NAIROBI, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Elisabeth's 13 children were born by candlelight. Her daughter, who has just become a mother for the first time, was more 'fortunate'.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - French oil major Total on Wednesday acquired majority rights in a joint venture with Houston-based Madagascar Oil to explore oil in the Indian Ocean island.

Total acquired a 60 percent share in the deal with Madagascar Oil to operate an oil field in Bemolanga north of the capital Antananarivo.

ANTANANARIVO, July 26, 2008 (AFP) - Herizo Razafimahaleo, one of the main opposition leaders in Madagascar, has died in hospital in Antananarivo after an illness, his family announced Saturday. He was 53.

He was admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration caused by renal failure and died after a fourth consecutive heart attack, his family said.

ANTANANARIVO, July 18, 2008 (AFP) - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana on Friday launched a new government agency charged with tackling financial corruption in a bid to attract international investors to the island.

'We invite large companies to invest in Madagascar. So we must be coherent and show them that we are active in this fight,' said Ravalomanana.

TAIPEI, July 15, 2008 (AFP) - A Taiwanese man and a Chinese man were found dead while nine other people remained missing after their boat was feared to have sunk off the coast of Madagascar, the foreign ministry here said Tuesday.

TAIPEI, July 13, 2008 (AFP) - Eight Taiwanese nationals are missing after their boat was feared to have sunk off the coast of Madagascar, relatives and the foreign ministry said Sunday.

The brother of Liu Shou-chih, one member of the missing group, said he had used his satellite phone to call for help on Friday.

ANKARAFANTSIKA, July 3, 2008 (AFP) - Exotic species and Homo sapiens have a hard time existing side by side.

Wherever you find Man, you are also likely to find that rare birds, mammals, fish and flowers have been driven to the brink of extinction, and sometimes beyond.

Madagascar, though, is pinning its hopes on turning this tragic fact on its head.

ANTANANARIVO, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana on Wednesday approved a minor cabinet reshuffle proposed by Prime Minister Charles Rabemananjara.

The cabinet was downsized from 22 to 20 portfolios in the reshuffle, announced during a news conference, caused largely by recent senatorial elections which saw two ministers having to quit their portfolios.

SOAVINA, Madagascar, April 25, 2008 (AFP) - The island state of Madagascar has created a special military service of conscript farmers to take up the battle to make enough food for itself.

NAIROBI, April 18, 2008 (AFP) - The World Bank has approved an additional 40 million dollars to boost infrastructure and small-scale trade in Madagascar, the bank said Friday.

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2008 (AFP) - A vast study of the plants and animals unique to Madagascar was published Thursday in a bid to protect thousands of rare species found only on the large African island.

NAIROBI, March 25, 2008 (AFP) - The African Development Bank on Tuesday loaned Madagascar almost 15 million dollars (9.6 million euros) to finance an irrigation project in the impoverished nation, the bank said.

ANTANANARIVO, March 14, 2008 (AFP) - A private company in Madagascar said Friday that it had produced the impoverished Indian Ocean island's first barrels of oil at an onshore pilot-project.

ANTANANARIVO, March 5, 2008 (AFP) - The United Nations said Wednesday it had launched a flash appeal for 36.4 million dollars to assist cyclone-stricken areas in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar.

'This appeal is a tool aimed at outlining a coordinated response in the coming three months,' local UN humanitarian coordinator Jean-Marie Stratigos told AFP.

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 29, 2008 (AFP) - Authorities in Madagascar said Cyclone Ivan, which hit the island earlier this month, killed at least 83 people and left 187,687 homeless, according to figures released Friday.

The latest update remained provisional however, as the emergency services said another 177 people were still missing.

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) - A cyclone that hit Madagascar earlier this month killed at least 44 people and left nearly 145,000 homeless, according to updated figures released by authorities Sunday.

The numbers are almost twice estimates released Friday of 29 people dead and 70,000 homeless from the category 3 cyclone.

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 22, 2008 (AFP) - A cyclone which swept across Madagascar this week killed 29 people and left nearly 70,000 homeless or otherwise affected, local authorities said Friday.

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 1, 2008 (AFP) - Twelve people died in Madagascar after cyclone Fame tore through the western portion of the island, according to a death toll released Friday by the island authorities.

The cyclone, which struck Sunday, left another 1,450 people homeless, with 5,024 inhabitants of the island tallied as having been affected somehow by the disaster.

PARIS, Jan 17, 2008 (AFP) - Botanists on Thursday announced they had identified a new species of palm that is so enormous it can be spotted from space and whose bizarre life cycle requires the plant to kill itself after it has flowered.

MANAKARA, Madagascar, Jan 15, 2008 (AFP) - Madagascar's only passenger railway is an economic lifeline for dozens of isolated mountain villages set back from the coast and more and more tourists are falling for its old-world charm.

NAIROBI, Dec 19, 2007 (AFP) - The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced Wednesday a 30-million-dollar (21-million-euro) programme to boost Madagascar's rural economy and help to alleviate poverty.

LIBREVILLE, Dec 15, 2007 (AFP) - African ministers Saturday underscored their commitment to a continental aviation watchdog that has been in crisis since the threatened pullout of two member states.

LIBREVILLE, Dec 14, 2007 (AFP) - African ministers began Friday an emergency meeting in Gabon to discuss the fate of a continental aviation watchdog which has been hit by the threatened pull out of two member nations.

ANTANANARIVO, Dec 12, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascans voted Wednesday in municipal elections with a battle for the mayor of the capital threatening to foil the ruling party's clean sweep of key posts.

ANTANANARIVO, Dec 5, 2007 (AFP) - As the Christmas shopping season starts, Madagascar has banned the sale of mock military uniforms and toy weapons after they were used in several real-life robberies, police said Wednesday.

ANTANANARIVO, Nov 30, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascar on Friday launched a crash course for its police and military police forces to restore an eroded 'sense of duty', the government said.

ANTANANARIVO, Nov 15, 2007 (AFP) - Twelve people have been sentenced to death in Madagascar over deadly clashes last year between police and residents refusing to be removed from land they had occupied, a court official said Thursday.

Ninety-one people had been charged in the case, with six receiving 12 years of hard labour on Wednesday at the court in Miarinarivo.

ANTANANARIVO, Oct 13, 2007 (AFP) - The Madagascan regime's landslide victory in last month's legislative polls was officially confirmed Saturday, with the presidential party securing 105 out of 125 seats.

The country's High Constitutional Court said reruns would have to be held in two constituencies where irregularities were reported to complete the makeup of the 127-seat chamber.

President Marc Ravalomanana's TIM (I Love Madagascar) party will face no serious challenge in parliament, as several opposition and independent lawmakers are expected to rally the regime.

ANTANANARIVO, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - A former close aide turned political opponent of Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana was sentenced to five years in prison for car theft, his lawyer told AFP Tuesday.

Pety Rakotoniaina was sentenced Monday for 'stealing three vehicles belonging to Fianarantsoa province in 2002 and 2003,' Adolphe Lalao said.

The lawyer alleged that the trial was politically-motivated and had produced insufficient evidence to convict his client.

ANTANANARIVO, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - One of Madagascar's opposition leaders walked free from court on Friday after being given an 18 month suspended sentence for embezzling public funds, his supporters said.

Roland Ratsiraka, a nephew of the exiled former president Didier Ratsiraka, faced four charges relating to funds for waste disposal contracts during his tenure as mayor of Toamasina. He owned one of the two companies given contracts.

Ratsiraka came third in the December 2006 presidential election which saw the re-election of president Marc Ravalomanana.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana's party won a landslide victory in the Indian Ocean island's parliamentary elections, according to official results published Friday.

The TIM (I Love Madagascar) party secured 106 out of the 127 seats that were up for grabs in the single ballot polls held on September 23, the interior ministry said.

The results mean that the presidential party tightens its grip on parliament, where it held 108 out of 160 seats before the chamber was downsized in a constitutional reform earlier this year.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascar's ruling party has won all seats in the capital Antananarivo in legislative polls held at the weekend, the interior ministry said Monday.

President Marc Ravalomanana's TIM (I love Madagascar) party won in all six constituencies, setting it on a path to retain a majority in the Indian Ocean island's 127-member parliament.

Turnout was however low in the capital during Sunday's election, with the highest participation at around 32 percent, according to provisional results.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascans voted Sunday for the Indian Ocean island's parliament, with President Marc Ravalomanana's party tipped to continue its domination with promises to slash poverty.

No incidents had been reported when the country's 17,586 polling stations closed at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT).

'The election is very calm, something rare in Africa,' Ravalomanana, once a milk delivery boy and today Madagascar's richest man, said after casting his ballot in the city centre.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascans were voting Sunday for the Indian Ocean island's parliament, with President Marc Ravalomanana's party tipped to continue its domination of the assembly.

In the capital Antananarivo, voters started trickling to some of the vast Indian Ocean island's 17,586 polling stations shortly after 7:00 am (0400 GMT).

'The election is very calm, something rare in Africa,' Ravalomanana said after casting his ballot in the city centre.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Polling stations opened Sunday in Madagascar, where voters are electing 127 lawmakers after President Marc Ravalomanana dissolved parliament in July.

In the capital Antananarivo, voters started trickling to some of the vast Indian Ocean island's 17,586 polling stations shortly after 7:00 am (0400 GMT).

The single round majority ballot is due to close at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT). There are close to 7.5 registered voters in Madagascar, whose population is estimated at around 18 million.

ANTANANARIVO, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascans vote Sunday for the Indian Ocean island's parliament, with President Marc Ravalomanana's party tipped to continue its domination of the assembly.

Ravalomanana dissolved parliament in July, saying it no longer reflected national representation after a new constitution passed in April ended the autonomy of Madagascar's provinces.

The new charter also enhanced Ravalomanana's powers after he won presidential elections in December that were billed by observers as fair despite opposition protests.

ANATANANARIVO, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascar will hold early legislative elections on September 23, the presidency announced Thursday following a suprise dissolution of the Indian Ocean`s national assembly.

Voters will elect 127 lawmakers, said the statement posted on the website of President Marc Ravalomanana`s office. The assembly was being downsized from the current 160 seats, it said.

Ravalomanana said earlier that parliament was no longer representative of the country and new elections were necessary for him to carry out his development plans for the country.

ANTANANARIVO, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - Madagascar`s President Marc Ravalomanana has dissolved his country`s national assembly ahead of elections he said would be held by the end of September.

In a letter dated July 17 and addressed to the Constitutional Court, but only made public Tuesday, Ravalomanana said parliament no longer reflected national representation after the elimination of the autonomy of provinces under the new constitution passed in April.

The decree takes effect Thursday and the polls will be held 30 to 60 days after the dissolution, according to the court.