Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are gradually cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households.

Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the government said Tuesday. That was down from 7.7% in October and a recent peak of 9.1% in June. It was the fifth straight slowdown.

The joint parliamentary committees convened Tuesday to resume discussing the capital control draft law.

"We have specifically modified the needed exemptions in the capital control," Bou Saab said after the meeting.

With dozens of African leaders descending on Washington this week, the Biden administration is offering a not-so-subtle pitch in its economic competition with China on the continent: The U.S. offers a better option to African partners.

Ahead of Tuesday's start of the three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves acknowledged that the U.S. has fallen behind as China has surged past American foreign direct investment in Africa but argued that the U.S. remains the "partner of choice" in Africa.

One in five cars on Norway's roads are electric, a share that has doubled in less than three years, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association said Monday.

The Joint Parliamentary Committees have agreed to “put the capital control law aside after approving it pending the adoption of the rest of the laws that are related to the recovery plan,” Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab announced on Monday.

“We passed Article 4 of the capital control law and the discussions are now limited to exemptions,” Bou Saad said after a parliamentary committees session.

Qatar is still bustling with life just days before the end of the first World Cup in the Middle East.

At Katara beach in Doha, children play soccer on the golden sand during the day, while others go for a swim at night in waters lit by the capital's glimmering skyline.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said Monday that the French energy giant has mobilized the teams in charge of drilling operations in Lebanon's Block 9, as he met with caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad.

TotalEnergies said that it has launched a call for tenders to select a vendor for a new drilling rig in the first quarter of 2023.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has held talks in Riyadh with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Lebanese actress Stephanie Saliba was released after questioning Friday as a witness in a corruption probe involving Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, a judicial source and her agent told AFP.

Saliba was detained after failing to appear for previous summons in the case and was subsequently "questioned as a witness" in the investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment, the source said.

Britain announced plans Friday to ease banking rules brought in after the 2008 global financial crisis in a bid to attract investment and secure London's status as Europe's leading finance center.

Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said the changes, which follow Britain's departure from the European Union in 2020, will make the U.K. "one of the most open, dynamic and competitive financial services hubs in the world."