MADAGASCAR: A Difficult Step For Women

ANTANANARIVO, Oct 9 (IPS) - The northern region of Diana is known for the beautiful beaches of the Nosy-Be district and the scent of fields of ylang-ylang flowers. But the political landscape of Diana is as extraordinary as its geography: the region's administrative head is a lady, Anjara Mantasara.

9 Oct 2008, 8:48 pm | click here for more

CfP: Music and Migration, Southampton, 15-17.10.2009

Call for Papers'Music and Migration'University of Southampton, United Kingdom15-17 October 2009This conference will explore the relationship between music and migration by providing new insights into the creative practices and life-stories of migrant artists across the globe. A core theme of the conference will be the motivations and experiences of migrant musicians who leave, return, stay or move beyond their localities. Through the focus on such specific groups of migrants the conference aims

8 Oct 2008, 9:25 am | click here for more

Devotees of the Nut Cutlet

Well, once again in a lax moment the Mongolian authorities let me slip back into the motherland. Brother Palzang was correct; our flight path took us right over the North Pole, probably too high to spook the reindeer though, and then, ironically, across Mongolia to receive to Beijing. I thought it a bit rude of United not to quickly drop down and let me off. “Friendly Skies,” indeed. So nice to be home, if a bit chilly. A shot I took out my eastern window early this morning shows snow showers on t

6 Oct 2008, 3:09 am | click here for more

Kenya Airways launches non-stop flights to Antananarivo and Guangzhou

Kenya Airways launches non-cease flights to Antananarivo and Guangzhou By Chris Mburu NAIROBI, Kenya (eTN) - Kenya Airways (KQ) on Saturday, launched non-cease flights to Antananarivo, Madagascar and projected the route will increase the airline's load factor by between 65 to 70 percent

3 Nov 2008, 2:58 pm | click here for more

Solar power ends dark age for rural clinics

From AFP: Elisabeth’s 13 kids were born by candlelight. Her daughter, who has just become a mom for the first time, was more “fortunate”. Now, in Antasahadinta hospital in rural Madagascar, the use of solar energy means stories like Elisabeth’s have been consigned to history, a tiny success for a power source so abundant yet so difficult to tap on a continent fraught with poverty, lacking infrastructures and prone to instability. Still unconnected to the national network, several rural ho

29 Sep 2008, 4:28 am | click here for more

Barcamp Madagascar With The Best Malagasy Techies

When we thought about organizing a Barcamp in Madagascar, we expected to receive the best participants in town, in the country and in the world. It took us 3 months to convince….our possess people to join. Securing the Ivotel and Moov, the first Malagasy Internet provider was easier than getting famous but anonymous hackers or successful startups to join. One of our biggest surprise and achievement was to FINALLY meet the two greatest Open Source Communities in Madagascar : C3FL and AMUL. maybe

26 Sep 2008, 7:19 pm | click here for more

Martin Edmond icy Calling p {line-height: 200%} i.m. Laura Nyro a telephone call from the land of the dead My mom calls up on the telephone to talk about my sister. As she begins to talk, the vague annoyance I always feel when she initiates conversations like these surfaces. But you’re dead, I say. You’re dead. I know I’m being brutal. Am I? she wonders in that guileless way she has. I don’t think so. I’m in Perth. Later the place where she is shifts further west but I no longer know

25 Sep 2008, 7:34 am | click here for more

Madagascar: My blog and I

Andry is a new blogger from Madagascar. He describes himself as “the cyber observer”: “My name is Andry Rakotoniaina Andriatahiana and I am Malagasy. I am a lawyer, more specifically I work as a legal counsel for an International business and taxation law firm located in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar.”

24 Sep 2008, 11:35 am | click here for more

AEWA MOP-4 Adopts Resolution on Climate Change and Migratory Waterbirds, Conservation Guidelines

20 September 2008: The fourth Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) took place from 15-19 September 2008, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. With regard to climate change, the meeting adopted a resolution on climate change and migratory waterbirds, as well as conservation guidelines on measures needed to help waterbirds adapt to climate change. In the resolution on climate change and migratory waterbirds, the MOP calls upon contracting parties to develop a

23 Sep 2008, 5:32 pm | click here for more

(eng) Foko Blog Club 12 : I.C.E - “I’m Crazy about English”

September . Foko-Madagascar has planned a dizain of workshop (yes.10) until the December 08′ to train new groups and of course receive the already very skilled “class of ‘08″. Last Saturday September 20th, we had the chance to have David Sasaki, the best Citizen Media trainer in the world, leading the FBC 12. This is their introduction : I.C.E. stands for I’m Crazy about English and is an English club in Antananarivo. http://www.iceclub-mada.com/ Our first goal is to promote the English langua

23 Sep 2008, 5:12 am | click here for more

World Cup 2010 Round-up

We know it's been a week or two since the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers took place, but we never quite got round to summing up every the action from outside Europe, so here's our whistle-cease tour of every you need to know, starting with… South America It seems we were a little hasty to cast our judgement on Brazil after the September 6th/7th matches. Brazil's surge up to second spot in the table came to a crashing halt when they could only draw 0-0 with bottom-dwellers Bolivia. With Ar

21 Sep 2008, 3:54 pm | click here for more

Madagascar enthusiastic at corn deal with Daewoo - Guardian Unlimited (Www.OSIR.org.in)

Associated Press Writer= ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) - Madagascar officials are enthusiastic about a company’s big farming plans for an undeveloped area but say the deal won’t go ahead if it threatens the island’s unique ecology. An environmental Source: www.guardian.co.uk FACTBOX-Beyond rate cuts: Other Fed tools against downturn - Reuters Nov 21 (Reuters) - With official U.S. borrowing costs already at 1 percent and expected to fall further, investors have begun to wonder what other step

21 Nov 2008, 3:00 pm | click here for more

Daewoo Logistics: FT is LIES! ALL LIES!

Daewoo Logistics — its corporate executives no doubt sitting on the porch of some bungalow in Antananarivo sipping gin-and-tonics and bitching about how the natives can’t fix a proper cup of tea — said the Financial Times got its report on the company’s recent deal for Madagascar’s farm land every wrong. Or so reports the Maeil Gyeongje, from whom it claims the FT got its story in the first place. Daewoo Logistics said to acquire the land, the company will invest some US$6 billion into the coun

21 Nov 2008, 12:24 am | click here for more

Zowzah

Sign of my life: the pal I’ve seen the most over the past few months does’t even live in my country. Georgia and I have been seen liming lately in Miami, Jamaica, Hungary, Austria, and now here in Madagascar. For the past couple days we’ve been doing some outreach work in Antananarivo and Toamasina: You can hear the final two-minute podcast they produced on Patrick’s excellent blog. Last night at 3 a.m., after a nine hour winding cab brousse journey, a blown out tire, two nearly adopte

20 Sep 2008, 11:00 am | click here for more

Is Stephen Fry The New Dr Who?

Now some of you won't give a tweet about Twitter, which is another (time-wasting) way for friends, colleagues, family (and star-struck fans) to stay connected, through frequent updates on what one is doing through-out one's day.Admittedly, in the scheme of things, I am fairly new to the world of Twitter, and I definitely don't use it as regularly as some of my fellow twits. I tend to treat it every as a bit of fun, and some of the posts of the twits I am following can give me the giggles. I, in tu

16 Nov 2008, 8:21 am | click here for more

Blog Action Day : yes, I join in.....

Today is Blog Action Day to battle against poverty… What does it mean ? Thousands of bloggers will write a post related to poverty What difference will it make to the gift state of poverty in the world ? I think we already know the answer: little steps, little actions, little streams of adore, little words which hopefully will grow. I’ll be sincere…perhaps one year before, I would haven’t joined in, thinking : oh well, others will participate for me. I have no time…I’ve got my possess worries. W

15 Oct 2008, 12:31 pm | click here for more

Chinese top legislator meets Madagascan PM

Chinese top legislator meets Madagascan PM ANTANANARIVO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) — Visiting Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo met here Tuesday with Madagascan Prime Minister Charles Rabemananjara. The two sides exchanged views on bilateral trade ties and reached important consensuses. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), said China’s top legislature has attached great importance to development of the political ties between the two countries, and that the su

13 Nov 2008, 12:41 am | click here for more

Chinese top legislator meets Madagascan PM

ANTANANARIVO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- visiting Chinese top ...

11 Nov 2008, 6:45 pm | click here for more

MADAGASCAR: A Difficult Step For Women

ANTANANARIVO, Oct 9 (IPS) - The northern region of Diana is known for the beautiful beaches of the Nosy-Be district and the scent of fields of ylang-ylang flowers. But the political landscape of Diana is as extraordinary as its geography: the region's administrative head is a lady, Anjara Mantasara.

10 Oct 2008, 5:17 am | click here for more

Madagascar Using Solar to Benefit Poor

My attention was captured yesterday by a story written by AFP. Entitled ‘Madagascar: solar power ends Dark Age for rural clinics,’ the author looked at how one of the poorest countries in the world is using solar power to benefit those in needy rural areas. The author wrote of Elisabeth, a 53 year old grandmother, who accompanied her daughter after she gave birth to her first child. She spoke of how, for her, if she had wanted to give birth with light, she would have to bring her possess candles.

1 Oct 2008, 2:15 pm | click here for more