Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, faces elections next year. He may well be getting nervous about how the economy will affect them. Germany has barely grown since 2019. Preliminary figures (which will be finalised on Tuesday) suggest that GDP declined by 0.1% in the three months to July. Europe’s largest economy is also feeling the economic slowdown in China, its largest trading partner. German exports to that country dropped by 14% in May compared with the same month last year, according to Destatis, a statistics agency.

Company bosses are in low spirits. Last month the business-climate index published by the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) declined to 87 points, from 88.6 in June. The figure for July fell again, to 86.6.

On Wednesday, GfK , a market researcher, will publish its consumer-confidence barometer. Here at least there has been some good news. The index reached a two-year high in August. But some analysts suspect that was just a temporary boost from the European Football Championships, which took place in Germany.

The leaders of 18 Pacific states, including Australia and New Zealand, convene in Tonga from Monday for the annual meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s main diplomatic grouping. The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, will also attend. Climate change is top of the agenda. Low-lying Pacific nations have felt some of the worst effects of global warming. They fear that rising sea levels could either sink their islands or make them uninhabitable. They are trying to raise cash for a “Pacific-owned” fund to invest in adaptation projects.

Australia, the region’s biggest aid donor, has pledged A$100m ($67m) to the facility. It is also striking security agreements with Pacific islands to counter China’s growing influence, which it exercises partly by deploying police to some islands. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is seeking to establish an Australian training base for Pacific-region police. Crime and drug-smuggling are growing problems across the area. But Australia also worries about preserving its position as the “security partner of choice”.

Africa’s most populous country is suffering from the painful effects of ambitious economic reforms enacted over the past year. The removal of a subsidy on petrol, and two devaluations of the naira, which fell by 70% against the dollar, pushed up inflation. The annual headline rate reached a 28-year high of 34.2% in June.

But Nigeria’s economy could finally be at a turning point. Analysts expect that GDP figures published on Monday will show that growth ticked up in the second quarter. The currency appears to have stabilised and inflation has dipped for the first time in 19 months. The temporary removal of tariffs on crop imports is expected to slow food-price rises. A new refinery, which is expected to begin processing Nigeria’s oil this year, should reduce its dependence on imports of fuel and further ease pressure on the naira. But optimism has yet to permeate the business sector: a recent central-bank survey showed that the currency and high interest rates remain big concerns.

On Monday Justin Trudeau will gather his ministers for a three-day retreat in Halifax in Nova Scotia. It has been one year since Canada’s prime minister overhauled his cabinet in an effort to close a ten-point polling gap with his Conservative rivals. Mr Trudeau’s Liberal Party is now 17 points behind.

Many Liberals think that Mr Trudeau’s time is up. First elected in 2015, he is now the longest-serving leader in the G7 . But in that time house prices grew by 60% and the Bank of Canada’s prime interest rate has more than doubled. A poll conducted in mid-August by Abacus Data shows that 59% of Canadians have a negative impression of their leader—up from 50% last year. The inflation rate at least is settling back into the desired 2-3% range. But, when they vote next year, many Canadians will still be feeling raw from the past three years of dramatic price rises.

There are few records left for Novak Djokovic to break. The 37-year-old tennis star has accumulated $184m in tour prize money—$50m more than Rafael Nadal, the next-highest winner. He has won every Grand Slam, many times over. This month he added Olympic gold to his tally. If he wins the US Open, which begins on Monday at Flushing Meadows in New York, he could make history again. Mr Djokovic currently shares the record for having won the most Grand Slam singles titles (24) with Margaret Court, an Australian. The Serbian hopes to surpass her in New York.

He will face tough competition. Other favourites in the US Open are reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain; the Australian Open champion, Jannik Sinner of Italy; and Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who has reached at least the semis in four of the last five Slams. The last time Mr Djokovic failed to win a Grand Slam in a calendar year was in 2017. He will want to continue that streak.