The eurozone's annual rate of inflation fell to its lowest level in more than three years this month thanks to falling energy costs, official data showed on Friday.

Consumer prices slowed to 2.2 percent in August from 2.6 percent in July this year. The rate was the lowest since July 2021 and in line with expectations by analysts surveyed by FactSet and Bloomberg.

German inflation slowed to its lowest level in more than three years in August, official data showed Thursday, strengthening the case for another interest rate cut by the European Central Bank next month.

The annual inflation rate in Europe's biggest economy eased more than expected to 1.9 percent, preliminary data from federal statistics agency Destatis showed, down from 2.3 percent in July.

French President Emmanuel Macron starts a two-day state visit to Serbia on Thursday with the focus on the possible sale of 12 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to the country, which has maintained close ties to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.

Macron is to meet populist President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Thursday evening, when the deal reportedly worth 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) is expected to be announced.

Global shares traded mixed Thursday as market attention turned to upcoming data on the U.S. economy after Nvidia reported its financial results.

France's CAC 40 edged up 0.4% in early trading to 7,607.05. Germany's DAX was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 18,798.50. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 8,361.47. U.S. shares were set to drift mostly higher with Dow futures up 0.4% at 41,345.00. S&P 500 futures stood virtually unchanged at 5,608.50.

Transport ministers from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are meeting in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss a multibillion-dollar regional transportation project designed to ease the movement of goods from Asia to Europe through Iraq.

The proposed $20 billion Development Road Project is designed to facilitate the transport of goods from the Gulf to Europe via the Grand Faw Port in Basra in southern Iraq. The port would be linked to Turkey and subsequently to Europe through an extensive network of railways and highways.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday in Beijing, on a visit with the stated aim of keeping communications open between the two powers, as the relationship between China and the United States has become increasingly tense in recent years.

Sullivan, on his first trip to China in his capacity as the main adviser to President Joe Biden on U.S. national security issues, has met with senior Chinese officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a senior general of the Central Military Commission.

South Africa has active investigations into alleged corruption totaling more than $7 billion at some of its top state-owned companies, according to a report published Tuesday by the national anti-graft unit.

The investigations are not new, and some have been running since 2018, and all of them were cited by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) in a report to a parliamentary committee to give an update on the status of the probes.

The high cost of caring for children and the elderly has forced American women out of the workforce, devastated family finances and left professional caretakers in low-wage jobs — all while slowing economic growth.

That families are suffering is not up for debate. As the economy emerges as a theme in this presidential election, the Democratic and Republican candidates have sketched out ideas for easing costs that reveal their divergent views about family.

Markets on Wall Street were largely unchanged in light trading early Wednesday as investors eagerly anticipated an earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia later in the day.

French prosecutors are expected to charge or release the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, after his police custody order expires on Wednesday.

Durov was detained Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations. They include allegations that his platform is being used for selling child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, fraud, abetting organized crime transactions and Telegram's refusal to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.