The World Bank says $5 million in emergency funding will help Madagascar finance the response to the island nation’s plague outbreak, as the death toll has reached at least 127 victims there – and threatens to spread to neighboring nations. More than 1,800 suspected cases have been reported since August…
The World Health Organization says it has sent nearly 1.2 million doses of antibiotics to Madagascar in the fight against plague. The medicines were delivered last week, with the expectation that another 244,000 doses will be added in coming days as health officials battle the ongoing seasonal outbreak on the…
Africa’s island nations in the Indian Ocean are increasingly vulnerable to natural disaster and need to urgently make a priority of their community resilience and preparedness, says the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “The devastating humanitarian and economic impact of natural disasters…
Madagascar’s recovery from tropical cyclone Enawo continues, but there’s one consequence of the March 2017 storm that shows no signs of improving soon, and that’s the price of vanilla. The already sky-high prices are expected to rise again, according to Georges Geeraerts, head of the Madagascar Group of Vanilla Exporters…
The Minamata Convention on Mercury enters into force today, following a 90-day period since the necessary threshold of 51 ratifications was achieved in May. The Minamata Convention enters into force with 128 signatory nations and 74 ratifying countries, including the most recent addition of Brazil last week. Among the countries…
For many people, the news that student teams from The Gambia and Afghanistan were denied visas to attend a robotics competition in the United States was the first they’d heard about it. But the story didn’t end there, and there were plenty of inaugural FIRST Global Challenge winners celebrating as…
There are tiny pieces of Madagascar in orbit, and Russian scientists on the International Space Station (ISS) think they may be evidence for why the upper limit of Earth’s biosphere could be raised higher. Russian cosmonauts aboard the ISS have taken 19 different samples, on missions across the years between…
For island nations like Kirabati in the Pacific Ocean, climate change poses an existential threat – and reducing that risk was the topic of a meeting in Mexico on Monday, ahead of the biennial 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held this week. Dozens of representatives of the world’s…
Powerful tropical cyclone Enawo, which made landfall near Antalaha Tuesday as an intense and destructive storm, continued Wednesday to affect the island nation of Madagascar. At 7 a.m. local time, the slow-moving storm – which is tracking farther inland than originally forecast – continued to make its way south in…
Tropical cyclone Enawo continues to track westward towards Madagascar, where meteorologists expect a landfall on Tuesday. Meteo Madagascar placed a red alert for the storm, asking local authorities and citizens to make preparations. That warning extends for the communities along the northeast shore, including Antalaha and Sambava. A yellow alert remains…
It’s World Wildlife Day on Friday, and African nations join the world with activities planned across the continent and its diverse habitats. This year’s theme for the United Nations event is “Listen to the young voices,” and most of the programs center on the hopes of African youth for a…
Connectivity woes continue on the island nation of Madagascar, following the breakdown of an undersea cable that serves as a primary optic fiber network. The Telma Madagascar communications company was first alerted last Wednesday that the underwater EASSy cable that supports Internet access to the island nation was out of service….
People on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar were shaken by a moderate earthquake early Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage. The United States Geological Service measured the quake at a magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale. It said it was centered south…
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit five African countries on an official tour that begins Friday. Wang will travel to Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria, the Chinese government announced. The official visits begin China’s foreign policy plans for 2017, and follow a diplomatic tradition that puts African nations…
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau highlighted his nation’s continued investment in African development during the XVI Summit of La Francophonie, held this past weekend in Madagascar. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina of Madagascar first welcomed the delegations to Antananarivo, where he stressed the importance of cooperation among member states in meeting the…