Senior MP arrested in Madagascar

Reports from Madagascar say a senior member of parliament has been arrested for allegedly spreading false information and defaming President Didier Ratsiraka.

The official, Jean Eugene Voninahitsy, who's a vice-president of parliament, has been involved in a public row with President Ratsiraka over floating bridges imported from Ukraine to replace bridges destroyed by cyclones earlier this year.

The president says the bridges were bought from Kiev and has allowed a private company to manage them and charge tolls.

But Mr Voninahitsy says the bridges were a gift, so people shouldn't have to pay to cross them.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service