- Nigeria refuse to play in Libya as Algeria, Cameroon qualify
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- Leweling rockets Germany past Dutch and into Nations League quarterfinals
- Kolo Muani double fires France to win in Belgium
- Italy sweep past Israel in Nations League amid high security
- UN peacekeepers to 'stay in all positions' in Lebanon
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- 'Unique' Ronaldo an example to everyone, says Martinez
- New lawsuits against Sean Combs allege sex assault, including of minor
- Italy begins migrant transfers to Albania with first group of 16
- Google signs nuclear power deal with startup Kairos
- Carsley open to foreign England manager amid Guardiola links
- Pogba hungry to have his football cake after doping ban
- India and Canada expel top envoys in Sikh separatist killing row
- Mbappe says victim of 'fake news' after 'rape' report in Sweden
- Lebanon says 21 killed in strike on northern village
- Netanyahu vows no mercy after deadly Hezbollah drone strike
- Russia could be able to attack NATO by 2030: German intelligence
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- Clarke backs Scotland to bounce back from 'tough' run
- Harris, Trump target crucial Pennsylvania as US vote looms
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- Lebanese Red Cross says 18 killed in strike in north
- Mendy borrowed money from Man City team-mates for legal fees
- Palestinian officials say Israeli forces kill two in West Bank
- Football leagues, unions file EU complaint against FIFA in calendar dispute
- Nigeria boycott AFCON qualifier in Libya after 'inhumane treatment'
- India to recall top envoy to Canada: foreign ministry
- Hezbollah, Israeli troops in 'violent clashes' after drone strike
- China insists won't renounce 'use of force' to take Taiwan as drills end
- Painkiller sale plan to US gives France major headache
- Italy begins landmark migrant transfers to Albania
- Russia jails French researcher for three years
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- New Zealand 4-0 up in America's Cup but British show signs of life
- Russian prosecutor demands 3 years prison for French researcher
- 'Innocent' British nerve agent victim caught in global murder plot: inquiry
- Afghan Taliban vow to implement media ban on images of living things
- Russian prosecutor demands 3 years, 3 months jail for French researcher
- England ready for Pakistan's spin assault in second Test
- New Zealand's Ravindra excited for India Tests with father in crowd
- India's capital bans fireworks to curb air pollution
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- FIFA to open 'global dialogue' on transfer system after Diarra ruling
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Starmer vows to cut red tape as he urges foreign investors to 'back' UK
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- 'Not viable': Barcelona turns against surging tourism
- Hezbollah says targeted Israeli naval base after deadly drone strike
Japanese economy contracts in blow to Kishida
Japan's economy has gone into reverse, government data showed Wednesday, in a further blow to struggling Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The world's number three economy shrank by 0.5 percent between June and September compared to the second quarter, the preliminary data showed, worse than the consensus forecast of minus 0.1 percent.
The drop, which followed two straight quarters of growth, was on the back of continued low consumer spending and weakness in the global economy hitting Japan's exports.
Exports grew 0.5 percent, down from 3.9 percent in the previous quarter, while imports rose 1.0 percent, further hitting overall growth.
Private demand, including private residential and corporate investment, fell 0.6 percent.
The economy shrank 2.1 percent compared to the same quarter last year, missing market expectations of minus 0.4 percent, Bloomberg News reported.
Economists at Dutch bank ING however called the contraction "a fleeting aberration in an otherwise positive growth environment led by the service sector."
- Stimulus -
Kishida's poll ratings have hit their lowest levels since he took office two years ago, as consumers reel from rising prices.
The prime minister announced this month a stimulus package worth 17 trillion yen ($113.2 billion) aimed at boosting the economy and easing the pain of inflation.
The government has already injected hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy over the past three years in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest plan involves income and residential tax reductions of 40,000 yen per person, and 70,000 yen cash handouts to low-income households.
Japan was for decades beset by deflation but, like other economies around the world, prices have risen since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.
A weaker yen, while welcome news to Japanese exporters, has made imports pricier and stoked inflation for households.
Unlike other major central banks, the Bank of Japan has kept interest rates below zero and bond yields ultra-low in a bid to boost economic growth.
That has come even as inflation persists, while the Bank of Japan's stance has added to pressure on the yen, one of the worst-performing major currencies in 2023.
- Germany overtaking -
Germany -- whose economy is also faltering -- is set to leapfrog Japan as the world's third-largest economy this year, partly because of the yen's slide, according to projections from the International Monetary Fund.
Kishida, 66, can govern until 2025 but there has been speculation that he might call a snap election ahead of a likely tough internal leadership vote in his ruling Democratic Party (LDP) next year.
In September, Kishida reshuffled his cabinet and this week his deputy finance minister Kenji Kanda quit over a tax scandal, in the third recent resignation. Some LDP members have openly criticised the premier.
O.Norris--AMWN