Three new species of fish and nine species of coral new to science have been discovered in the waters around the African island country of Madagascar.

Madagascar, the strife-torn Indian Ocean island nation of 15 million people, is by all indications poised to split into two parts unless another reconciliation meeting takes place soon. The split, which looks imminent, comes two weeks after a peace deal brokered in Dakar, Senegal promised a solution to a presidential impasse that has divided the island.

The international community on Monday was
cautious in their show of support for Madagascar's new president, Marc
Ravalomanana. Although several western diplomats were present at the inauguration
ceremony, most sent consular officials rather than ambassadors, news reports
said. The guarded approach was seen by analysts as the "most appropriate response"
to the unresolved political row between Ravalomanana and veteran leader, Didier Ratsiraka.

Madagascar's High Constitutional Court has ruled that challenger Marc Ravalomanana won the presidency in December's election. The court said Monday that its recount showed Ravalomanana's KMMR party gained 51.46% of total ballots cast against 35.9% for Ratsiraka's Arema party. Four other candidates shared the remainder of the votes.

Madagascar's rival presidents, Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana, held separate late-night talks Tuesday in Senegal as President Abdoulaye Wade and other African leaders urgently tried to prevent the political stalemate turning into full-scale war.

Since the declaration of a state of emergency in Madagascar, about ten radio stations have been ransacked or set on fire, and several journalists threatened or assaulted, RSF reports. The recent announcement by a private radio station that it will suspend its news programmes demonstrates that threats and pressures still persist.

Analysts warned on Friday of a "slow and steady" descent into lawlessness if the political deadlock in Madagascar was not broken soon.

Concern is mounting in Madagascar that the strangulation of the opposition-held capital Antananarivo by a blockade laid by the army and government supporters, could spark a humanitarian crisis in the city.

Madagascan troops guarding government ministries did nothing to prevent the installation on Monday of an alternate cabinet appointed by self-declared president Marc Ravolomanana.

Four radio stations were attacked and destroyed on February 23 as violence erupted over disputed presidential election results.

Violent clashes have broken out in Madagascar between supporters of the government and the opposition.

Madagascar's capital Antananarivo came to a virtual standstill on Monday in answer to a call by the opposition for a general strike to protest the outcome of controversial elections in December.

Thousands of Madagascar children find themselves in domestic slavery, according to this piece published on the Daily Mail & Guardian.

Presidential candidate Marc Ravalomanana has called on his supporters to return to the streets in protest following a High Constitutional Court ruling on Wednesday to recount votes cast in presidential polls on 16 December.

A few years ago, two paleontologists discovered in Madagascar a tiny jaw fragment that could upend the current theory of when and where the ancestors of marsupial and placental mammals arose. Senior online editor Kate Wong later traveled with the researchers as they looked for additional fossils. This week, she describes her experiences in the field and shares photos of the strange animals that inhabit the island today.

Huge demonstrations in support of Madagascar opposition presidential candidate Marc Ravalomanana have entered their fourth day.