Free Republic

A Gallup survey done across 20 sub-Saharan African countries on the main sources of lighting for households saw Mauritius fair best, with 100% of respondents saying this was provided by power lines. South Africa came in second at 80% in terms of households with grid supplied power for lighting, followed by Ghana (67%), Nigeria (66%) and Cameroon (65%). At the bottom of the list in this survey for electrical grid power supplying household lighting was Liberia at 4%, followed by Chad and Burkina Faso at 8%. In Chad, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Uganda and...

SNIPPET: "MANILA, Philippines—A group of suspected Filipino hackers allegedly financed by a Saudi-based terrorist cell was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) disclosed on Thursday." SNIPPET: "The group was allegedly behind attacks on the US telecommunication firm AT&T that resulted in $2 million in losses to the company in 2009. In a statement, the CIDG said the group also had links to the Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI)." SNIPPET: "ATCCD chief Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa identified the suspects as Macnell Gracilla,...

The Gibson Guitar saga has taken a sinister turn. It seems that the Department of Justice wasn’t satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without going out of business. Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas.

Shipwreck adventurer's fiction revealed as true after 270 years British writer of a stirring adventure tale is unmasked as its real hero Robin McKie Sunday October 13, 2002 The Observer An eighteenth-century adventure story involving slavery on a desert island, violent death and escape became the literary sensation of its day and has been pronounced by experts since as exciting stuff but utter fiction. Now a British archaeologist has discovered the startling truth about Robert Drury and the story of his escape from Madagascar. The experts were wrong. His fantastic, graphic tale of torture, enslavement, battles between rival tribes and...

Scientists have discovered one of the most intricate examples of convergent evolution with the help of South American "poison" frogs and ants and their cousins in Madagascar. (And here's an odd fact for smokers: one Madagascan frog studied was found to have nicotine in its system!) Poison frogs can't make their own poison--they steal it from ants. Poison frogs secrete a variety of chemicals called alkaloids to create a poisonous defense against predators. Since they can't produce alkaloids on their own, these frogs maintain a steady diet of specific alkaloid-rich ants to keep up their defense. Now, Valerie Clark of...

Did a Comet Cause the Great Flood?The universal human myth may be the first example of disaster reporting. by Scott Carney11-15-2007 The Fenambosy chevrons at the tip of Madagascar. Image courtesy of Dallas Abbott The serpent’s tails coil together menacingly. A horn juts sharply from its head. The creature looks as if it might be swimming through a sea of stars. Or is it making its way up a sheer basalt cliff? For Bruce Masse, an environmental archaeologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, there is no confusion as he looks at this ancient petroglyph, scratched into a rock by a...

The United States has signed a deal with Bhutan giving US citizens in the country immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the State Department said Tuesday. The deal with Bhutan brings to 34 the number of countries with which the United States has signed so-called "Article 98" agreements exempting US citizens from the court's jurisdiction, said Lynn Cassel, a department spokesman. Bhutan and Bosnia-Herzegovina both agreed to the pacts on May 16 but the deal with Thimphu was not announced until Tuesday. Washington refuses to support the ICC, arguing that it could become a forum for politically...

"Madagascar’s leader has insisted he remains in control of the country, and is promising a quick crackdown on a group of soldiers who are still claiming they’ve taken control. "

Starting in the late 1990s, China's presence on the African continent experienced a phenomenal expansion. Far more profound changes, however, have been underway and may only become apparent in the next decade. These changes are likely to transform the regional economic landscape of the African continent in ways never seen before. Chinese experts apparently believe that Africa is entering an era of relative stability and that the time to explore its untapped resources has arrived [1]. Chinese policymakers see in Africa possible solutions to some of China's most pressing problems, for instance, Beijing's need to secure access to energy resources...

The cause of democracy in Africa could have done without this latest affront. Barely six months after giving the French president an undertaking that he would leave power at the end of his second term, Niger’s president, Mamadou Tandja, has rewritten the rules to give himself power for as long as he wishes. A general election was held on 20 October to renew 113 seats in parliament, which Tandja dissolved in May to overcome its opposition to his plans to change the constitution. He organised a referendum on 4 August to obtain popular approval for new rules, doing away with...

Niger voted on Tuesday in a referendum the president hopes will give him a mandate to change the constitution and rule beyond the end of his term. Mamadou Tandja’s growing authoritarianism has raised fears of unrest in Africa’s second biggest uranium producer. The European Union on Tuesday warned that Mr Tandja’s actions could lead it to cut aid. In recent months, the president has governed by decree after dissolving parliament and disregarding the Supreme Court’s ruling against his plans to extend his stay in office beyond a two-term limit. “In voting today [Tuesday], I believe I have responded to the...

NOTE: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-take-certain-actions-under-african-growth-and-opportunity Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Proclamations The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 23, 2009 Presidential Proclamation - To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act A PROCLAMATION 1. Section 506A(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "1974 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(1)), as added by section 111(a) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (title I of Public Law 106-200) (AGOA), authorizes the President to designate a country listed in section 107 of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3706)...

Madagascar's military chiefs handed power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina on Tuesday, completing the former disc-jockey's ousting of the President Marc Ravalomanana after weeks of political violence on the Indian Ocean island. Mr Ravalomanana's decision to step down came a day after mutinous soldiers, equipped with tanks, stormed his offices in the capital Antananarivo and after he offered to hold a referendum on his rule, a move rejected by Mr Rajoelina. Mr Rajoelina, the 34-year-old mayor of Antananarivo, was put in charge of the impoverished island when military leaders rejected the president's attempt to pass control of the nation to...

Army storms Madagascar presidential palace ANTANANARIVO, March 16 – Two tanks forced their way into a presidential palace in Madagascar’s capital and two explosions rocked the city on Monday soon after the armed forces publicly backed opposition leader Andry Rajoelina in his power struggle with President Marc President Ravalomanana. Bursts of gunfire and explosions rang out and soldiers were positioned around the palace, Reuters witnesses said. ”Surrender, surrender, if you are there surrender, because we are brothers,” a soldier shouted into a loudhailer as they forced their way into the palace. Mr Ravalomanana was not in the building. He has...

Opposition leaders, who occupied the offices of the prime minister, claimed that they had set up a new government and promised fresh elections following months of unrest and political violence that has left over 100 people dead on the Indian Ocean island. "The President of the Republic, the National Assembly and the Senate, and the government are removed from their duties," said an opposition leader Roindefo Zafitsimivalo Monja, reading from a declaration signed by the opposition chief Andry Rajoelina. "We commit to organising presidential, parliamentary and district elections, in not more than 24 months," said Mr Monja, the opposition's nominee...

U.S. Embassy Antananarivo issued the following Warden Message on March 11: Due to the unstable political situation in Madagascar, the U.S. Embassy has authorized departure of non-emergency personnel and family members of Embassy employees. Additionally the Peace Corps has decided to send all Madagascar-based Peace Corps volunteers to South Africa and temporarily suspend their Madagascar program. At this time, the embassy is encouraging non-emergency staff and family members to depart while commercial air is still readily available. We encourage all Americans in Madagascar to monitor the situation closely and consider departing the country while commercial air is still operating normally....

Khalifa had an extensive history in funding, plotting al-Qaeda terrorist activities; Task Force 145 likely scored the kill Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, one of Osama bin Laden's brother-in-laws with deep roots in al-Qaeda as a financier and facilitator, has been reported to have been murdered in his bedroom in Madagascar. Khalifa, "who mined and traded precious stones in Madagascar," was reported to have been murdered by "a gang of 20 to 30 gunmen broke into his brother's bedroom, shot him dead 'in cold blood' and stole his belongings." "I don't think [his death] was politically motivated," said Malek Khalifa, Mohammed Jamal's...

After two days of violence and looting that claimed the lives of at least 48 people, relative calm settled over Madagascar Wednesday. But the possibility of further violence loomed as anti-government protesters gathered in a central square, vowing future demonstrations. At least 48 people were killed during the riots that broke out in Madagascar. more photos » President Marc Ravalomanana and other senior government officials surveyed some of the damage Wednesday and vowed to restore order "whatever the cost," a government statement said. Ravalomanana ordered a member of his joint chiefs of staff to work with the protesters and opposition...

This report is astonishing. The South Korean firm Daewoo is negotiating with the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar to use half the arable land for farming of crops to be sent to Korea. The deal encompasses over 3.2 million acres of farmland,

A blast from the past. Pentagon officials say the United States launched an air strike in Somalia to go after a terrorist suspect.In the strike early Monday, Somali police said three missiles hit a Somali town held by Islamic extremists, destroying a home and seriously injuring eight people.A Pentagon official said the U.S. military was going after an al-Qaida suspect in the town. As yet, there is no word on whether the suspect was hit. Who were they after? Revisit this post, about the (unsuccessful) U.S. gunship attack on AQ during the Ethiopian/Somali conflict in January 2007, for a list...

WASHINGTON (Feb. 18) - A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armor and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago - intimidating enough that scientists who unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad. But its size - 10 pounds and 16 inches long - isn't the only curiosity. Researchers discovered the creature's bones in Madagascar. Yet it seems to be a close relative of normal-sized frogs who today live half a world away in South America, challenging assumptions about ancient geography. The discovery, led by paleontologist David Krause at New York's Stony Brook...

Giant prehistoric frog hints at ancient land link 22:00 18 February 2008 NewScientist.com news service Rowan Hooper An artist's impression of Beelzebufo shows it facing a modern-day Mantidactylus guttulatus, the largest living Malagasy frog (Image: Luci Betti-Nash) The discovery of a giant frog fossil has opened a rift among researchers over when an ancient land bridge closed. Discovery of the fossil in Madagascar supports the controversial view that South America and Madagascar were linked until 80 million years ago - far more recently than previously thought. The frog, dubbed Beelzebufo, resembles the family of horned toads that are now unique...

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar - A self-destructing palm tree that flowers once every 100 years and then dies has been discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, botanists said Thursday. The name of the giant palm and its remarkable life cycle will be detailed in a study by Kew Gardens scientists in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society published Thursday. "It's spectacular. It does not flower for maybe 100 years and when it's like this it can be mistaken for other types of palm," said Mijoro Rakotoarinivo, who works for the London botanical gardens in Madagascar. "But then a large...

Dallas Abbott The Fenambosy chevron, one of four near the tip of Madagascar, is 600 feet high and three miles from the ocean. At the southern end of Madagascar lie four enormous wedge-shaped sediment deposits, called chevrons, that are composed of material from the ocean floor. Each covers twice the area of Manhattan with sediment as deep as the Chrysler Building is high. On close inspection, the chevron deposits contain deep ocean microfossils that are fused with a medley of metals typically formed by cosmic impacts. snip... The explanation is obvious to some scientists. A large asteroid or comet,...

At the southern end of Madagascar lie four enormous wedge-shaped sediment deposits, called chevrons, that are composed of material from the ocean floor. Each covers twice the area of Manhattan with sediment as deep as the Chrysler Building is high. On close inspection, the chevron deposits contain deep ocean microfossils that are fused with a medley of metals typically formed by cosmic impacts. And all of them point in the same direction — toward the middle of the Indian Ocean where a newly discovered crater, 18 miles in diameter, lies 12,500 feet below the surface. The explanation is obvious to...

This one's got some punch, I think. Not great news for the lemurs.

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen shot and killed a brother-in-law of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his home in Madagascar, his brother said. Malek Khalifa told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television that the aim of the killers appeared to have been to rob his brother, Jamal Khalifa, who mined and traded precious stones in Madagascar.

Israel in World History Lev Navrozov Friday, Aug. 4, 2006 ---------------------------------------- A fantastic rumor (that turned out to be true) spread around Russia in the late 1960s: Anyone who considered himself or herself to be Jewish because one parent was Jewish could apply for an exit visa to go to Israel! According to my internal Soviet passport, I was Russian and bore my Russian father's family name. But on my mother's side there had been 24 generations of rabbis, and so I applied for an exit visa for myself, my wife, my son, and my mother. My father had been...

Members of the Muslim community in a suburb of Ambilobe, Madagascar, have donated land to the Anglican Diocese of Antsiranana in the Province of the Indian Ocean. “I could not believe my ears,” the Bishop of Antsiranana, the Rt. Rev. Roger Chung, said in an official release published by the telecommunications department of the Anglican Communion Office. “But God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts, says the Book of Isaiah.” According to the chairman of the new parish, Diogene Mahavavy, the Muslim community donated the land after becoming aware of the difficulties that the...

Hollywood's problems at the box office last year may come down not so much to quality (or the lack thereof), as many have supposed, but to taste. There are plenty of talented craftsman in Hollywood, but—and this will come as no surprise—the prevailing tastes in Hollywood may not match those of the general movie-going public. Just look at the films that people actually went to see last year, and compare that list to what Hollywood is now recognizing as 2005's best. The 15 top-grossing films released in 2005, in descending order, were: Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith; Harry...

The article is linked above, with a link to a larger version of this image: Here are a couple of other images of Karthala (these may load slow; they're from the April 2005 eruption): Karthala apparently dominates Grand Comore like Haleakala dominates Maui:

Two new species of lemur have been found in Madagascar, bringing the number of known species to 49. German and Malagasy scientists made the discovery by analysing the genetic make-up of wild lemurs. Lemurs are considered the most endangered of all primates and live only on Madagascar which has evolved in isolation for 165 million years. As a result, the island is now home to mammals, birds and plants that exist nowhere else on our planet. The first new species is a giant mouse lemur known as Mirza zaza. It has a long bushy tail and is about the size...

Studies prove people of Madagascar came from Borneo and Africa mongabay.com July 8, 2005 Studies released earlier this year found the people of Madagascar have origins in Borneo and East Africa. Half of the genetic lineages of human inhabitants of Madagascar come from 4500 miles away in Borneo, while the other half derive from East Africa, according to a study published in May by a UK team. The island of Madagascar, the largest in the Indian Ocean, lies some 250 miles (400 km) from Africa and 4000 miles (6400 km) from Indonesia. Its isolation means that most of its mammals,...

Agents Go Halfway Around World to Find Fugitive Little Rock, Ark., Lawyer Mar 26, 2004 By Ava Thomas Benson/ Associated Press Writer/ LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Federal agents tracked a lawyer more than 10,000 miles to the island nation of Madagascar, saying he fled after missing a court hearing and bilking investors of up to $3 million. Bobby Keith Moser, 47, was returned to Arkansas on Friday by federal agents and pleaded innocent at an arraignment hearing to fraud, engaging in improper financial transactions and other charges. He faces separate charges in Michigan. Moser and his lawyer declined to...

MORONI (AFP) - A ferry carrying 113 people that went missing at the weekend during a cyclone in north Madagascar "most probably sank", a Comoran government official said. "The boat most probably sank," Transport Minister and government spokesman Houmed Msaidie told AFP, adding that an official announcement to this effect would be made shortly. He explained that the sinking had been reported by two survivors from the ferry. Police in Madagascar said earlier Wednesday that they had questioned two people who said they were on the ferry. Madagascar officials also said the death toll from the cyclone had risen to...

Grenade Attack on US Embassy Officials, BREAKING....

Deadly Flu Outbreak: Is History Repeating Itself?An out-of-control outbreak of influenza which has killed as many as 700 people and felled almost 23,000 victims is ravaging Madagascar and health authorities fear that if the disease is not confined to the huge island it could spread around the world. Madagascar which is larger than France and has a population of 16 million people is located off southeast Africa. World Health Organization (WHO) officials have said that samples taken from victims of the illness have shown it to be Type A influenza, a strain of flu believed to have devastated the world...

Nairobi - The newly founded African Union's (AU) rejection of Madagascar's new leader shows the continent's old guard of rulers may dominate the AU as much as the troubled OAU it replaces, analysts said on Wednesday. The successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) refuses to recognise President Marc Ravalomanana, fresh from victory in a six-month power struggle with veteran ruler Didier Ratsiraka. The AU says Ravalomanana - who rode a wave of popular support after accusing Ratsiraka of cheating in Madagascar's December election - took power unconstitutionally, violating one of the new organisation's key principles. But some analysts...

Heavy fighting in Madagascar The blockades are causing severe hardship Madagascar's long-standing leader Didier Ratsiraka has dispatched his elite troops to fight off an attack from new President Marc Ravalomanana on a north-eastern airport. The BBC's Jonny Donovan in Madagascar says that heavy fighting is continuing on Monday morning after the airport in Sambava was seized by Mr Ravalomanana's forces over the week-end. Mr Ravalomanana's officials have recently threatened to use military force to break the blockades on their stronghold in the capital, Antananarivo. The fighting comes as the Organisation of African Unity prepares to meet to discuss the turmoil...

Try Playing the Name Game with Razafindradriantsimaniry March 10, 2002 10:28 am EST ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (Reuters) - To diplomats, mediators and journalists trying to make sense of politics in Madagascar -- where two men both claim to be president -- getting one's tongue round local names is even more of a challenge. But names such as Razafindradriantsimaniry, Rambeloalijaonah or Andrialemirovason are not deliberately designed to make a news anchor stumble. Stemming from the Malagasy language, which is close to Malaysian, most names on the high plateau of the island, where the capital is situated, carry information about the families...