TOKYO (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast of
Japan's economic growth due to the country's devastating earthquake and
tsunami.

Japan's economy should grow by 1.4 percent this year,
down 0.2 percentage points from its pre-quake outlook, the IMF said in a
report on the global economic outlook. It cited damage to factories,
power outages and other disruptions from the March 11 quake and tsunami,
which are believed to have killed more than 25,000 people.

Netflix Inc. said Monday it now has 23.6 million customers thanks to a
major first-quarter growth spurt that pushed the online video and DVD
service past traditional subscription entertainment powerhouses such as
Showtime and Comcast.

The Los Gatos firm ended the March quarter with an additional 3.59
million subscribers, which further solidified the company's position as
the emerging big player in the distribution of movies and television
shows.

Germany and France powered economic
growth in the euro area in the first quarter as booming exports
fueled domestic spending in the bloc’s core, offsetting turmoil
sparked by sovereign debt woes in Greece, Ireland and Portugal.German gross domestic product jumped 1.5 percent from the
fourth quarter and the French GDP rose 1 percent, exceeding
economists’ median forecasts of 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent
respectively. Austria’s economy grew 1 percent and Holland’s
expanded 0.9 percent. First-quarter GDP figures for the 17-
nation euro region are due from the European Union’s statistics
office in Luxembourg at 11 a.m.