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By Alain Iloniaina ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's economic growth could be hit by uncertainty surrounding elections scheduled for the second half of the year, the country's finance minister said. Hery Rajaonarimampianina told Reuters that the economy is currently growing in line with forecasts for a 2.8 percent expansion in 2013, while inflation was expected to average about 9 percent this year, up from 7 or 8 percent now. Madagascar has yet to fully recover from a crisis in 2009 when President Andry Rajoelina seized power. ...

TOKYO (AP) — Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds briefly topped 1 percent for the first time in a year on Thursday, unnerving some investors at a time when Japan's already overburdened government finances are vulnerable to rises in interest rates. Japanese shares fell sharply.

By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - For the first time since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, relations between mainstream Islamists in government and radical Salafist Muslim activists have reached breaking point, sparking deadly clashes in two Tunisian cities. The rupture between the Ennahda party, the Tunisian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood which governs in coalition with secular parties, and the Ansar al-Sharia movement could have ramifications across north Africa, potentially fuelling armed insurrection in Tunisia and neighbouring Algeria. ...