The European Union's executive commission lowered its growth forecast for this year and next, saying the economy "has lost momentum" in 2023 as inflation weighs on consumer spending and higher central bank interest rates deter borrowing for purchases and investment.

The outlook for this year was lowered to 0.6% from 0.8% for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, and to 1.2% from 1.3% for next year, the commission said Wednesday in its autumn economic forecast, which revised figures from its previous forecast in September.

Inflation in the U.K. dropped sharply in October to its lowest level in two years, largely because last year's steep rise in domestic energy bills following Russia's invasion of Ukraine dropped out of the annual comparison, official figures showed Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices in the year to October were 4.6% higher than the year before, much lower than the 6.7% recorded in the previous month.

The Biden administration has extended by four months a sanctions waiver that will allow Iraq to continue to purchase electricity from Iran and gives Iran limited access to the proceeds to buy humanitarian goods.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed the 120-day waiver extension and it was transmitted to Congress on Tuesday, U.S. officials said. The move is likely to draw criticism from Iran hawks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere who believe the extension will reward Iran at a time when it is coming under increasing pressure to end its support for proxy groups, including Hamas, that are destabilizing the Middle East.

The United States on Tuesday said it imposed a third round of sanctions on a group of Hamas officials, members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who work to transfer money from Iran to Gaza, and a Lebanese money exchange service that facilitates the transfers.

The Treasury Department sanctions, coordinated with the United Kingdom, come in response to the surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that left roughly 1,200 people dead or kidnapped. The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.

The United States and China are the two global economic heavyweights. Combined, they produce more than 40% of the world's goods and services.

So when Washington and Beijing do economic battle, as they have for five years running, the rest of the world suffers, too. And when they hold a rare high-level summit, as Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will this week, it can have global consequences.

President Joe Biden is looking to use this week's summit of Asia-Pacific leaders to show world leaders the United States has the gumption, attention span and money to focus on the region even as it grapples with a multitude of foreign and domestic policy crises.

Biden's highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday is the main event of his four-day visit to San Francisco, where leaders from the 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum are gathering for their annual summit. The talks with Xi are of enormous importance as the leaders of the world's two biggest economies try to find a measure of stability after what's been a difficult year for U.S.-China relations.

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies in nearly a year, Biden administration officials said.

The White House has said for weeks that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday.

The European Central Bank and other policymakers across Europe need to keep interest rates at current elevated levels until they're sure inflation is under control despite sluggish growth, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, warning against "premature celebration" as inflation declines from its peak.

The Washington-based IMF said that cost of underestimating inflation's persistence could be painfully high and result in another painful round of rate hikes that could rob the economy of a large chunk of growth.

Nintendo reported an 18% rise in net profit for its first fiscal half on Tuesday, as sales continued to get a boost from its hit Super Mario movie, and the popularity of its software for various new video games.

April-September profit at Nintendo Co., which didn't break down quarterly results, totaled nearly 271.3 billion yen ($1.8 billion), up from 230 billion yen a year earlier. Sales surged 21% to 796 billion yen ($5.3 billion).

In a convenience store in Bahrain, 14-year-old Jana Abdullah carries a tablet as she shops, checking a list of Western brands to avoid as Israel pounds Gaza in its campaign to destroy Hamas.

Jana and her 10-year-old brother, Ali, used to eat at McDonald's nearly daily but they are among many across the Middle East now boycotting products they believe support Israel.