North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened a major political conference dedicated to agriculture, state media reported Monday, amid outside assessments that suggest the country is facing a serious shortfall of food.

South Korean experts estimate that North Korea is short around 1 million tons of grain, 20 percent of its annual demand, after the pandemic disrupted both farming and imports from China.

Banks in Switzerland are holding a substantial amount of the millions of dollars Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh is accused of embezzling, Swiss media reported on Sunday.

Salameh, 72, faces investigations related to suspicions of money laundering and illicit enrichment in Lebanon and abroad after he amassed a fortune in the country mired in financial crisis.

Wall Street veered toward losses early Friday ahead of the release of consumer price data in the U.S. that could play into the Federal Reserve's next interest rate policy decision.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.7%.

Consumer prices in Japan jumped in January by the most in more than 41 years, the government reported Friday, adding to pressure on the central bank to adjust its longstanding ultra-lax monetary policy.

The key price indicator, which excludes volatile fresh foods, rose 4.2% last month, though some analysts expected it to be slightly higher. Excluding energy prices, inflation rose at a 3.2% annual rate.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he plans to present to other Group of Seven countries a set of "new ideas" for sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine when he hosts an online G-7 summit later in the day to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the invasion.

Kishida, as this year's G-7 president, told a news conference he also planned to call on other countries to stop providing military support to Russia.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Friday announced the temporary suspension of the banking sector strike for a period of one week.

An Israeli parliamentary committee has approved new funding for Benjamin Netanyahu and his family, giving the prime minister a boost in personal spending at a time when he is facing mass protests over his policies and as the economy is on shaky ground.

The committee voted to approve public funds to cover expenses incurred by the Netanyahus at their private homes in Jerusalem and the exclusive seaside town of Caesarea, as well as an increase of thousands of dollars a year in clothing expenses for both Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.

Turkey's central bank on Thursday resumed its policy of lowering a key interest rate even as the country grapples with high inflation and the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee said it cut the benchmark policy rate by 0.5 of a percentage point, down to 8.5%. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, slashed the benchmark rate by 5 percentage points - down to 9% - between August and November but had left rates unchanged since then.

Beirut Attorney General Judge Raja Hamoush on Thursday charged Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, his brother Raja and his assistant Marianne Hoayek with money laundering, public funds embezzlement, tax evasion, forgery and illicit enrichment, the state-run National News Agency said.

Wall Street pointed toward gains early Wednesday as markets await the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting, a day after the worst selloff of 2023.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.2% and the S&P 500 gained 0.3% before the opening bell.