93 Malagasy peasants appeared in the Court of Miarinarivo, a town situated in 90 km west of Antananarivo in mid-November, 2007 following a "popular rebellion" in the hamlet of Ankorondrano which led to three deaths.

Madagascar has signed a series of environment agreements to protect unique forests and support local communities as part of a commitment by the government to ramp up environmental protection on the Indian Ocean island. In its largest ever debt-for-nature swap, Madagascar signed a deal with France this month, in which US$20 million of debt owed to the former colonial power was put into a conservation fund, the Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity (FPAB).

Madagascar has become the latest country to ratify the Rome Statute that sets up the International Criminal Court (ICC), the independent, permanent court that tries people accused of the most serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing emergency food assistance to tens of thousands of people in Madagascar, where at least 73 people have died and almost 150,000 others have been left homeless after Cyclone Ivan battered the island nation last week.

At least 22 people have been confirmed dead a week after cyclone Ivan struck Madagascar. It has also left thousands of people homeless and displaced in the north-west town of Anosimahavelona. The announcement of further three of heavy rains by weather forecast officials has already caused panic in many parts of the Indian Ocean, including the capital, Antananarivo. These places are already affected by floods.