The tide turned against inflation.

Artificial intelligence went mainstream — for good or ill.

Inflation in the U.K. as measured by the consumer prices index eased back to its lowest level in more than two years, official figures showed Wednesday, in a development that stoked speculation that the Bank of England may start cutting interest rates sooner than expected.

The Office for National Statistics said inflation dropped to 3.9% in the year to November, its lowest level since September 2021, from 4.6% the previous month. That decline was bigger than anticipated in financial markets.

Last weekend, Starbucks got a report that a New York store had been spray-painted with pro-Palestinian graffiti. A few hours later, at a store eight blocks away, a customer berated employees, accusing the brand of being anti-Israel.

It's been a tough few weeks for the world's largest coffee company. At a time when it hoped to be spreading holiday cheer and peppermint mochas, it's juggling boycotts over the war in the Middle East and a unionization effort at home.

The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world's top shipping companies and oil giants, effectively rerouting global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies that is expected to trigger delays and rising prices.

BP said Monday that it has "decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea," including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. Describing it as a "precautionary pause," the London-based oil and gas corporation said the decision faces ongoing review but crew safety was the priority.

Kenya and the European Union on Monday signed a long-negotiated trade agreement to increase the flow of goods between the two markets, as Brussels pursues stronger economic ties with Africa.

German farmers gathered in Berlin on Monday to protest against planned cuts to tax breaks for diesel used in agriculture, part of a deal reached by the government to plug a hole in the country's budget.

Leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition last week agreed on measures to fill a 17 billion-euro ($18.5 billion) hole in next year's budget, saying they would achieve that by reducing climate-damaging subsidies and slightly reducing some ministries' spending, among other measures.

World shares were mostly lower on Monday, while U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher.

Germany's DAX slipped 0.3% to 16,699.58 and in Paris, the CAC40 fell 0.5% to 4,066.69. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 7,592.11.

Germany's economy is likely to shrink again slightly in the current fourth quarter, the country's central bank said Monday, while a survey showed business confidence retreating unexpectedly.

Europe's biggest economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter after growing by the same amount in the previous three-month period, according to official figures.

German airline group Lufthansa resumed its flights to and from Beirut on Friday after they were suspended on October 13 as tensions on Lebanon's border with Israel soared and the war in Gaza raged.

Lufthansa's subsidiaries SWISS and Eurowings also resumed their flights, the group said.

Germany's parliament on Friday approved plans to raise the country's levy on carbon dioxide emissions from fuel by more than previously planned next month, a move that is part of a deal to resolve a budget crisis.

The CO2 price will rise to 45 euros (about $49) per ton of emissions from the current 30 euros under the plan approved by lawmakers. The government had previously planned a smaller increase to 40 euros. That is expected to impact prices for gasoline, diesel, natural gas and heating oil.