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The storm also closed several national highways that were flooded by the heavy rain, the country’s disaster management office said late on March 19. In a previous toll late on March 18 it said 17 people had died and 15,000 had been affected. Storm Eliakim slammed into the northeastern Masoala peninsula on March 16 before barreling south down the coast. It hit the island’s Mananara region, 635 km north-east of Antananarivo, late on March 17 and had a wind speed of 85 km per hour and gusts of 120 km per hour. By March 19 it moved away from the Indian Ocean island and “presents no more danger.” Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, is frequently hit by cyclones and tropical storms. In January, cyclone Ava claimed 51 lives and in March last year at least 78 people perished in cyclone Enawo.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the chairman of Kingdom Holding who spent nearly three months in detention in the kingdom’s anti-corruption campaign, has told Bloomberg TV he reached an agreement with the government for his release. The prince declined to disclose the details of his “confirmed understanding” with authorities in the interview, which aired on March 20, but said it was easy to verify that he still held a 95 percent stake in his global investment firm. “When I say it is a confidential and secret agreement, an arrangement that is based on a confirmed understanding between me and government of Saudi Arabia, I have to respect that,” he said, adding that the process with the government was ongoing. The prince also said he was in talks with the country’s emerging sovereign wealth fund about co-investments in domestic projects, and that Kingdom Holding was looking at splitting its $13 billion of assets by spinning off some holdings. Prince Alwaleed was freed on Jan. 27...

Norway’s parliament is set to vote today on a motion of no confidence in the justice minister, and the center-right government is expected to resign if it is passed. Sylvi Listhaug, of the right-wing Progress Party, has caused a political storm by accusing the opposition Labor Party - the target of a 2011 massacre - of putting terrorists’ rights before national security. The outcome of the vote will depend on the small Christian Democratic Party (CDP), traditionally a supporter of the government, which held meetings yesterday to decide its position. Snap elections are not allowed, and Norway’s next is not due until 2021. Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg might be able to form a new cabinet, but the task could fall to Labor leader Jonas Gahr Stoere if the CDP switches sides.

hinese President Xi Jinping called for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and for his country to take its "due place in the world," in a nationalistic speech on Tuesday at the closing of the annual parliamentary session. "The Chinese people have been indomitable and persistent," Xi told the almost 3,000 delegates in the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing. "We are resolved to fight the bloody battle against our enemies." "We have the strong capability to take our due place in the world," he said. Xi, 64, used the two-week session to consolidate his position, with the rubber-stamp legislature amending the constitution to remove presidential term limits, effectively paving the way for him to rule indefinitely. He was also unanimously elected to his second term as president, installed his closest aide as vice president and stacked key cabinet positions with his loyalists. Xi warned against separatist move...

britain will expel 23 Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack on a Russian former double agent in southern England, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday, adding it was the biggest single expulsion in over 30 years. May told parliament Britain would also freeze Russian state assets wherever there was evidence of a threat and downgrade its attendance at the soccer World Cup this summer. Former spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench in the city of Salisbury on March 4 and remain in hospital in a critical condition. May has said the pair were attacked with Novichok, a Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent. She had asked Moscow to explain whether it was responsible for the attack or had lost control of stocks of the highly dangerous substance.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - At least 40 people have been killed in the last 48 hours in ethnic violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo between Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers, local civil society leader Jean Bosco Lalu told Reuters on Tuesday. Fighting between the two groups instigated by Lendu-dominated militia has killed dozens since December. Conflict between Hema and Lendu around the turn of the century killed tens of thousands of people.

Right-wing parties opposed to a peace deal with the FARC won historic elections in Colombia on March 11 but fell short of a majority in polls that saw the former rebels enter the Congress. The hardliners’ victory raises questions about the future of the peace agreement signed with President Juan Manuel Santos in November 2016. Santos said the polls were “the safest, most transparent elections” in the country’s recent history, with the FARC spurning jungle warfare for politics, and the ELN - the country’s last active rebel group - observing a ceasefire. “This is the first time in more than half a century that the FARC, instead of sabotaging the election, are taking part in it,” he said, adding that the ELN had “respected” their ceasefire. The Centro Democratico party of ex-president and senator Alvaro Uribe, a fierce opponent of the peace agreement, polled the most votes, winning 19 seats in the Senate and 33 in the lower house. Centrist and leftist parties also polled strong...

North Korea’s silence on its upcoming summits with the United States and South Korea is likely due to caution over organising its stance regarding the meetings, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said on March 12. “We have not seen nor received an official response from the North Korean regime regarding the North Korea-U.S. summit,” said Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman for the ministry, in a regular press conference. “I feel they’re approaching this matter with caution and they need time to organize their stance.” North Korean media noted a visit by a senior delegation from South Korea last week but no coverage has been seen of Kim Jong Un’s invitation to meet U.S. President Donald Trump or South Korean President Moon Jae-in to discuss the future of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. The South Korean officials who carried Kim’s invitation to Washington are visiting China and Japan this week to update state heads on the talks. South Korea’s National Security Office chief Ch...

The European Union and Japan urged the United States on Saturday to grant them exemptions from metal import tariffs, with Tokyo calling for "calm-headed behavior" in a dispute that threatens to spiral into a trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump set import tariffs on Thursday of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, to come into force in 15 days. But he exempted Canada and Mexico and held out the possibility of excluding other allies. After meetings with U.S. trade envoy Robert Lighthizer in Brussels, EU and Japanese trade officials said negotiations would need to continue. Europe's trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom de...

france's National Front has stripped founder Jean-Marie Le Pen of his position as honorary president, ending his last formal connection with the far-right party as it seeks to broaden its support. The move was part of a wider rule change approved by participants at a weekend congress where the current leader, his daughter Marine Le Pen, says she wants to re-launch the party. The vote was announced by party vice president Jean-Francois Jalkh at the start of the second day of a congress that Marine Le Pen says is intended to relaunch the party. At her keynote speech on Sunday afternoon, she will also propose a name change. The National Front was co-founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972 and led by him for nearly 40 years until he was replaced by his daughter Marine in 2011. She attempted to banish him from the party in 2015 after he repeated his belief that the Nazi gas chambers were "a detail of history." He was officially expelled from the party in 2015 over ...

China said Sunday that it will not initiate a trade war with the United States, but vowed to defend its national interests in the face of growing American protectionism. "There are no winners in a trade war, and it would bring disaster to our two countries as well as the rest of the world," Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said at a briefing on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary session. "China does not wish to fight a trade war, nor will China initiate a trade war, but we can handle any challenge and will resolutely defend the interests of our country and our people," he said. It was Beijing's latest statement on "problems in Sino-U.S. economic trade and cooperation," alluding to President Donald Trump's plan to impose heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. The U.S. leader said Thursday that he was slapping tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, temporarily exempting big steel ...