Madagascar's military takes power, says colonel

Madagascar's military has taken charge of the Indian Ocean island, an army colonel said on Tuesday, after President Andry Rajoelina fled abroad during a standoff with youth-led protesters and security forces. "We have taken the power," Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who led a mutiny of soldiers joining anti-government Gen Z demonstrators, said on national radio. Randrianirina added that the military was dissolving all institutions except the lower house of parliament or National Assembly, which voted to impeach Rajoelina minutes earlier. In a day of turmoil for the nation off east Africa, the 51-year-old leader had sought to dissolve the assembly by decree. Despite flying out on a French military jet, Rajoelina is refusing to step down in defiance of weeks of...