The world economy has lost momentum from the impact of higher interest rates, the invasion of Ukraine and widening geopolitical rifts, and it now faces new uncertainty from the war between Israel and Hamas militants, International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.

The IMF said it expects global economic growth to slow to 2.9% in 2024 from an expected 3% this year. The forecast for next year is down a notch from the 3% it predicted back in July.

Less than a two-hour drive from where families sleep in tents and earthquake rubble remain in piles, the world's most powerful financial institutions are gathering for a week of discussions on economic challenges during times of war, inequality and climate change.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank decided in 2018 to host their annual meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, bringing the affair to the African continent for the first time in 50 years.

Crude oil prices surged and world share prices were mostly lower on Monday after the Israeli government declared war following deadly attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

U.S. futures declined. The bond market in the U.S. will be closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday, but the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be open.

Taiwan authorities are investigating four Taiwan-based companies suspected of helping China's Huawei Technologies to build semiconductor facilities.

Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said Friday that the investigation will determine if the companies have violated regulations prohibiting sales of sensitive technologies and equipment to China.

Luxembourg's residents may be classified as the wealthiest in the European Union, but the sky-high cost of buying or renting a home in the country has made living there nearly impossible for some.

The crisis has become the number one concern in the Grand Duchy of 660,000 people -- smaller than Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state -- as it goes to the polls on Sunday.

Global sugar prices soared to their highest level in almost 13 years in September as the El Nino weather phenomenon hit production in India and Thailand, the Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.

The ruble fell further against the dollar on Friday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the sanctions-hit country's economic situation was "stable".

The Russian currency fell by as much as 101.46 rubles to the dollar in morning exchanges before paring down some losses.

Global shares advanced Thursday after a plunge in oil prices aided a recovery on Wall Street.

France's CAC 40 lost 0.3% to 6,976.60. Germany's DAX shed 0.2% to 15,222.00, and Britain's FTSE 100 was unchanged at 7,414.46. The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow industrials were 0.3% lower.

Surging interest rates are intensifying the challenges for the U.S. economy and threatening to derail the Federal Reserve's drive to tame inflation without causing a deep recession.

Since mid-summer, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many loans, has steadily climbed, causing a spillover rise in other borrowing costs. The costs of mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt have all risen in response. The collective impact of higher rates across the economy could also weaken the government's own finances.

For devoted Disney fans, there's often no better treat than spending Halloween at its theme parks — and more specifically, at its after-hours parties, where visitors can trick-or-treat through Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and watch a Halloween-exclusive parade, among other experiences.

But tickets are neither cheap nor easy to acquire. The parties are held on multiple nights throughout the season, and the version at Disney's California resort, the "Oogie Boogie Bash," is so popular that the 2023 event sold out the first day tickets went on sale. Fans reported trouble with virtual queues and website crashes.