  Interplay of superconductivity and magnetism in a composite prepared of the
ferromagnetic half-metallic La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO (LSMO) nanoparticles and the
conventional s-wave superconductor MgB_2 has been studied. A few principal
effects have been found in bulk samples. With an onset of the MgB_2
superconductivity, a spectacular drop of the sample resistance has been
detected and superconductivity has been observed at temperature up to 20K.
Point-contact (PC) spectroscopy has been used to measure directly the
superconducting energy coupling. For small voltage, an excess current and
doubling of the PC's normal state conductance have been found. Conductance
peaks corresponding to three energy gaps are clearly observed. Two of these
gaps we identified as enhanced \Delta_{\pi} and \Delta_{\sigma} gaps
originating from the MgB_2; the third gap \Delta_{tr} is more than three times
larger than the largest MgB_2 gap. The experimental results provide unambiguous
evidences for a new type of proximity effect which follows the phase coherency
scenario of proximity induced superconductivity. Specifically, at low
temperature, the p-wave spin-triplet condensate with pairing energy \Delta_{tr}
is essentially sustained in LSMO but is incapable to display long-range
supercurrent response because of a phase-disordering state. The proximity
coupling to MgB_2 restores the long-range phase coherency of the triplet
superconducting state, which, in turn, enhances superconducting state of the
MgB_2.
