurred during September, according to local media citing the National Gendarmerie in Ivohibe province. That’s…
The United States Department of State has confirmed the weekend death of one of its diplomats in Madagascar, where a man was detained after he was caught scaling the fence of the diplomat’s home in Antananarivo. “We are deeply saddened to confirm that a U.S. Foreign Service Officer was found…
The cut marks on ancient bones from a long-extinct giant bird show that humans arrived on Madagascar some 6,000 years before scientists previously thought, according to new findings from a research team led by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The bones of the extinct Madagascar elephant bird, found in…
Madagascar is known for its breathtaking biodiversity, but it appears that conservation efforts there often are disconnected from the scientific research that might inform the decisions made by managers of the nation’s many protected areas. That’s according to a new study from a team at Bangor University in the UK,…
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the news of a new cabinet established late Monday in Madagascar, following a May 25 court order to form a national unity government in hopes of ending the island nation’s political crisis. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s picks include Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, both of…