In brief: Syria says Israeli airstrikes hit near Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria – Israeli warplanes bombed two areas near Damascus on Sunday, striking near the city’s international airport as well as outside a town close to the Lebanese border, the Syrian military said.

Since Syria’s conflict began in March 2011, Israel has carried out several airstrikes in Syria that have targeted sophisticated weapons systems, including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles, believed to be destined for Israel’s archfoe – the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

Israel has never confirmed the strikes, and on Sunday the Israeli military said it does not comment on “foreign reports.”

The Syrian armed forces’ general command said Sunday’s “flagrant attack” caused material damage, but did not provide any details on what was hit near the airport or in the town of Dimas, which is northwest of Damascus along the main highway from the capital to the Lebanese frontier.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, said the strike near the Damascus international airport targeted a depot for newly arrived weapons at a military facility that is part of the airport.

Japan economy falters in 3Q

TOKYO – The contraction in Japan’s economy last quarter was larger than initially estimated, according to figures released today that confirmed a recession ahead of an election on Sunday.

The world’s third-biggest economy shrank an annualized 1.9 percent in the July-September quarter compared with the initial estimate of a 1.6 percent contraction. Business and public spending were weaker. In the April-June quarter, the economy dived 7.3 percent.

A sales tax hike to 8 percent from 5 percent on April 1 is the main reason why the economy has faltered after recovering from the last recession in late 2012. Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponed a planned increase in the tax to 10 percent that was due in 2015.

Japanese businesses and households frontloaded spending in the first three months of the year to beat the April 1 tax hike.