Each day the Gaza war continues, the ripple effect to neighboring Arab countries will have lasting socioeconomic setbacks, two U.N. agencies have warned.

Senior North Korean economic officials met with the governor of a Russian region along the Pacific coast for discussions on boosting economic cooperation between the countries, North Korean state media said Wednesday.

The meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, came as concerns have grown in South Korea that the North may be attempting to expand its labor exports to Russia in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions to generate revenue for its struggling economy and help fund leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons program.

ZFacing mounting calls for a boycott, Spanish fashion brand Zara has withdrawn a controversial advertising campaign featuring body bags after it sparked online fury over its similarity to war-torn Gaza.

Addressing the controversy, Zara -- which is owned by Spain's Inditex, the world's biggest fashion retailer -- denied the claims but nonetheless removed the controversial images from its website.

Thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday in the capital of the European Union, calling for better public services, salaries and living conditions.

The protest in downtown Brussels took place during EU negotiations over the new Stability and Growth Pact, which aims to limit debt and deficits for member countries. Nations seeking to spend their way out of a crisis would instead implement a set of economic policies such as budget cuts and tax increases. But critics say the policy, known as austerity, won't work.

This year's steady slowdown in U.S. inflation likely continued in November, though the latest data may also point to steadily higher prices in some areas of the economy.

Tuesday's inflation report from the Labor Department is expected to show that businesses kept overall prices unchanged for a second straight month.

World shares mostly gained on Monday at the start of a week that includes vital U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve's final rate decision of the year.

Germany's DAX was virtually unchanged, at 16,757.43, and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.2% to 7,537.72. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,526.38.

Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Brussels on Tuesday to protest what they perceive as new austerity measures as the 27 European Union countries discuss ways to overhaul rules on government spending.

Finance ministers from the bloc have been negotiating for months a reform of the EU's rules limiting debt and deficits for member states, known as the Stability and Growth Pact, which would curtail the options of nations seeking to spend their way out of a crisis and potentially force them into austerity. The rulebook, which has often proved difficult to enforce and has served as a source of tension, was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but should be reactivated next year.

President Joe Biden goes into next year's election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it.

Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and public perception. The divergence could be a decisive factor in whether the Democrat secures a second term next year. Republicans are seizing on the dissatisfaction to skewer Biden, while the White House is finding less success as it tries to highlight economic progress.

Responding to increased attacks on ships in the southern Red Sea by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the U.S. announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions of dollars from the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities to the Houthis in Yemen.

The White House also announced Thursday that it was encouraging allies to join the Combined Maritime Forces, a 39-member partnership that exists to counter malign action by non-state actors in international waters, as it looks to push back against the Houthis. The State Department and Pentagon are leading the effort to expand the maritime partnership after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Iranian-back Houthis in Yemen earlier this week.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia used a rare face-to-face meeting to urge oil producers to stick to pledged supply cuts, a joint statement said Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to the Saudi capital a day earlier came as oil prices continued to slide, with US oil finishing below $70 per barrel for the first time since July.