A new currency with six fewer zeros debuts Friday in Venezuela, whose currency has been made nearly worthless by years of the world's worst inflation.

The highest denomination until now was a 1 million bolivar bill that was worth a little less than a quarter as of Thursday. The new currency tops out at 100 bolivars, a little less than $25 — until inflation starts to eat away at that as well.

Sharply higher oil and gas prices have pushed annual inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro to its highest in more than a decade in September. Economists and central bankers say the jump in inflation is temporary — but the higher energy prices have governments nonetheless scrambling to ease the pain of higher utility bills for households.

The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday that inflation came in at 3.4%, up from 3.0% in August and the highest since 2008.

Brace for a rude surprise on your winter heating bills.

After years of unusually inexpensive levels, the price of natural gas in the United States has more than doubled since this time last year. In Europe and Asia, wholesale prices are more than five times what they were a year ago.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar and Economy Minister Amin Salam on Thursday signed a resolution defining the mechanism and standards of the implementation of the law related to the ration card plan.

The resolution also includes the opening of an additional line of credit to finance the plan.

Algeria pumps huge volumes of gas through Morocco into Europe, but with Algiers and Rabat at loggerheads as a pipeline agreement nears expiry, experts say the taps could soon be turned off.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday met in Baabda with a delegation from Lazard, which is one of the world's leading financial advisory and asset management firms.

“He discussed with them the need to continue their advisory mission for the Lebanese state, as part of preparing for the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund,” the Presidency said.

The head of the finance parliamentary committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, on Thursday said that the central bank’s decision to extend the implementation of Decree 151 is an attempt to “anesthetize the depositors.”

“It is unacceptable to continue the game of winning time, seeing as Decree 151 was issued more than a year and a half ago, when the dollar exchange rate was around LBP 7,000. The dollar exchange rate reached LBP 24,000 and depositors continued to withdraw their money at the LBP 3,900 rate, which amounts to an 85% veiled haircut,” Kanaan added.

Fumio Kishida, the man soon to become Japan's prime minister, says he believes raising incomes is the only way to get the world's third-largest economy growing again.

Kishida says he wants to promote a "new capitalism" that would be more equitable, with fairer distribution of national wealth — the only way to get frugal Japanese families to spend more.

The United States and the European Union agreed Wednesday to carry on the work of 10 expert-level panels to explore and recommend solutions to a variety of trade disputes and challenges.

During the first of two days of trade and technology talks in Pittsburgh, they instructed the working groups to continue deliberations on matters ranging from climate and clean tech and technology standards to global trade issues, including tariffs that have strained U.S.-EU relations and predatory commercial practices by China.

The United Kingdom and France are at loggerheads again over fishing rights in the English Channel, leading Paris to warn about potential retaliatory measures that could impact energy and trade.

In the latest post-Brexit dispute between the two countries, France urged the British government to allow more small French boats to fish in U.K. territorial waters. The U.K. announced Tuesday that it had approved only 12 out of 47 new license applications.